It’s late October, the days are getting shorter and the golf calendar is running shy on big events in the near future. Even so, there remains one golf spectacle where it’s never too early to look ahead, even if it’s still a little more than five months away.
We’re talking, of course, about the Masters, arguably the most anticipated tournament of the year given the long major championship lull from the last round of the Open Championship to the first round at Augusta National (263 days, but who’s counting).
The golf world’s interest in the event remains strong albeit a bit less festive given the challenges facing the Augusta, Ga., area in the wake of Hurricane Helene and the damage it has left behind—including to Augusta National itself. The hope, of course, is that the region has time to recover before hosting golf fans once again.
In an attempt to hold you over until next April, we compiled this early look at everybody who has already earned a spot in the field for next year’s Masters. We write this post with a caveat: We’re working off the presumption that the qualifying criteria for the 2025 event will mirror what was used in 2024.
To date, the number who have qualified, including past champions unlikely to play next year, is 88. There’s still a way to play your way into the event before 2024 comes to an end; winners of the remaining PGA Tour events on the fall schedule will earn spots as will all the players ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking at year’s end. Here’s everybody who’s believed to be on the invite list already, in alphabetical order.
Ludvig Aberg, 13, 18
Byeong Hun An, 18
Jose Luis Ballester (a), 7
Evan Beck (a), 11
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 18
Akshay Bhatia, 18
Keegan Bradley, 17 (BMW), 18
Sam Burns, 18
Patrick Cantlay, 14, 18
Wyndham Clark, 2, 18
Fred Couples, 1
Cameron Davis, 13, 17 (Rocket Mortgage)
Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13, 14, 16, 17 (U.S. Open)
Thomas Detry, 16
Tony Finau, 14, 18
Matt Fitzpatrick, 2
Tommy Fleetwood, 13, 18
Sergio Garcia, 1
Brian Harman, 3
Tyrrell Hatton, 13
Russell Henley, 18
Tom Hoge, 18
Max Homa, 13
Billy Horschel, 15, 18
Viktor Hovland, 16, 18
Sungjae Im, 18
Dustin Johnson, 1
Zach Johnson, 1
Noah Kent (a), 7
Chris Kirk, 18
Patton Kizzire, 17 (Procore)
Brooks Koepka, 4
Bernhard Langer, 1
Thriston Lawrence, 15
Shane Lowry, 3, 18
Robert MacIntyre, 17 (RBC Canadian Open, Scottish Open), 18
Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 17 (FedEx St. Jude), 18
Matt McCarty, 17 (Black Desert)
Rory McIlroy, 14, 17 (Wells Fargo), 18
Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
Collin Morikawa, 3, 4, 13, 16, 18
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
Jacob Skov Olesen (a), 8
Matthieu Pavon, 13, 18
Taylor Pendrith, 17 (CJ Cup Bryon Nelson), 18
J.T. Poston, 17 (Shriners Children’s Open)
Jon Rahm, 1, 2
Aaron Rai, 17 (Wyndham), 18
Patrick Reed, 1, 13
Davis Riley, 17 (Charles Schwab Challenge)
Justin Rose, 15
Xander Schaufelle, 3, 4, 13, 16, 17 (PGA, Open Championship), 18
Scottie Scheffler, 1, 5, 13, 17 (RBC Heritage, Memorial, Travelers), 18
Adam Schenk, 13
Charl Schwartzel, 1
Adam Scott, 1, 18
Vijay Singh, 1
Cameron Smith, 3, 13
Jordan Spieth, 1
Sepp Straka, 18
Hiroshi Tai (a), 12
Sahith Theegala, 18
Justin Thomas, 4, 18
Davis Thompson, 17 (John Deere)
Jhonattan Vegas, 17 (3M Open)
Bubba Watson, 1
Mike Weir, 1
Danny Willett, 1
Tiger Woods, 1
Cameron Young, 13
Kevin Yu, 17 (Sanderson)
Will Zalatoris, 13
QUALIFIED BUT NOT PLAYING BECAUSE HE TURNED PRO
Wenyi Ding, 9
PAST CHAMPIONS NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY
Tommy Aaron
Angel Cabrera
Charles Coody
Ben Crenshaw
Nick Faldo
Raymond Floyd
Trevor Immelman
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)
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
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 FedEx Cup allocation, from previous Masters to current Masters
18: Those qualifying and eligible for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
19: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
20: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters
Article originally appeared on: Golf.com
