It’s unlikely that an amateur will win the Masters in 2024, but that doesn’t mean one of the five playing in the field won’t end up bring a primary storyline. Remember Sam Bennett last year? The U.S. Amateur champion went to the weekend with a real chance at contending with Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka before shooting 76-74 over the final two rounds to fall to T16.
Someone else could feasibly fit that role this year, and there are some interesting candidates. Stewart Hagestad leads the pack, even though he’s not the highest-ranked amateur in the field. He won the U.S. Mid-Am for the third time last year and will play in his third Masters, which is … two more than the No. 9 player in the world, Ludvig Aberg, has played.
Hagestad isn’t the only big name, though. Christo Lamprecht, a 23-year-old South African who won The Amateur last year and took home low am honors at the Open Championship in July, will make his Masters debut. Let’s take a look at the two headliners as well as the other three amateurs who will tee it up for their debut at the most famous golf course in the United States.
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Ranking amateurs in 2024 Masters field
1. Stewart Hagestad (No. 11 in World Amateur Golf Rankings): It’s weird to call an amateur a veteran of the Masters, but Hagestad was low amateur in 2017 when he finished T36. He’s played Augusta National more — both in and out of competition — than several of the professionals in this field. Can he win? No. But he could improve on that T36. Despite not being the top-ranked amateur in the field, to me he is the favorite to finish as low man of everyone on this list.
2. Christo Lamprecht (No. 1): If we’re looking at best future pros, Lamprecht is your guy. Here’s what former amateur and current pro Alex Maguire said about him at The Open last year.
“I was very, very impressed by what he was doing there, and then obviously, the last five or six years he’s come into such an amazing player,” said Maguire. “And at the British Am, I loved to see him win. To be honest, it’s no shock he’s at the top of the leaderboard. He’s so fearless. He hits the ball an absolute mile. I’m sure the bunkers that are sort of 310 or out of reach for him, like he can sort of fly them.”
Maguire may have been underselling. During a range session at The Open, Lamprecht reached the easiest 202 MPH ball speed you will ever see. Whether it translates at Augusta National remains to be seen.
3. Neal Shipley (No. 37): They’ll roll up in droves if he even sniffs contention. Shipley came from out of nowhere to finish second to Nick Dunlap at last year’s U.S. Amateur, and he’s a man who loves the moment.
“When you drive down Magnolia Lane, it really doesn’t even feel real,” Shipley told Amateurgolf.com recently. “It is crazy to think that what I did at the U.S. Amateur led me to that. The biggest thing is thinking through the golf course before the week because there are so many things to learn.”
Shipley is a bit more erratic with his play than the first two players. Of his five college starts for Ohio State in 2024, he has two top-five finishes and two outside the top 40.
Don’t let Neal Shipley get hot, though!
4. Santiago de la Fuente (No. 27): De la Fuente won the Latin America Amateur Championship with a 64 in the final round to secure his first bid to the Masters. He’s been on a heater ever since with four top 20s in four college events for the University of Houston and a made cut at the Mexico Open, which is a PGA Tour event.
De la Fuente has a sweet little swing that should play well at Augusta. Again, the goal for him — and everyone on this list — is to somehow figure out how to make the cut and play the weekend at this tournament. That experience would be invaluable for his career and an extraordinary memory for this season.
5. Jasper Stubbs (No. 335): The outlier here, Stubbs won the Asia-Pacific Amateur toward the end of last year and has mostly played in professional events in Australia since — with little success. While he does not project as a great pro, Stubbs’ story is magical. His parents moved to Melbourne so he and his sister could have access to better golf, and he clearly took advantage all while continuing to help his father with their family business. Stubbs said recently that he learned Augusta National from a video game. Now? He’ll get a proper introduction.