The field for the 2024 Masters has been finalized, with 89 golfers set to vie for the green jacket at Augusta National Golf Club from April 11-14. Some of the competitors are grizzled PGA veterans, while others will be competing at Augusta for the very first time. The latter list comprises nearly a quarter of the field, with 20 Masters first-timers -- including some pretty notable names -- in the field. The 20 Masters newbies include 16 pros and four amateurs.
This year's class of Masters rookies will hope to join exclusive company, as there have been only three champions among first-time competitors heading into this 88th Masters, and just one such champion across the last 85 times the tournament has been held. Horton Smith won the first Masters in 1934, and Gene Sarazen won the tournament in his debut the next year in 1935, but since then, Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 is the only Masters debutant to finish atop the leaderboard.
Let's take a look at the first-timers looking to drive, wedge and putt their way into the history books.
2024 Masters Amateur Debutants
Wyndham Clark (Official World Golf Ranking: 4)
It's easy to forget that Clark was pretty much a nobody this time last year, as the 30-year-old American has been one of the top players in the world since he came out of nowhere to win the 2023 U.S. Open. Clark has been dealing with a back injury lately, but you could make a strong case he has the best chance among this year's Masters newcomers to break the 45-year Masters rookie champion drought.
Ludvig Aberg (Official World Golf Ranking: 9)
Aberg will be making his major championship debut, but the 24-year-old Swede is already a household name on the European Tour, where he won the European Masters this past September. With impressive length off the tee, Aberg's game is built to handle Augusta's numerous obstacles to success. This is likely to be the first of many Masters appearances for Aberg considering he's already top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Matthieu Pavon (Official World Golf Ranking: 25)
Pavon's victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in January marked the first PGA Tour win by a Frenchman since Arnaud Massy in 1907. No matter what happens in his Masters debut, 2024 has already been a successful year for the 31-year-old Pavon, who will be playing in his first PGA Tour major since a 25th-place finish at the 2018 US Open. He also missed the cut at the Open Championship in 2017.
Denny McCarthy (Official World Golf Ranking: 30)
McCarthy was bested by Akshay Bhatia in a playoff at the recently completed Valero Texas Open, but the runner-up had already locked down his Masters spot by virtue of finishing 2023 in the top 50 of the OWGR. That 2023 season included a 29th-place finish at the PGA Championship and a missed cut at the Open Championship, and McCarthy tied for seventh at the 2022 US Open in his PGA Tour major debut. The late-blooming 31-year-old is one of the best putters in the game, but he could struggle to consistently reach the green in regulation at Augusta.
Akshay Bhatia (Official World Golf Ranking: 34)
Bhatia was the 89th and final golfer to earn a spot in the 2024 Masters field, as he got in by winning the Valero Texas Open on April 7. The 22-year-old's victory came in dramatic fashion, as he edged out McCarthy in a playoff. Bhatia had an impressive amateur career prior to joining the PGA Tour in 2019, and he could be a player to watch at the Masters given his strong current form, even though the lefty's only previous major appearance was at the 2021 US Open, where Bhatia tied for 57th.
Nicolai Hojgaard (Official World Golf Ranking: 38)
Hojgaard capped a successful 2023 season on the European Tour with a victory at the DP World Tour Championship in November, and the 23-year-old Dane is ready for bigger and better things on the PGA Tour. He made his first two PGA Tour major appearances in 2023 and held his own, placing 50th at the PGA Championship and 23rd at the Open Championship.
Eric Cole (Official World Golf Ranking: 40)
We're in an era of athletes finding nearly unprecedented success well into their 30s, and while Cole is no Novak Djokovic or LeBron James, he nonetheless boasts an impressive story of his own and is playing the best golf of his life at age 35. Last year, Cole became the second-oldest golfer to win PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
Stephan Jaeger (Official World Golf Ranking: 42)
Jaeger is another one of the late bloomers on this list. The 34-year-old German qualified for his first Masters appearance by winning the Texas Children's Houston Open less than two weeks ago, finishing one stroke ahead of five co-runners-up, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Momentum is on Jaeger's side heading into his third career PGA Tour major. To his credit, Jaeger made the cut in both previous major appearances, finishing tied for 34th at the 2020 US Open and 50th at the 2023 PGA Championship.
