MASTERS TOURNAMENT SET FOR SMALL FIELD

Invitations to compete in the 2024 Masters Tournament started landing on the doormats of a select group of professional golfers over the last week, providing a welcome addition to the usual of collection of late Christmas cards and flyers for local pizza delivery companies and gutter repair quotes.

It’s an especially exciting moment for those for whom it marks their first appearance at Augusta National, while even seasoned campaigners who have beaten a well-trodden path up Magnolia Drive never get tired of opening up that dark green envelope which contains the key to one of the most cherished experiences in golf.

The field currently stands at 77, including all of the world’s top 50 at the end of 2023, plus PGA Tour winners for events between the last Masters and now, past champions who have said that they will compete, and the latest winners of the US, English, Latin America and Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships.

Anyone not already in the field who wins a PGA Tour event between now and when the Masters begins on April 7 will be added to the line-up, as will those who break into the world’s top-50 during that period.

Depending on how many more players qualify between now and April, the field could be one of the smallest in recent years. In the last decade, the fewest number of competitors has been 87, which was registered in 2018 and 2019.

As things stand, as many as ten LIV Golf League players are due to take part in the season’s first major, including defending Masters champion Jon Rahm, Bryson deChambeau, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba Watson and Cameron Smith.

Jon Rahm will be back to defend his Masters title in April, but this time as a LIV golfer

2024 Masters Tournament Invitees (A-Z)

Tommy Aaron

Ludvig Aberg

Keegan Bradley

Jack Burke

Sam Burns

Angel Cabrera

Patrick Cantlay

Wyndham Clark

Eric Cole

Corey Conners

Charles Coody

Fred Couples

Ben Crenshaw

Cam Davis

Jason Day

Bryson DeChambeau

Nick Dunlap (a)

Harris English

Nick Faldo

Tony Finau

Matt Fitzpatrick

Tommy Fleetwood

Rickie Fowler

Ryan Fox

Sergio Garcia

Lucas Glover

Emiliano Grillo

Adam Hadwin

Stewart Hagestad (a)

Brian Harman

Tyrrell Hatton

Russell Henley

Lee Hodges

Nicolai Hojgaard

Max Homa

Viktor Hovland

Sungjae Im

Dustin Johnson

Zach Johnson

Tom Kim

Si Woo Kim

Kurt Kitayama

Brooks Koepka

Christo Lamprechet (a)

Bernhard Langer

Min Woo Lee

Luke List

Shane Lowry

Hideki Matsuyama

Denny McCarthy

Rory McIlroy

Adrian Meronk

Phil Mickelson

Taylor Moore

Collin Morikawa

Jose Maria Olazabal

J.P. Poston

Jon Rahm

Patrick Reed

Justin Rose

Xander Schauffele

Scottie Scheffler

Adam Schenk

Charl Schwartzel

Adam Scott

Neal Shipley (a)

Vijay Singh

Cameron Smith

Jordan Spieth

Sepp Straka

Jasper Stubbs (a)

Nick Taylor

Sahith Theegala

Justin Thomas

Erik van Rooyen

Camilo Villegas

Bubba Watson

Mike Weir

Danny Willett

Gary Woodland

Tiger Woods

Cameron Young

Will Zalatoris