The 2026 Masters is still roughly three months away, but Augusta National remains on the minds of golf fans all year round. It was triggered again this past weekend when Mateo Pulcini claimed the title at the Latin America Amateur Championship. The 25-year-old from Argentina won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with Virgilio Paz Valdes, earning a bid into the year's first men's major along with spots in the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
Pulcini joins the list of intriguing first-timers set to compete this year. Among them is Ryan Gerard, who traveled 10,000 miles from the U.S. to Mauritius in hopes of finishing T-4 or better in the DP World Tour's AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December. If he did it—spoiler alert: he did, finishing second after losing a playoff—he'd jump into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and secure his invite thanks to Augusta National holding spots for everyone in the OWGR top 50 at the end of 2025. (Gerard was one of 13 players who were inside the top 50 when the OWGR revealed the final year-end ranking who weren't previously qualified for the 2026 Masters. The others include: Alex Noren, Aaron Rai, Kristoffer Reitan, Max Greyserman, Michael Brennan, Michael Kim, Sami Valimaki, Rasmus Hojgaard, Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim, Johnny Keefer and Sam Stevens.)
Mind you, getitng into the Masters off the OWGR has become one of the more traditional ways to earn an invite to Augusta. What's new in 2026 is the addition of winners from several national opens under one of the club's new qualifying criteria. Last August, the Masters added exemptions for some new event winners, making the announcement 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.
Winners of the following tournaments now will receive 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.”
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen was the beneficiary of this new invite when he won the Australian Open in December. He joined the Scottish (Chris Gotterup), Spanish (Marco Penge), Japan (Naoyuki Kataoka) and Hong Kong (Tom McKibbin) winners.
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 meants that winners from events held during the PGA Tour’s FedEx Fall tournaments no longer earned a spot in the Masters field.
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In anticipation for next April, we compiled this early look at everybody who has already earned a spot in the field for this year’s Masters. To date, the number who have qualified, including past champions, is 102, with 87 likely to play. For those who have not qualified, the number of ways to do so in 2026 is starting to run out. In addition to the winner of the South Africa Open, held in March, only winners of a PGA Tour event that gives out full FedEx Cup points between now and April can qualify, along with any player in the top 50 of the OWGR a week prior to the Masters.
Masters field (so far)
Ludvig Aberg, 13, 18, 25
Akshay Bhatia, 18, 25
Keegan Bradley, 17 (Travelers), 18, 25
Michael Brennan, 25
Jacob Bridgeman, 18
Sam Burns, 18, 25
Angel Cabrera, 1
Brian Campbell, 17 (John Deere Classic)
Patrick Cantlay, 18, 25
Wyndham Clark, 2, 15, 25
Corey Conners, 13, 18, 25
Fred Couples, 1
Jason Day, 13
Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13, 16, 25
Harris English, 13, 15, 16, 18, 25
Ethan Fang (a), 8
Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 15, 25
Tommy Fleetwood, 17 (Tour Championship), 18, 25
Ryan Fox, 17 (RBC Canadian Open), 25
Sergio Garcia, 1
Ryan Gerard, 25
Chris Gotterup, 15, 17 (Scottish Open), 18, 25
Max Greyserman, 25
Ben Griffin, 17 (Charles Schwab), 18, 25
Harry Hall, 18
Brian Harman, 3, 18, 25
Tyrrell Hatton, 14, 25
Russell Henley, 18, 25
Jackson Herrington (a), 7
Rasmus Hojgaard, 25
Max Homa, 13
Brandon Holtz (a), 11
Max Homa, 13
Viktor Hovland, 14, 18, 25
Mason Howell (a), 7
Sungjae Im, 13, 25
Zach Johnson, 1, 13
Dustin Johnson, 1
Naoyuki Kataoka, 21 (Japan Open)
Johnny Keefer, 25
Michael Kim, 25
Si Woo Kim, 25
Kurt Kitayama, 17 (3M Open), 25
Brooks Koepka, 4
Michael La Sasso (a), 12
Fifa Laopakdee (a), 9
Min Woo Lee, 25
Haotong Li, 15
Shane Lowry, 18, 25
Robert MacIntyre, 14, 18, 25
Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 18, 25
Rory McIlroy, 1, 5, 13, 18, 25
Tom McKibbin, 22
Maverick McNealy, 18, 25
Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
Collin Morkiawa, 3, 18, 25
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, 23, 25
Alex Noren, 25
Andrew Novak, 18, 25
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
Carlos Ortiz, 14
Marco Penge, 20 (Spanish Open), 25
Aldrich Potgieter, 17 (Rocket Classic)
Mateo Pulcini (a), 10
Jon Rahm, 1, 2
Aaron Rai, 25
Patrick Reed, 1, 13, 25
Kristoffer Reitan, 25
Davis Riley, 16
Justin Rose, 13, 17 (FedEx St. Jude), 18, 25
Xander Schauffele 3, 4, 13, 25
Scottie Scheffler, 1, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 16, 17 (Byron Nelson, PGA, Memorial, Open Championship, BMW), 18, 25
Charl Schwartzel, 1
Adam Scott, 1
Vijay Singh, 1
Cameron Smith, 3
J.J. Spaun, 2, 14, 17 (U.S. Open), 18, 25
Jordan Spieth, 1
Sam Stevens, 25
Sepp Straka, 17 (Truist), 18, 25
Nick Taylor, 18
Justin Thomas, 4, 17 (RBC Heritage), 18, 25
Sami Valimaki, 25
Bubba Watson, 1
Mike Weir, 1
Danny Willett, 1
Tiger Woods, 1
Cameron Young, 14, 17 (Wyndham), 18, 25
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
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 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)
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.