Austin Eckroat (Official World Golf Ranking: 50)
Eckroat largely struggled as a PGA Tour rookie in 2023, but the 25-year-old is finding his footing in 2024 and qualified into the Masters field by virtue of winning the Cognizant Classic last month. The former Oklahoma State golfer previously stepped his game up when the lights were brightest, posting a top-10 finish at the 2023 US Open in his only previous major appearance. Eckroat tied the tournament's 9-hole record with a 29 during the final round.
Adam Schenk (Official World Golf Ranking: 51)
Schenk has spent his career as the golf equivalent of a Quadruple-A baseball player; just good enough to hang with the big boys but unable to make much of a dent at the game's top level. The 32-year-old American made a move up the rankings in 2023, though, and he has earned entry into the Masters by virtue of finishing 2023 among the top 50 in the OWGR. Schenk missed the cut at the Open Championship in 2023 after trying for 41st and 24th at the 2022 PGA Championship and 2022 US Open, respectively. He has played on the PGA Tour since 2018 but has yet to win a PGA Tour tournament.
Jake Knapp (Official World Golf Ranking: 52)
Knapp is about as close as it gets to a real-life Happy Gilmore. The 29-year-old went from nightclub bouncer to PGA Tour pro over the last two years and averaged a whopping 322 yards off the tee en route to a February victory at the Mexico Open in what was only Knapp's ninth career PGA Tour event. He missed the cut at the 2015 US Open as an amateur in his only previous major event, so Knapp's return to the biggest stage has been a long time coming.
Grayson Murray (Official World Golf Ranking: 59)
Murray's story is an inspirational one, as the 30-year-old American has found sobriety and turned around his career over the past 12 months. He burst onto the scene as a 19-year-old amateur at the 2023 US Open but subsequently battled alcoholism, anxiety and depression, culminating in a motorcycle crash the week of the 2022 Bermuda Championship. Murray has bounced back in a big way, climbing into the top 60 of the rankings thanks to wins at the Barbasol Championship last July and the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. His Masters Tournament debut will feel extra sweet knowing everything Murray went through just to get to this point.
Peter Malnati (Official World Golf Ranking: 69)
Malnati is the elder statesman among the 2024 Masters first-timers at age 36. He qualified for the field courtesy of a victory at the Valspar Championship in March. Malnati's only other PGA Tour win came way back in November of 2015. This will be his fourth major appearance overall; Malnati missed the cut at the 2016 and 2021 PGA Championships and the 2021 US Open.
Nick Dunlap (Official World Golf Ranking: 70)
Dunlap has arguably the highest long-term ceiling of this year's fledgling Masters field group, as the 20-year-old became the first amateur since 1991 to win a PGA Tour Event at The American Express in January. Dunlap previously missed the cuts at the 2022 and 2023 US Opens as an amateur, but the 2024 Masters will be his first major as a PGA Tour pro, as Dunlap joined the professional ranks four days after his victory in January.
Lee Hodges (Official World Golf Ranking: 74)
Hodges is will complete the set of PGA Tour major appearances when he tees off at Augusta in neighboring Georgia, but his performances at the previous three majors were forgettable. Hodges missed the cut at the 2020 US Open and 2023 Open Championship, and he tied for 55th at the 2023 PGA Championship.
Ryo Hisatsune (Official World Golf Ranking: 87)
This will be the 10th PGA Tour appearance for Hisatsune, who has made the cut in six of the previous nine. The Japanese 21-year-old was the Rookie of the Year on the European Tour in 2023 and was extended a special invitation by Augusta to get into the Masters field. Hisatsune's name is one to file away for the future, but he probably won't be a major contender in his first PGA Tour major tournament.
2024 Masters Amateurs
Christo Lamprecht became the third South African in six years to win The Amateur Championship in 2023, which earned the 23-year-old entry into the Masters field. Despite his amateur status, the 6-foot-8 Lamprecht will tower over the competition at Augusta. Lamprecht holds the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Santiago de la Fuente won the Latin America Amateur Championship in January to gain entry into the Masters. The 22-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico golfs for the University of Houston. De la Fuente is 27th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Neal Shipley qualified for the Masters by finishing second to Nick Dunlap in the 2023 US Amateur. The 23-year-old Ohio State scholar-athlete is 37th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Jasper Stubbs won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2023 to book his spot at the Masters, much to the delight of the attendees at Royal Melbourne. The 22-year-old Aussie picked a good time to play some of the best golf of his life, as he's arguably the most unlikely entrant in the 2024 Masters field considering he's ranked 335th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
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