For golf fans, the countdown to the 2023 Masters is about to reach an intriguing milestone: Come Tuesday there will be just 100 days until the opening round at Augusta National.
Here’s hoping Tom Watson can make it back as an honorary starter after his go-kart accident in November. Meanwhile, the prospect of a new tee box being used on the par-5 13th at Augusta National already has fans anxious for April to get here ASAP.
In thinking about the Masters, the natural instinct is also to think about who is playing in the Masters. That question became far less muddied in recent days after Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley issued a statement regarding the qualifying process for the 2023 tournament, which settled the matter over whether players connected to the LIV Golf League who are banned from playing on the PGA Tour would be prohibited from playing in the year’s first men’s major as well.
Ridley never referred to LIV Golf in the statement and issued a condemnation over the schism in the game that’s arisen in the wake of the launch of the controversial Saudi-back series. “Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it,” Ridley wrote. However, while acknowledging being “disappointed” in these developments, “our focus is to honour the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers.”
“Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament,” Ridley said. “As we have said in the past, we look at every aspect of the Tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future Tournaments will be announced in April.”
With that clarity, players who qualified for the tournament began getting their invitations in the mail.
All told, 16 players from LIV have earned spots to date for the Masters out of a total of 93 invitees, a number that includes all living past champions. Winnowing out those who won a green jacket but no longer play in the tournament, the list of likely competitors is 78, depending on whether 1985 champion Sandy Lyle might call it a career.
Below are the players to have currently earned invitations. There are still a few criteria where players not yet in the field can earn an invitation, most notably by winning a PGA Tour event awarding full FedEx Cup points from January through April. Additionally, the winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship in January earns a spot and anyone in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking a week prior to the Masters.
PLAYER, QUALIFYING CRITERIA NUMBER(S)
Abraham Ancer, 18
Sam Bennett (a), 7
Keegan Bradley, 16 (Zozo)
Sam Burns, 16 (Charles Schwab Challenge), 17
Patrick Cantlay, 16 (BMW), 17
Ben Carr (a), 7
Cameron Champ, 12
Corey Conners, 12, 17
Fred Couples, 1
Harrison Crowe (a), 9
Bryson DeChambeau, 2
Tony Finau, 16 (3M Open, Rocket Mortgage, Houston Open), 17
Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 13, 16 (U.S. Open), 17
Tommy Fleetwood, 14
Ryan Fox, 18
Sergio Garcia, 1
Talor Gooch, 17, 18
Brian Harman, 17
Tyrrell Hatton, 18
Russell Henley, 16 (World Wide Technology)
Tom Hoge, 17
Max Homa, 16 (Wells Fargo, Fortinet), 17
Billy Horschel, 16 (Memorial), 17
Viktor Hovland, 14, 17
Mackenzie Hughes, 16 (Sanderson Farms)
Sungjae Im, 12, 17
Dustin Johnson, 1, 12
Zach Johnson, 1
Tom Kim, 16 (Wyndham, Shriners)
Kevin Kisner, 18
Kurt Kitayama, 18
Brooks Koepka, 2, 4
Jason Kokrak, 18
Bernhard Langer, 1
K.H. Lee, 16 (Byron Nelson), 17
Shane Lowry, 3, 12
Sandy Lyle, 1
Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 13, 17
Matthew McClean (a), 10
Rory McIlroy, 12, 14, 16 (RBC Canadian, CJ Cup), 17
Adrian Meronk, 18
Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
Larry Mize, 1
Francesco Molinari, 3
Collin Morikawa, 3, 4, 12, 17
Kevin Na, 18
Joaquin Niemann, 17
Alex Noren, 18
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
Louis Oosthuizen, 18
Mito Pereira, 15
Thomas Pieters, 18
J.T. Poston, 16 (John Deere), 17
Aldrich Potgieter (a), 8
Seamus Power, 16 (Bermuda)
Jon Rahm, 2, 16 (Mexico), 17
Patrick Reed, 1, 12, 17, 19
Xander Schauffele, 16 (Travelers, Scottish Open), 17
Scottie Scheffler, 1, 12, 13, 16 (Masters), 17
Charl Schwartzel, 1, 12
Adam Scott, 1, 17
Vijay Singh, 1
Cameron Smith, 3, 5, 12, 14, 16 (Open Championship), 17
Jordan Spieth, 1, 16 (RBC Heritage), 17
Scott Stallings, 17
Sepp Straka, 17
Adam Svensson, 16 (RSM Classic)
Sahith Theegala, 17
Justin Thomas, 4, 5, 12, 15, 16 (PGA), 17
Harold Varner III, 18
Bubba Watson, 1
Mike Weir, 1
Danny Willett, 1, 12
Aaron Wise, 17
Tiger Woods, 1
Gary Woodland, 2
Cameron Young, 14, 15, 17
Will Zalatoris, 12, 13, 15, 16 (FedEx St. Jude), 17.
Past champions who did not play in 2022 or said they won’t play in 2023:
Tommy Aaron
Jack Burke, Jr.
Angel Cabrera
Charles Coody
Ben Crenshaw
Nick Faldo
Raymond Floyd
Trevor Immelman
Jack Nicklaus
Mark O’Meara
Gary Player
Craig Stadler
Tom Watson
Ian Woosnam
Fuzzy Zoeller
2023 qualifying categories
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 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (one year)
11: Current Latin America Amateur champion (one year)
12: First 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters
13: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open
14: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Open Championship
15: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship
16: Winners of PGA Tour regular-season and playoff events that award at least a full allocation of FedEx Cup points
17: Qualifiers from the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship (top 30 in FedEx Cup)
18: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
19: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters
