The Masters will be the third major that brings together players from LIV Golf with players who stayed loyal to their tours. As far as CBS Sports is concerned, all are at Augusta National by invitation and trying to win a green jacket.
“Listen, we’re not going to cover up or hide anything,” Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports, said in a conference call. “As I said, our job is to cover the golf tournament. We’re not going to show any different treatment of the golfers who play on the LIV tour than we do for the other golfers. And if there’s a pertinent point that we feel we should bring up on our coverage … we’re not going to put our heads in the sand.
“Having said that, unless it really affects the story that’s taking place on the golf course, we’re not going to out of our way to cover it,” he said. “But I’m not sure there’s anything we could add to the story as it already exists.”
NBC and Golf Channel had the U.S. Open and British Open, when LIV Golf was still just starting. Plus, the other two majors were held before LIV players first filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
On the European Tour, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed had an uncomfortable exchange on the driving range in Dubai, and then they came down to the wire before McIlroy won.
How appealing would it be to have a PGA Tour player and a LIV Golf player in contention?
“We’re not cheerleaders,” said Sellers Shy, the lead golf producer for CBS. “Whoever is on that leaderboard, then we’re covering them, because they’re invited to the Masters.”
