The Masters has always been about tradition. About a timeless, 18-hole course whose traditions have remained the same even as everything else changed around it.

The green jacket. The Champions Dinner. Amen Corner. Tradition after tradition after tradition.

That’s the root of the mystique and thrill surrounding the Masters, which continues its week-long fanfare ahead of Thursday’s opening round. But the course and tournament will become a fascinating case study this weekend for the future of golf, for the contentious evolution of the sport as it reaches a critical juncture.

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf will intersect at a tournament for the first time, and amid all the lawsuits, torn relationships and inter-player feuds between the sport’s historical organization and its upstart, Saudi-backed league, the overlap becomes the overarching storyline to monitor.