With the first Major of the year, The Masters at Augusta National, fast approaching, the field is beginning to take shape with 84 currently confirmed for the tournament.
One of the most interesting aspects of the 2023 tournament will be the inclusion of eligible LIV Golf players. There had been debate as to whether those players would be barred from competing in the tournament. However, that was settled in December when Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley confirmed that invitations would be going out to all those on the circuit who had qualified.
That means the likes of former winners Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson will all be appearing in the tournament thanks to the lifetime exemptions granted to them after wearing the Green Jacket.
They will be joined by other eligible LIV Golf players, including 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka and 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, whose wins in those tournaments guarantee them a place for the five years after their most recent.
As well as those who have qualified thanks to previous Major victories, LIV Golf players who were ranked in the world’s top 50 at the end of last year can also play, including Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III and Mito Pereira.
Away from LIV Golf, other ex-winners in the field include 1987 champion Larry Mize, who has announced this year will be his last, and the player who won the year after, Sandy Lyle. After the Genesis Invitational, six-time winner Tiger Woods also confirmed he is aiming to play in tournament, while Scottie Scheffler returns to defend his title.
World No.1 Jon Rahm will be going in search of his second Major at the tournament. The Spaniard has had four top-10 finishes at Augusta National, bookended by ties for 27th in 2017 and last year.
One of the standout players of last year’s final round was Rory McIlroy, whose barnstorming performance left him runner-up behind Scheffler. The Northern Irishman is searching for a career Grand Slam. If he achieves it, he will also end a nine-year wait without a Major win.
Other big names in the field include 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama, 2015 champion Jordan Spieth, PGA Champion Justin Thomas and two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa. Ridley has also handed out a couple of special invitations for the 2023 tournament, with Kazuki Higa and Gordon Sargent set to compete in it for the first time.
In total, there are 19 ways to qualify for The Masters, per the official website. Below, we list the criteria, the field and the ways each player qualified.
The Masters Qualifying Criteria 2023
1. Masters Tournament Champions (lifetime)
2. US Open Champions (honorary, non-competing after five years)
3. The Open Champions (honorary, non-competing after five years)
4. PGA Champions (honorary, non-competing after five years)
5. Winners of The Players Championship (three years)
6. Current Olympic Gold Medalist (one year)
7. Current US Amateur Champion (7-A) (honorary, non-competing after one year) and the runner-up (7-B) to the current US Amateur Champion
8. Current The Amateur Champion (honorary, non-competing after one year)
9. Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion (one year)
10. Current Latin America Amateur Champion (one year)
11. Current US Mid-Amateur Champion (one year)
12. The first 12 players, including ties, in the previous year's Masters Tournament
13. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's US Open
14. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's The Open Championship
15. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's PGA Championship
16. Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters
17. Those qualifying for the previous year's season-ending Tour Championship
18. The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
19. The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament
The Masters Field And Individual Qualifying Routes 2023
- Ancer, Abraham (18)
- Bennett, Sam (7-A)
- Bradley, Keegan (16,18)
- Burns, Sam (16,17,18)
- Cantlay, Patrick (16,17,18)
- Carr, Ben (7-B)
- Champ, Cameron (12)
- Conners, Corey (12,17,18)
- Couples, Fred (1)
- Crowe, Harrison (9)
- DeChambeau, Bryson (2)
- Fernandez de Oliveira, Mateo (10)
- Finau, Tony (16,17,18)
- Fitzpatrick, Matthew (2,17,18)
- Fleetwood, Tommy (14, 18)
- Fox, Ryan (18)
- Garcia, Sergio (1)
- Gooch, Talor (17, 18)
- Harman, Brian (17, 18)
- Hatton, Tyrrell (18)
- Henley, Russell (16,18)
- Higa, Kazuki
- Hoge, Tom (17,18)
- Homa, Max (16,17,18)
- Horschel, Billy (16,17,18)
- Hovland, Viktor (14,17,18)
- Hughes, Mackenzie (16,18)
- Im, Sungjae (12,17,18)
- Johnson, Dustin (1,12,18)
- Johnson, Zach (1)
- Kim, Si Woo (16)
- Kim, Tom (16,18)
- Kirk, Chris (16)
- Kisner, Kevin (18)
- Kitayama, Kurt (18)
- Koepka, Brooks (2,4)
- Kokrak, Jason (18)
- Langer, Bernhard (1)
- Lee, KH ((16,17,18)
- Lowry, Shane (3,12,18)
- Lyle, Sandy (1)
- Matsuyama, Hideki (1,3,17,18)
- McClean, Matthew (11)
- McIlroy, Rory (12,14,16,17,18)
- Meronk, Adrian (18)
- Mickelson, Phil (1,4)
- Mize, Larry (1)
- Molinari, Francesco (3)
- Morikawa, Collin (3,4,12,17,18)
- Na, Kevin (18)
- Niemann, Joaquin (17,18)
- Noren, Alex (18)
- Olazabal, Jose Maria (1)
- Oosthuizen, Louis (18)
- Pereira, Mito (15,18)
- Pieters, Thomas (18)
- Poston, JT (16,17)
- Potgieter, Aldric (8)
- Power, Seamus (16,18)
- Rahm, Jon (2,16,17,18)
- Reed, Patrick (1)
- Rose, Justin (16)
- Sargent, Gordon
- Schauffele, Xander (16,17,18)
- Scheffler, Scottie (1,3,16,17,18)
- Schwartzel, Charl (1,12)
- Scott, Adam (1,17,18)
- Singh, Vijay (1)
- Smith, Cameron (3,5,12,17,18)
- Spieth, Jordan (1,16,17,18)
- Stallings, Scott (17)
- Straka, Sepp (17,18)
- Svensson, Adam (16)
- Theegala, Sahith (17,18)
- Thomas, Justin (4,5,12,17,18)
- Varner III, Harold (18)
- Watson, Bubba (1)
- Weir, Mike (1)
- Willett, Danny (1,12)
- Wise, Aaron (18)
- Woodland, Gary (2)
- Woods, Tiger (1)
- Young, Cameron (14,15,17,18)
- Zalatoris, Will (12,13,15,16,17,18)
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