Nicklaus, Player, Watson lament state of golf amid PGA-LIV rift - ESPN

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tom Watson only saw unity, conversation and easy laughter among 33 champions at the Masters Club dinner, seven of them now with Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Watson longs for the day golf can feel that way all year long.

Unity is a popular topic at the first major of the year because the PGA Tour has suspended LIV players for defecting to the rival circuit. The only time all the world's best get together are at the majors, and the Masters is the first chance for that since July.

Watson said he asked Masters Chairman Fred Ridley if he could speak toward the end of the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night.

«I'm looking around the room and I'm seeing just a wonderful experience everybody is having,» Watson, a two-time Masters champion, said Thursday. «They are jovial. They are having a great time. They are laughing. And I said, 'Ain't it good to be together again?'»

Watson said the room grew quiet and then it was time to leave.

«And in a sense, I hope that the players themselves took that to say, 'You know, we have to do something,'» Watson said. He paused before repeating, «We have to do something.»

Watson, three-time champion Gary Player and six-time champion Jack Nicklaus were together again on the first tee Thursday morning to hit the honorary tee shot, which was delayed by overnight rain.

They have combined to win 35 majors — Nicklaus and Player own the career Grand Slam — and are major figures in golf who are among those saddened by the split in in the game as a result of the arrival of LIV Golf. The circuit lured away major champions with guaranteed Saudi riches.

But the Masters Club is a time for celebration. It was said to be like that a year ago with no difference this time around. Most of stories were about