That brings the field to 86 players likely to participate — a list that includes Tiger Woods, who has not yet announced whether he will play — heading into the new year.
Players can still earn invites by winning a PGA Tour event (excluding opposing events) or by placing in the top 50 a week before the Masters.
Although the final world rankings won’t be published for another week, there are no other tournaments that influence the top 50 and the OWGR has already predicted the top 50. Sam Stevens will finish at number 50 by a narrow margin over Canada’s Taylor Pendrith.
Alex Noren at No. 11 is the highest-ranked player not yet eligible, thanks to two wins in England, including the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (Nedbank Golf Challenge, Michael Kim (French Open), Finland’s Sami Valimaki (RSM Classic) and Michael Brennan (Utah Championship) all won tournaments in the fall that helped secure their places in the world rankings.
The others who will finish in the top 50 are Aaron Rai, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim and Johnny Keefer.
Brennan and Keefer present unique cases. Brennan spent most of 2025 on the PGA Tour Americas circuit, two steps down from the PGA Tour. He won three times and had nine other top-10 finishes. And then he got a sponsor’s exemption into the Bank of Utah Championship and won his first PGA Tour title, which vaulted him into the top 50.
Keefer was on the Korn Ferry Tour and won twice, allowing him to break into the top 50 and barely keep his spot.
The Masters changed their criteria this year, eliminating an invitation to the FedExCup Fall events and replacing them with national openers around the world. Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen came in by winning the Australian Open, while Marco Penge (Spanish Open) and LIV Golf’s Tom McKibbin (Hong Kong Open) also qualified.
The Masters are keen to keep the field below 100 players – that number hasn’t been exceeded since 1966 – and it looks like they’re on track to stay that way. Two spots will be filled at the Latin America Amateur Championship in January and the South African Open in February.
There are twelve major PGA Tour events leading up to the Masters on April 9 and 12, including four major events for which most of the field is already eligible.
Woods did not play a tournament in 2025, first because of a torn Achilles tendon, and then because of a seventh back surgery. His recovery is close to allowing him to play and he will likely be healthy enough for the Masters.
Gerard was ranked No. 57 in the world when he chose to go to Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Open, for a tournament co-sanctioned by the European tour and the Sunshine Tour of South Africa. He had to finish fourth and lost in a play-off to Jayden Schaper.
Si Woo Kim went into the Australian Open and finished third, giving him enough points to move into the top 50.
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