[Photo: Getty images/Min Woo Lee Instagram]
With the 2026 Masters now just over 100 days away (April 9-12, finishing Monday morning, April 13 for Australian TV viewers), the anticipation for Augusta National is beginning to increase. For Australian golf fans, the early field already carries a decent green-and-gold presence although we’d like to see it grow before the first major of the year.
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Four Australians have already been invited to next April’s tournament: Min Woo Lee, Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, and Jason Day.
Lee’s invitation was secured via the year-end Official World Golf Ranking top-50 exemption, one of the most competitive pathways into the Masters. The West Australian was among a group of players who surged inside the cut-off late in 2025, thanks to collecting OWGR points from a T-10 at the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan, a T-5 at the Australian PGA and a T-14 at the Australian Open.
Smith and Scott remain Masters mainstays thanks to their major-winning pedigrees. Smith, the 2022 Open champion at St Andrews, continues to qualify through his recent major exemption, while Scott –Australia’s only Masters winner – retains his lifetime invitation from his historic 2013 victory. More than a decade on, Scott’s presence at Augusta is a reminder of Australia’s rarefied place in Masters history.
Day, who is only just outside the top 50 in the world at No.54, rounds out the confirmed Australian contingent. The former world No.1 and the 2015 PGA champion, Day earned his exemption by finishing in the top 10 and ties at the 2025 Masters, where he was T-8.
The 2026 Masters also ushers in a notable change to qualifying, with Augusta National now extending automatic invitations to winners of select national opens – including the Australian Open won by Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
As of December 29, the number who had already qualified, including past champions unlikely to play next year, is 101, with 86 likely to play. Of course there are more ways to qualify in 2026, including winning PGA Tour events as well as earning your way into the top 50 of the OWGR a week prior to the Masters.
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For now, Australia’s core quartet is locked in. Australian golf fans will be keenly watching to see if Cameron Davis and Karl Vilips, both PGA Tour winners, can take chances over the next three months to earn Masters invitations.
2026 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
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 Morikawa, 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)
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.
