Southern manners attempt to ease LIV tensions at Masters | to keep beneath the surface The masters

Nhe neighborhood of Augusta National is exactly what it appears to be. You may have read all the old stories about this place here and elsewhere. Those bird sounds you hear on TV? They say they are dubbed by the broadcaster. The azure water in the ponds? The groundsmen should color it the correct shade of blue. And all that pristine grass? The whisper is that they spray the bald spots. The club have always refused to confirm or deny any of this. Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain, just enjoy the azaleas and sip another cup of iced tea.

This year, however, the atmosphere here feels even more unreal than usual. For this week at least, someone seems to have ended the civil war dividing the sport between the rival tours. Seems those famous southern manners are contagious.

Apparently, Sergio Garcia was unaware of the news of the referees’ landmark decision in favor of the DP World Tour’s decision to sanction the 12 players who joined LIV, although that was all that was discussed on Tuesday and affects him directly. “I haven’t heard that before,” Garcia said. “I wasn’t part of it. I’ve tried to stay away from all of that.” Rory McIlroy had no opinion on that either, other than “if the arbitral tribunal thinks that’s right, then I have to go by what they say”.

Tiger Woods, on the other hand, has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that his management company, Excel Sports, has no clients on the LIV tour. “That’s about Excel and what they want to do,” he said. “No, I have no direct influence,” he added with the familiar grin, “I have my opinions.” And as for Phil Mickelson, well, he’s just happy to be back after missing out last year had. “It’s great. Fun to be back. Everyone has been wonderful,” he said Tuesday. “Everyone here is so classy. Gosh, it’s fun to be here.”

Just last month, Fred Couples described Mickelson as a “crazy man,” saying he doesn’t think he’d ever talk to him again and that “if you give Phil Mickelson, aged 52, 200 million to turn 74 and 75 ‘God bless you’.” Well, apparently they’re all over it too. “I’d love to be with Phil,” Couples said earlier this week. “I mean, he’s one of the best players that’s ever played. He loves love this course as much as I do and if we did we would look at the first hole and have a good time.” He also called Garcia a “clown” and then this week described him as “one of the top 10 players I ever saw hit a ball”.

“Fred and I are longtime friends and we’ve had a lot of great experiences playing golf,” Mickelson said. “I think the world of him and I hope we have the chance to have some more great experiences with him, so.”

Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, LIV and non-LIV respectively, chat while waiting to play their second shots on the 9th during Tuesday’s practice session. Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images

It’s like that in every direction you turn. “I didn’t feel any tension, it’s just nice to see her again,” says Thomas Pieters. “Everything was fine, man, we’re still the same people,” says Brooks Koepka. “Everyone was fantastic, I had no problems,” adds Bryson DeChambeau. “For me it is the same. All my buddies are still my buddies and we play and it’s still golf,” drawled Dustin Johnson. There are more bromides flying on the shooting range than balls.

But then you don’t keep a dog and bark yourself, and off Augusta, in courtrooms and boardrooms around the world, there are battalions of well-paid attorneys going back and forth over the various trials between tours. Back on the pitch it almost feels like the players have agreed that as long as they are on the ground everything is out of bounds and right now no one is mentioning the fact that some of the legal teams have been walking around and issue summonses to the other players on Christmas Eve.

Maybe, as McIlroy said, “this week and this tournament is way bigger than anything.” What is more likely is that the club themselves have communicated to the players what they expect from them.

“It struck me that the audio here has been really good this week,” said Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley. “I noticed that the players interact. I wouldn’t have known at last night’s Champions Dinner that something different was going on in the world of professional golf.” Mmm-hmm. According to 1979 champion Fuzzy Zoeller, “Mickelson sat at the end of the table and kept to himself, he didn’t speak at all.” 1973 champion Tommy Aaron said he “couldn’t believe how quiet he was. Phil took a very low profile. He didn’t say a word.”

If you want an idea of ​​how people are really feeling, keep an eye on the 18th green next Sunday. Greg Norman, LIV’s ringmaster who was banned from the tournament, promised that if one of them wins this week, the 18 golfers from his tour will all be there to celebrate together. For McIlroy, Woods and everyone else on the other side of the divide, that certainly sounds like a challenge. There’s a lot at stake in every Masters, but this year there’s a little something extra, whether or not one of the players will admit it.