The 2026 Masters is just over 100 days away, but Augusta National remains on golf fans’ minds all year long. This was triggered again last weekend when Ryan Gerard has traveled 10,000 miles from the United States to Mauritius in hopes of finishing T-4 or better at the DP World Tour’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. If he did – spoiler alert: he did, finishing second after losing in a playoff – he would jump into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and secure his invitation thanks to Augusta National holding spots for everyone in the OWGR top 50 by the end of 2025.
Gerard is one of 13 players expected to be in the top 50 when the final rankings are released next week who were not previously qualified for the 2026 Masters. The others include:
Advertisement
Be careful, competing in Masters outside of the OWGR has become one of the most traditional ways to earn an invitation to Augusta. What is new in 2026, however, is that other winners of several national openings have become one of the club’s new qualification criteria. In August, the Masters added exemptions for some first-time event winners, but also removed some events that had already earned an invitation for tour professionals.
The announcement was made in conjunction with the R&A, which also changed its criteria for the 2026 Open Championship. The most significant change was that both majors added automatic byes to their events for winners of various national openings.
The winners of the following tournaments will receive invitations: Scottish Open Spanish Open Japanese Open Hong Kong Open Australian Open South African Open
“The Masters has long recognized the importance of having international representation among its guests,” Fred Ridley, president of the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters, said in a statement. “We and the R&A share a common commitment to world football and are proud to work together. Today’s announcement reinforces our organizations’ collective vision of recognizing the best talent from around the world who rise to the top of historic National Open Championships. We hope this official recognition will shine a spotlight on these players and the events they will represent at the Masters and Open, starting next year.”
Advertisement
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen was the beneficiary of this new invitation when he won the Australian Open earlier this month. He joins the winners from Scotland (Chris Gotterup), Spain (Marco Penge), Japan (Naoyuki Kataoka) and Hong Kong (Tom McKibbin).
More from Golf Digest
Golf abstract logo 50 notable moments in Masters history, ranked
Golf abstract logo The Master’s Treasures Gone, Then the FBI Came
Golf abstract logo A view inside the ropes of Rory McIlroy making history at the Masters
With the addition of new invitation categories, the Masters announced that only winners of PGA Tour events that award FedEx Cup points counting toward the Tour Championship will receive byes for their victories on tour. This means that winners of events held during the PGA Tour’s FedEx Fall tournaments no longer earned a spot in the Masters field.
Advertisement
Ahead of next April, we’ve compiled this first look at everyone who has already earned a spot in the field for next year’s Masters. As of today, the number of qualifiers, including former champions unlikely to play next year, is 101, with 86 likely to play. This includes players expected to move out of OWGR. Of course, there are other ways to qualify in 2026, including winning PGA Tour events and entering the OWGR top 50 a week before the Masters.
Area of mastery (so far)
Ludvig Aberg, 13, 18 years old
Akshay Bhatia, 18 years old
Keegan Bradley, 17 (Travelers), 18
Michael Brennan, 25 years old
Advertisement
Jacob Bridgeman, 18 years old
Sam Burns, 18 years old
Angel Cabrera, 1
Brian Campbell, 17 (John Deere Classic)
Patrick Cantlay, 18 years old
Wyndham Clark, 2, 15 years old
Corey Conners, 13, 18
Fred Couples, 1
Jason Day, 13
Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13, 16
Harris English, 13, 15, 16, 18 years old
Ethan Fang (a), 8 years old
Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 15 years old
Tommy Fleetwood, 17 (tour championship), 18
Ryan Fox, 17 (RBC Canadian Open)
Sergio Garcia, 1
Ryan Gérard, 25 years old
Chris Gotterup, 15, 17 (Scottish Open), 18
Max Greyserman, 25 years old
Ben Griffin, 17 (Charles Schwab), 18
Harry Hall, 18 years old
Brian Harman, 3, 18 years old
Tyrrell Hatton, 14
Russell Henley, 18
Jackson Herrington (a), 7 years old
Rasmus Hojgaard, 25 years old
Max Homa, 13 years old
Advertisement
Brandon Holtz (a), 11 years old
Max Homa, 13 years old
Viktor Hovland, 14, 18 years old
Mason Howell (a), 7 years old
Sungjae Im, 13 years old
Zach Johnson, 1, 13
Dustin Johnson, 1
Naoyuki Kataoka, 21 (Japan Open)
Johnny Keefer, 25 years old
Michael Kim, 25 years old
Si Woo Kim, 25 years old
Kurt Kitayama, 17 years old (3M open)
Brooks Koepka, 4 years old
Michael La Sasso (a), 12 years old
Fifa Laopakdee (a), 9
Min Woo Lee, 25 years old
Haotong Li, 15 years old
Shane Lowry, 18 years old
Robert MacIntyre, 14, 18 years old
Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 18 years old
Rory McIlroy, 1, 5, 13, 18 years old
Tom McKibbin, 22 years old
Maverick McNealy, 18 years old
Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
Collin Morkiawa, 3, 18 years old
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, 23 years old
Alex Noren, 25 years old
Andrew Novak, 18 years old
José María Olazabal, 1
Carlos Ortiz, 14 years old
Marco Penge, 20 years old (Spanish Open)
Advertisement
Aldrich Potgieter, 17 (Rocket Classic)
Jon Rahm, 1, 2
Aaron Rai, 25 years old
Patrick Reed, 1, 13 years old
Kristoffer Reitan, 25 years old
Davis Riley, 16
Justin Rose, 13, 17 (FedEx St. Jude), 18
Alex Schauffele 3, 4, 13
Scottie Scheffler, 1, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 16, 17 (Byron Nelson, PGA, Memorial, Open Championship, BMW), 18
Charl Schwartzel, 1
Adam Scott, 1
Vijay Singh, 1
Cameron Smith, 3 years old
JJ Spaun, 2, 14, 17 (US Open), 18
Jordan Spieth, 1
Sam Stevens, 25 years old
Sepp Straka, 17 years old (Truist), 18 years old
Nick Taylor, 18 years old
Justin Thomas, 4, 17 (RBC Heritage), 18
Sami Valimaki, 25 years old
Bubba Watson, 1
Mike Weir, 1
Danny Willett, 1
Tiger Woods, 1
Cameron Young, 14, 17 (Wyndham), 18
Advertisement
FORMER CHAMPIONS NOT SCHEDULED TO PLAY
Tommy Aaron
Charles Coody
Ben Crenshaw
Nick Faldo
Raymond Floyd
Trevor Immelman
Bernhard Langer
Sandy Lyle
Larry Mize
Jack Nicklaus
Mark O’Meara
Gary Player
Craig Stadler
Tom Watson
Ian Woosnam
Master’s eligibility criteria
1: Champions Masters (lifetime)
2: US Open champions (five years)
3: Open champions (five years)
4: PGA champion (five years)
5: Player Champions (three years)
6: Current Olympic gold medalist (one year)
7: Current American amateur champion and vice-champion (one year)
8: Current British Amateur Champion (one year)
9: Current Asia-Pacific amateur champion (one year)
10: Current Latin American amateur champion (one year)
Advertisement
11: Current United States Mid-Amateur Champion (one year)
12: Current NCAA Division I individual champion (one year)
13: Top 12 players, including ties, from the previous year’s Masters
14: Top 4 players, including ties, at previous year’s US Open
15: Top 4 players, including ties, from the previous year’s Open Championship
16: Top 4 players, including ties, from the previous year’s PGA Championship
17: Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full point allocation applied to the season-ending Tour Championship
18: Those who qualify and are eligible for the previous year’s end-of-season circuit championship
Advertisement
19: Current Scottish Open Champion (one year)
20: Current Spanish Open Champion (one year)
21: Current Japan Open Champion (one year)
22: Current Hong Kong Open Champion (one year)
23: Current Australian Open champion (one year)
24: current South African Open champion (one year)
25: 50 leaders in the final official world golf rankings from the previous calendar year
26: 50 leaders of the official world golf ranking published in the week preceding the current Masters
The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified.
