Most celebrate the holidays at the end of the calendar year. Professional golfers celebrate finishing inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings as it means an invitation to the Masters will soon arrive in their mailboxes. With the cutoff point approaching and no significant tournaments between now and the start of 2024, 77 players are certain to receive invitations to play in the 2024 Masters this coming April.
Those who rank inside the top 50 and were not otherwise eligible through other avenues of the Masters criteria (such as being a past champion) include: Ryan Fox, Min Woo Lee, Will Zalatoris, Denny McCarthy Justin Rose, Harris English, J.T. Poston, Eric Cole, Adrian Meronk, Adam Hadwin and Nicolai Hojgaard, who ascended to world No. 50 with his victory at the 2023 DP World Tour Championship.
Hojgaard and Adam Schenk will make their Masters debuts this spring with Schenk receiving an invitation based on qualifying for the 2023 Tour Championship. Ludvig Åberg, Luke List, Camilo Villegas and Erik van Rooyen all punched their tickets to Augusta National with victories in FedEx Cup Fall events.
Already the tightest field among major championships normally ranging between 85 to 100 players, the Masters’ field in 2024 could be the smallest at the year’s first major in decades. Not since 1985 has the field at the Masters fallen short of 80 as just 77 players competed in the tournament 38 years ago.
Tiger Woods’ historic 12-stroke Masters triumph in 1997 came in a field of 86 players. It is likely this year’s tournament comes in around this figure as there is still time for players to receive invitations. The 2024 Latin America Amateur Championship winner will be invited in January, as will those who win on the PGA Tour before the Masters.
The OWGR will likely shuffle as well giving way for additional players to enter the top 50 as the final cutoff arrives April 7, the week before the Masters. Notable players just outside the top 50 to begin 2024 include Matt Kuchar, Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel and Joaquin Niemann.