(Photo credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There was a palpable lack of buzz as two former Masters champions made their way around Augusta National paired together in Sunday's final round.

Sergio Garcia, the 2017 winner, and 2023 champion Jon Rahm teed off in the third group at 9:28 a.m. It was well before many of the patrons had made their way through Augusta National's gates, and hundreds of those who had were still in the merchandise shop when a frustrated Garcia broke his driver on the second hole and was issued a code of conduct warning.

With only a smattering of fans even taking notice by the 18th hole, Rahm and Garcia finished their rounds two hours before the leaders teed off.

Rahm picked up some ground with a final round 68 to finish at 1 over for the tournament, but he was never near contention after posting 78 on Thursday. Garcia stumbled to the finish line with a 75, leaving him at 8 over and ahead of only two players who made the cut.

One of those was 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel, who finished last among the 54 who made the cut by posting 77-75 over the weekend to finish at 12 over.

Tyrrell Hatton did help LIV save some significant grace with a Sunday charge that saw him within a shot of the lead on the back nine. The Englishman started the day at 4 under and posted his second 66 of the week -- two shots better than he had done in 32 previous rounds at Augusta National entering this week -- to finish at 10 under.

Saturday saw the lowest third-round scoring in Masters history. But the two LIV players who had a chance to make a move went in reverse -- with Hatton posting even par to fall seven shots off the lead and Dustin Johnson's 75 tied for the fourth-highest score on the course.

As he made his way around Amen Corner, I heard several patrons talking about how much Johnson's game has deteriorated since leaving for LIV in 2022. The 41-year-old two-time major champion has only one top-10 through five LIV starts this year and hasn't finished better than a tie for 23rd while missing the cut in five of his past nine majors.

Johnson did post his best round of the tournament on Sunday with a 68 to get back to even par, making him LIV's second-highest finisher.

The other five players in the smallest LIV contingent to date at the Masters all failed to reach the weekend. That included Bryson DeChambeau, one of the pre-tournament favorites who crashed out in dramatic with a triple bogey on his final hole Friday.

Other than DeChambeau, who is polarizing pretty much anywhere he's seen other than YouTube, I didn't sense any vitriol towards LIV players from the patrons. It's mostly apathy.

And that should be far more concerning for LIV officials the longer their stars who are still able to qualify for majors go without making a significant impact on golf's biggest stages.

LIV GOLF SCORES AT 2026 MASTERS

PLAYER: POSITION, SCORE

--Tyrrell Hatton: TBD, -10

--Dustin Johnson: T33, E

--Jon Rahm: T38, +1

--Sergio Garcia: 52, +8

--Charl Schwartzel: 54th, +12

MISSED CUT

--Bubba Watson: +5, 149

--Bryson DeChambeau: +6, 150

--Tom McKibbin: +7, 151

--Cameron Smith: +7, 151

--Carlos Ortiz: +11, 155

It has all gone to serve up increased questions about the quality of golf being played on the Saudi-backed circuit, and whether those who signed lucrative contracts lost the drive to remain among the world's elite players.

Several LIV players bristled at that notion this week. While DeChambeau offered up only a terse quick interview on Thursday before declining to speak with reporters on Friday, Rahm disputed that there's any adjustment for LIV players to prepare for the majors.

'None. Golf is golf. Same as any other golf tournament in the world,' he said after Saturday's round. 'I came in with the same expectations I come into any other major, any other tournament. Not any higher or lower.'

By Sunday, Rahm did acknowledge that he figured out some things he wants to change, but he didn't elaborate about whether that was for tournaments in general or specifically for Augusta National, which he said played the firmest he's ever seen.

'Definitely some things I'm going change going forward. Preparation-wise and what to do,' Rahm said. 'But it's hard to say how much I learned because I don't think we ever seen a Masters this firm.'

Hatton said he doesn't believe there is any adjustment needed for LIV players to prepare for the Masters or any other major.

'It's another tournament that you're at. You go on to the next hole, and you try your best,' Hatton said. 'Wherever you play, whatever the tournament is, you're always giving it your best, and you're trying to prepare in a way to give yourself a chance to win the tournament.

'I don't think anyone that's playing this week would change anything. That would be my guess. But yeah, every tournament you play, you're trying to win. This week is no different in that sense.'

That's an easier statement to back up for Hatton, who in addition to being LIV's top finisher by 10 shots this week has maintained No. 31 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Along with a pair of top-10s on LIV this year, he closed 2025 with a T5 at the Saudi International and also posted three top-16s in four majors.

By contrast, former World No. 1 and major champion Cameron Smith was an afterthought in Augusta this week. He posted 74-77 to miss the weekend by three shots and has now missed the cut in five consecutive majors.

Along with Rahm and DeChambeau, Smith declined the PGA Tour's offer to come back via the Returning Member Program, saying in February that 'I am here to stay.'

Their decisions came after the tour created the program to facilitate the immediate return of Brooks Koepka. Patrick Reed wasn't offered the same terms, but also left LIV before the 2026 season and is playing the DP World Tour ahead of a PGA Tour return later this year.

It has to sting LIV's powers that be that Reed was in contention much of the week before finishing at 5 under in a tie for 12th along with Koepka.

Reed admitted earlier this week that the ability to play for something truly meaningful on a Sunday played a role in his decision.

'You're walking to the tee, you're the last name announced, and you've lost the lead because someone is 5-under through 8,' Reed recounted about holding onto a lead to win in Dubai earlier this year. 'All those just rushes and those scenarios, kind of going back into playing golf that way, where you're going out there and you're having the battles between not just yourself, but the other guys on the leaderboard.

'For me, I wanted that back, I wanted that adrenaline back, and those feelings.'

DeChambeau has a similar decision in front of him with his LIV contract expiring at the end of this year. On one hand, he presumably has a strong hand to play as the league faces the potential of losing one of its most marketable stars who has won its past two events.

On the other, DeChambeau's triumph at the 2024 U.S. Open was the last major claimed by a LIV player. While he has contended since, including last year's T5 at the Masters and T2 at the PGA Championship, he has now missed the cut in two of his past three majors.

As he looks at the landscape -- and his legacy -- while his contemporaries compete at Augusta National this week, could DeChambeau be the next to decide LIV Golf is no longer the best platform on which to ply his trade?

Another issue for LIV Golf is to continue to lure proven young talent to the league. While talented young players including Tom McKibbin, Michael La Sasso, and Josele Ballester have signed with LIV over the past two years, none had truly established themselves in the professional ranks before doing so.

Aldrich Potgieter reportedly rebuffed interest from LIV Golf last fall, having already pocketed his first PGA Tour as a 20-year-old. This week, he lamented other South Africans who have chosen to sign with LIV rather than compete on the PGA Tour.

'It was unfortunate to see some guys go to LIV, and obviously some South African players went that route, so ... that's why there's not as many out here as it was five or six years ago,' Potgieter said.

Koepka has already moved from 252nd in the world to 169th since rejoining the tour in February, and his Masters performance will vault him significantly higher come Monday. He's still ineligible for signature events but is bringing a marquee name to second-tier events and using his major exemption status to grind his way back up.

--Derek Harper, Field Level Media