Lucas Glover held down the fiftieth spot within the closing world rating of the 12 months, making him one among 10 gamers who shall be added to the invitation listing to play within the Masters.
The sector has eight extra gamers than it did presently a 12 months in the past.
The Masters takes the highest 50 within the Official World Golf Rating on the finish of the calendar 12 months, and it’ll take the highest 50 not already invited from the world rating printed every week earlier than the event is held April 10-13.
The addition of the ten gamers brings the sector to 85 gamers who’re eligible and anticipated to play. There have been 77 gamers who had been eligible presently a 12 months in the past, a distinction that may level to weaker fields within the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Fall.
The Masters has the smallest discipline of the 4 majors, and Augusta Nationwide prefers that it stays beneath 100 to offer gamers an expertise not like every other. It final topped 100 gamers in 1966, when there have been 103 gamers within the discipline.
The Masters had 89 gamers this 12 months.
Glover had dipped outdoors the highest 50 in the previous few weeks, however the rating is predicated on a formulation that measures a two-year interval with factors regularly dropping worth.
Tom Kim at No. 21 was the highest-ranked participant who had not already certified. The others to get in by the world rating are Nick Dunlap, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Jason Day, Corey Conners, Denny McCarthy, Justin Rose and Min Woo Lee.
It was the second straight 12 months McCarthy and Lee earned spots within the Masters by the year-end world rating. Neither has gained on the PGA Tour.
A 12 months in the past, 4 gamers from the 77 who had certified by the top of the 12 months earned invites by profitable PGA Tour occasions within the fall. This 12 months, all eight fall winners weren’t eligible once they gained tournaments.
5 of these fall winners — Matt McCarty, Kevin Yu, Nico Echavarria, Rafael Campos and Maverick McNealy — shall be enjoying the Masters for the primary time.
The PGA Tour went again to a calendar schedule for 2024, with a number of large occasions (together with the Olympics) packed into the schedule. A lot of the prime gamers didn’t enter a PGA Tour occasion during the last three months of the 12 months.
The Masters will add to the sector with the Latin America Newbie Championship winner, any winner of a PGA Tour occasion that gives full FedExCup factors, and the highest 50 from the world rating printed on March 31. Fourteen tournaments will provide an invite earlier than the Masters.
Augusta Nationwide additionally may select to make use of a particular invitation. It provided three final 12 months, together with one to Joaquin Niemann of LIV Golf, noting his victory within the Australian Open and one other prime end in Australia in his effort to play worldwide.
Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark additionally acquired a particular invitation as a result of he performed totally on the European tour. The membership traditionally shouldn’t be that favorable to PGA Tour members as a result of they’ve extra avenues to get in.
Amongst those that missed out on the highest 50 was Nicolai Hojgaard, who shot 76 on the ultimate day at Augusta this 12 months and tied for sixteenth. Hojgaard, who performed within the Ryder Cup in 2023, missed by one shot qualifying for the Masters within the class that takes the highest 12 finishers.
His twin brother, Rasmus Hojgaard, will make his debut in April.