WWT Championship Field: Sponsor Invitation Johnny Keefer Could Still Earn a Masters Invitation If He Won

Johnny Keefer’s chances of qualifying for his first Masters in April next year have just received a nice boost.

Keefer, this year’s Korn Ferry Tour points winner, cracked the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career last week, but this week’s three finishes showed he needed at least one start in the world rankings to earn that top-50 exemption to Augusta National at year’s end. Join us next week for the World Wide Technology Championship, where Keefer will compete as a sponsor exemption.

While the Masters removed exemptions for PGA Tour fall winners, a win for Keefer in Mexico would move him safely into the top 50 in the world.

There are also opportunities for Keefer to earn sponsor exemptions for the final two PGA Tour events of the fall, the Butterfield Bermuda Championship and RSM Classic, and Keefer could also qualify for both on Monday if he doesn’t receive an invitation. He could also find a place to compete internationally, or he could take his chances next year by either winning the PGA Tour or making the second top-50 cutoff the week before the Masters.

“What I’ve accomplished so far is really amazing, just to be in this position to even think about the Masters next year before I even play a PGA Tour event as a full-time member,” Keefer said a few weeks ago on Golf Channel’s College Golf Talk podcast. “I’m not a big fan of thinking about the numbers too much. If I compete in one or two events this fall, I’ll be super excited and ready to go out and be ready to compete, but I think it’s like thinking about the cut line instead of thinking about winning. … I’m not just trying to make it to the Masters; even if I don’t make it this year, I’ll have plenty of chances next year.”

The WWT Championship will take place at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal Course at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico.

There are two recent big winners in the field, JJ Spaun and Wyndham Clark, as well as last week’s winner Michael Brennan, who headed to KFT next year before making the most of his sponsor invite to the Bank of Utah Championship.

The other three unrestricted sponsor exemptions are Will Gordon, Peter Knade and current Florida State junior Tyler Weaver, who won Cabo Collegiate last spring.

David Lipsky, currently No. 100 in FedExCup points, is in the field, but No. 101 Billy Horschel is not; However, Horschel is in no danger of losing his fully exempt status. That’s not the case for No. 102 Sami Valimaki, No. 103 Isaiah Salinda and No. 104 Patrick Fishburn, all of whom play Cabo.

Here is the full field list: