Tom Watson wants the unity he saw at Masters Champions Dinner for all of golf, end to PGA

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — 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?’”