LIV Golf contingent leave mark on Masters leaderboard

AUGUSTA, Georgia : Nobody from the LIV Golf contingent at this year's Masters were able to slip into the Green Jacket, but a few players from the controversial Saudi-backed circuit left an indelible mark on the leaderboard at Augusta National on Sunday.

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka and three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, two of LIV's biggest names, finished sharing second place, four shots back of Spaniard Jon Rahm.

Patrick Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, was a further shot back with a share of fourth, while Joaquin Niemann was the next best from LIV Golf as he ended up tied for 16th.

This year's Masters was the first since LIV Golf launched last June, and 18 players from the lucrative circuit, whose 54-hole tournaments with no cuts have raised talk about their competitiveness, teed it up in the year's first major.

Koepka said nobody should be surprised to see that he and his LIV Golf peers posed a threat at Augusta National, which is one of the game's biggest stages.

"We're still the same people. So I mean, I know if I'm healthy, I know I can compete. I don't think any of the guys that played this event thought otherwise, either," Koepka said.

"When Phil plays good, we know he's going to compete," he added. "P-Reed, the same thing. I think that's just manufactured by the media that we can't compete anymore; that we are washed up."

Koepka was in the best position to deliver the victory for LIV Golf as he began the final round with a two-shot lead and had won all three previous majors when he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

But the wheels fells off for Koepka, whose lead disappeared after four holes, and he was never able to threaten the rest of the way as he closed with a three-over-par 75.

Mickelson