The 2026 Masters is less than 180 days days away, but Augusta National remains on the minds of golf fans all year round. It was triggered again this past weekend when one of the club’s new qualifying criteria for 2026 allowed Marco Penge to earn an invitation thanks to his victory at the Spanish Open. In August, the Masters added exemptions for some new event winners but also dropped some events that previous earned tour pros an invite.
The announcement was made in conjunction with the R&A, which also altered its criteria for the 2026 Open Championship. The biggest change was that both majors added automatic exemptions into their events for winners of various national opens.
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Winners of the following tournaments will benefit from the invitations: Scottish Open Spanish Open Japan Open Hong Kong Open Australian Open South African Open
“The Masters Tournament has long recognized the significance of having international representation among its invitees,” said Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, in a release. “We, along with the R&A, have a shared commitment to the global game and are proud to work together. Today’s announcement strengthens our organizations’ collective vision of rewarding top talent around the world who rise to the top of historic national open championships. We hope this formal recognition shines a bright light on these players and the events they will represent at the Masters and the Open, beginning next year.”
Before the Spanish Open was held this past week, only the Scottish Open winner had been determined ahead of next year’s Masters, Chris Gotterup winning that event in July.
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With the addition of the new invitation categories, the Masters announced that only winners of PGA Tour events that give out FedEx Cup points that count toward the Tour Championship will get exemptions for their tour victories. This means that winners from events held during the PGA Tour’s FedEx Fall tournaments will no longer earn a spot in the Masters field.
In anticipation for next April, we compiled this early look at everybody who has already earned a spot in the field for next year’s Masters. To date, the number who have qualified, including past champions unlikely to play next year, is 84, with 68 likely to play. This includes all the winners of PGA Tour events through the Tour Championship as well as all those who qualified to play at East Lake.
Masters field (so far)
Ludvig Aberg, 13, 18
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Akshay Bhatia, 18
Keegan Bradley, 17 (Travelers), 18
Jacob Bridgeman, 18
Sam Burns, 18
Angel Cabrera, 1
Brian Campbell, 17 (John Deere Classic)
Patrick Cantlay, 18
Wyndham Clark, 2, 15
Corey Conners, 13, 18
Fred Couples, 1
Jason Day, 13
Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13, 16
Harris English, 13, 15, 16, 18
Ethan Fang (a), 8
Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 15
Tommy Fleetwood, 17 (Tour Championship), 18
Ryan Fox, 17 (RBC Canadian Open)
Sergio Garcia, 1
Chris Gotterup, 15, 17 (Scottish Open), 18
Ben Griffin, 17 (Charles Schwab), 18
Harry Hall, 18
Brian Harman, 3, 18
Tyrrell Hatton, 14
Russell Henley, 18
Jackson Herrington (a), 7
Max Homa, 13
Viktor Hovland, 14, 18
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Mason Howell (a), 7
Sungjae Im, 13
Zach Johnson, 1, 13
Dustin Johnson, 1
Kurt Kitayama, 17 (3M Open)
Brooks Koepka, 4
Michael La Sasso (a), 12
Haotong Li, 15
Shane Lowry, 18
Robert MacIntyre, 14, 18
Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 18
Rory McIlroy, 1, 5, 13, 18
Maverick McNealy, 18
Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
Collin Morkiawa, 3, 18
Andrew Novak, 18
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
Carlos Ortiz, 14
Marco Penge, 20
Aldrich Potgieter, 17 (Rocket Classic)
Jon Rahm, 1, 2
Patrick Reed, 1, 13
Davis Riley, 16
Justin Rose, 13, 17 (FedEx St. Jude), 18
Xander Schauffele 3, 4, 13
Scottie Scheffler, 1, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 16, 17 (Byron Nelson, PGA, Memorial, Open Championship, BMW), 18
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Charl Schwartzel, 1
Adam Scott, 1
Vijay Singh, 1
Cameron Smith, 3
J.J. Spaun, 2, 14, 17 (U.S. Open), 18
Jordan Spieth, 1
Sepp Straka, 17 (Truist), 18
Nick Taylor, 18
Justin Thomas, 4, 17 (RBC Heritage), 18
Bubba Watson, 1
Mike Weir, 1
Danny Willett, 1
Tiger Woods, 1
Cameron Young, 14, 17 (Wyndham), 18
PAST CHAMPIONS NOT EXPECTED 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
Fuzzy Zoeller
Masters qualifying criteria
1: Masters champions (lifetime)
2: U.S. Open champions (five years)
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3: Open champions (five years)
4: PGA champion (five years)
5: Players champion (three years)
6: Current Olympic gold medalist (one year)
7: Current U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up (one year)
8: Current British Amateur champion (one year)
9: Current Asia-Pacific Amateur champion (one year)
10: Current Latin America Amateur champion (one year)
11: Current U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (one year)
12: Current NCAA Division I Men’s Individual champion (one year)
13: First 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters
14: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open
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15: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Open Championship
16: First 4 players, including ties, in 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 qualifying and eligible for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
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)
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24: Current South African Open Champion (One year)
25: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
26: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters
The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified.
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