There will be a critical eye placed on Nos.45-55 in the world ranking over the next four weeks, with many heralded players occupying those spots teeing it up at a time they might otherwise be taking a break from golf to either protect, or improve, their respective positions.
The 2020 Masters will forever be a visual anomaly, the typically sparkling green fairways of Augusta National Golf Club still present, but framed not amid blooming white and pink spring azaleas but orange and brown autumn foliage.
With the seven-shot victory over fellow LIV golfer Peter Uihlein, 22-year-old Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin earned exemptions into the 2026 Masters and Open Championship.
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said a surge in the percentage of international players competing in the Masters in recent years was the inspiration to award the winners of the Australian Open and five other national opens a spot into the April major in the future.
Marco Penge is heading to the US in 2026, which includes a stop at Augusta National, after the Englishman outlasted Dan Brown in a playoff to capture the Open de Espana.
The Australian Open has been given an enormous boost by being named as one of a handful of national championships that will award the champion an invitation to the Masters, after a bombshell announcement by Augusta National and the R&A.
The PGA Tour officially closes the book on the 2025 Masters on Thursday at the RBC Heritage, but the reverberations of Rory McIlroy’s career-Grand-Slam-clinching victory continue to reverberate across the world.
Rory McIlroy’s breakthrough win at the 2025 Masters didn’t just etch his name into golfing immortality — it also delivered a $76,500 bonanza for Australian club golfers who took a punt on the Northern Irishman through an audacious tour company promotion.
Australian Golf Digest
