Golf

Masters field for 2024 likely to be the smallest in years

Only 77 players expected to compete at Augusta National, although invitations could be offered to non-PGA Tour regulars

Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National in Georgia. Photograph: David Cannon/Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National in Georgia. Photograph: David Cannon/Getty Images
Tue Dec 19 2023 - 19:17

The Masters, which already has the smallest field of the Majors, could have even fewer players than usual in 2024 depending on the first three months of the PGA Tour season.

With no significant tournaments for the rest of the year, it looks as though 11 players who finish in the top 50 will be added to the field. That would bring the total to 77 players among those expected to compete.

That figure includes three players who will be making their Masters debut without having won on the PGA Tour or European Tour – Adam Schenk, Eric Cole and Denny McCarthy. Schenk qualified by reaching the Tour Championship for the first time.

The 11 expected to get in through being in the top 50 in the world ranking are Ryan Fox, Min Woo Lee, McCarthy, Will Zalatoris, Justin Rose, Harris English, Cole, JT Poston, Adrian Meronk, Adam Hadwin and Nicolai Højgaard. Four players – Luke List, Erik van Rooyen, Camilo Villegas and Ludvig Aberg – earned invitations by winning PGA Tour events in autumn.

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One additional player will be the winner of the Latin American Amateur Championship in January. Otherwise, the pass down Magnolia Lane in April comes from winning a full PGA Tour event – there are 14 of them before the Masters – or being in the top 50 on April 7th, the week before it starts. There also could be a special invitation for international players who are not PGA Tour regulars.

Augusta National prefers the field to be less than 100, a number it last exceeded in 1966 when 103 players took to the 1st tee.