There are no teams at the Masters — but this year, it may feel that way.

The 2023 tournament will be perhaps the highest-profile meeting to date of golfers who have joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf and those who remained with the PGA Tour.

Seen as an existential threat to the PGA Tour not long ago, LIV finds itself struggling to remain relevant. The tour’s first event this season in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, drew fewer than 300,000 average viewers on The CW, while the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic, played on the same weekend, averaged nearly 2 million on NBC.

LIV Golf claimed the average figure was significantly higher — 537,000 — for its 2023 debut weekend.

A win at the Masters by a LIV player could help elevate the Tour’s stature. 

The best bets to do so, per DraftKings, are Dustin Johnson (+2200) and Cameron Smith (+3500), but both are serious underdogs to Scottie Scheffler (+650), Rory McIlroy (+750), and Jon Rahm (+850). LIV Golf players such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson are barred from PGA-backed events, but still meet the criteria for the Masters.

The launch of LIV spurred the PGA Tour to make significant changes, including the creation of “designated events” with prize purses of at least $20 million and no cuts.

The winner of the 2023 Masters Tournament will pocket a record-tying purse of $2.7 million.

That’s the same amount won last year by Scottie Scheffler, who’ll seek to defend his Masters title starting Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.

Last year’s total purse was $15 million. Runner-up Rory McIlroy earned $1.62 million. The top 10 finishers earned at least $390,000.

More on the creeping inflation of Masters winner’s purses over the decades:

• Tiger Woods was the first Green Jacket winner to crack the $2 million mark for finishing first. He collected $2,070,000 (before inflation) for winning his fifth Green Jacket in 2019.
• Back in 2001, Woods was also the first to make over $1 million for winning the tournament. He earned $1,008,000 – then took home the same amount when he repeated as champ in 2002.
• In 1984, Ben Crenshaw was the first Masters champion to earn a $100,000 payday. He took home $108,000 for winning in the first of his two Green Jackets.
• The first tournament winner, Horton Smith, won $1,500 in 1934. In today’s dollars, $32,759.33. The following eight winners earned the same amount.

Money isn’t everything. The chance to etch their name in golf history by winning the coveted Green Jacket is more important.

As the legendary Ben Hogan said, “If the Masters offered no money at all, I would be here trying just as hard.”

Scottie Scheffler arrives at Augusta National to defend his 2022 Masters title with momentum.

Scheffler is first in the Official World Golf Rankings — and hasn’t ranked lower than No. 2 since before last year’s Masters. He’s also the betting favorite (+650) headed into the tournament.

Perhaps most impressive: The 26-year-old has earned $11.6 million from tournament winnings this season — the most on the PGA Tour. He can pocket $2.7 million by winning at Augusta again.

Scheffler’s two 2023 victories have served as the bedrock for those earnings: He took home $3.6 million by repeating at February’s newly elevated Waste Management Phoenix Open and $4.5 million by winning at The Players Championship in March.

Repeating in Phoenix is one thing, but if Scheffler can take home his second Green Jacket in a row, he’ll join an exclusive list of some of the most hallowed names in golf history.

• Jack Nicklaus (1965-66)
• Nick Faldo (1989-90)
• Tiger Woods (2001-02)

Repeating as Masters champion would continue the Tiger-like aura Scheffler has cultivated since he won a year ago — though he still has yet to take home another major title.

Stiff Competition

There will be no shortage of challengers standing in his way.

Chief among them is Jon Rahm (+850) — currently first place in the FedEx Cup standings — who was OWGR’s top-ranked player before Scheffler’s 2022 Masters victory and who briefly grabbed the top spot from Scheffler in late February.

And then there’s fan favorite Rory McIlroy (+750), who dramatically swiped the Tour Championship from Scheffler at the end of last season.

This year, the Masters is more exclusive than ever.

On Wednesday, tickets for the storied event at Augusta National Golf Club started at four figures and jumped to almost $90,000, according to StubHub.

• Get-in ticket prices for a one-day pass on Thursday, the first day of the event, started at $6,600. Friday’s session was slightly cheaper at around $2,700.
• Get-in prices for all four days at Augusta were just a few dollars shy of $12,000. 
• The four-day pass topped out at a whopping $89,999.

Prices for the Saturday-Sunday session will likely fluctuate depending on how the field narrows. If, say, Tiger Woods makes it to the later rounds of the event, prices will probably skyrocket. 

Right now, the Saturday-Sunday sessions are already starting at $3,450 for a two-day pass. 

An Augusta Feast

After shelling out to get on the grounds, however, fans will get some financial relief with their food-and-drink options.

A fan could order every item on the menu — including alcoholic beverages — for $66 total. The Masters’ famous pimento cheese sandwiches are only $1.50 each. 

The most expensive item on the menu: a glass of white wine for $5.