This article is part of our Major Power Rankings series.
2024 Masters Power Rankings
Below are RotoWire's rankings for the 88th edition of the Masters, which begins Thursday, April 11 at famed Augusta National Golf Club.
This list is an asset for any fantasy or gaming format, including wagers, season-long fantasy leagues, PGA DFS -- even office pools.
The field stood at 88 as of the weekend, led by defending champion Jon Rahm and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the 2022 winner.
There are also five amateurs and four "legacy" champions, long-ago Masters winners who don't play on the PGA Tour anymore. There's a small chance some of them could make the cut, but come Sunday, their effect on the tournament will likely be non-existent. That leaves 79 others, with the top 50 and ties making the cut. In other words, about two-thirds of them will play the weekend.
Among those 79 golfers are 13 now with LIV Golf -- down from 18 last year -- notably Rahm, 2023 runner-up Brooks Koepka, three-time champion Phil Mickelson and Joaquin Niemann, who received one of three special invitations from Augusta National Golf Club.
Tiger Woods will be playing in only his second tournament of the year. He withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in February with an illness. Woods made the cut at last year's Masters before withdrawing on Saturday amid terrible weather conditions. If he makes the cut this year, it would be his 24th straight, and that would break the all-time record he shares with Fred Couples and Gary Player.
Augusta National is a par-72 that has been lengthened this year to a scorecard yardage of 7,555 yards. There is one change from last year, and it is significant. The tee box on the par-5 second hole has been moved back and left by about 10 yards, possibly bringing the one fairway bunker on the hole more into play. It will now play at 585 yards, the longest hole on the course. There was a huge change last year, when the tee box on the par-5 13th was moved back 35 yards, making the hole play at 545 yards. The change put a whole new complexion on what annually has been the easiest hole on the course. The change was met with mixed reviews from golfers.
The early weather forecast looks fairly promising. High temperatures are forecast to be in the 70s all four days, with nothing more than moderate wind. There is a chance of showers at the beginning of the tournament, decreasing as the week goes on.
These rankings were formulated before the completion of the Valero Texas Open, which took place the week before the Masters and included 30 golfers who already qualified for Augusta. The Texas Open winner, if not already in the Masters field, would get the final berth. The 13 LIV golfers were also playing the week before in LIV Golf Miami.
Any field changes or important news will be noted in the comments section below.
And with that, here are our rankings for the 88th Masters, which are broken down into the following categories:
- Favorites
- Contenders
- Making the Cut
- Borderline
- Long Shots
- Amateurs
- Legacy Champions
FAVORITES
1) Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler had not won in a almost a year until taking two in a row during the Florida Swing at Bay Hill and THE PLAYERS. His putting had been the main issue, if not the complete issue. But a switch to a mallet-head putter netted the desired result, and he heads to Augusta as the overwhelming favorite. After winning in the Green Jacket in 2022, Scheffler tied for 10th last year. He then went on to finish second at the PGA Championship and T3 at the U.S. Open. In his past 11 majors, he has finished in the top-10 eight times. Scheffler was ranked 144th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting heading into Bay Hill. He's now ranked 99th, illustrating how profoundly better he has gotten on the greens in a very short time.
2) Jon Rahm
Rahm had an exceptional spring on the PGA Tour a year ago, winning four time in less than four months culminating in his first Masters title. He didn't win again the rest of the year, though he did share runner-up to Brian Harman at the Open Championship. Rahm has shown no let-up since leaving for LIV Golf, finishing in the top-8 in the first four tournaments, with a best of T3 at Mayakoba, before playing in the Miami event.
3) Brooks Koepka
After finishing as runner-up to Rahm at the Masters a year ago, Koepka won his fifth career major at the PGA Championship a month later. He's now finished second at Augusta twice. Koepka opened the LIV year with a tie for fifth at Mayakoba, then added a pair of T12s and a solo 28th ahead of Miami. But as we all know quite well by now, what Koepka does in non-majors has little bearing on what he does in majors. After winning the PGA, he tied for 17th at the U.S. Open and for 64th at the Open Championship.
4) Jordan Spieth
Spieth is now 30 and, bluntly, not the player he used to be. Except maybe at Augusta. He tied for fourth last year, his sixth career top-5 in 10 Masters. At the other three majors, he couldn't crack the top-20. This year has not been good for Spieth. He was disqualified from the Genesis, then tied for 30th at Bay Hill and missed the cut at both THE PLAYERS and the Valspar. But he made the cut at the Valero Texas Open, perhaps grasping something positive to carry into Augusta.
5) Rory McIlroy
A tradition unlike any other: It's the annual storyline of McIlroy trying to complete the career grand slam. Only now it's Year 10, if you can believe that. He's come oh-so-close, with four top-5s through the years, only to have something, anything, go wrong. Last year, things went very wrong with his second Augusta missed cut in three years. But other than result, McIlroy finished top-10 in the other seven majors across the past two years, including runner-up at the 2022 Masters. This year, McIlroy has altered his schedule to play more leading up to this week. But it has not resulted in better play. He did win in Dubai in January. On the PGA Tour, he has racked up top-25s but zero top-10s before a final tuneup at the Valero Texas Open.
6) Xander Schauffele
It's no secret that Schauffele has been on the first page of majors leaderboards as much as anyone the past few years. It's also no secret he's never won one. At the Masters, he's tied second (2019), for third (2021) and for 10th (last year). He was also 10th at last year's U.S. Open and top-20 in the other two majors. This year, he's been doing – and this may sound familiar – everything but win. We're talking four top-5s, including a shared runner-up at THE PLAYERS. Schauffele has not won since the Scottish Open in July 2022.
7) Patrick Reed
If there's one thing we know about Reed (No, it's not that! ... Or that!), it's that he knows his way around Augusta National. The 2018 champion has finished top-10 three additional times in the past four years, including a tie for fourth a year ago. He then made the cut at the other three majors with a top-20 at the PGA. Reed has not done much in LIV in 2024, with just one top-25 in four starts before the Miami tournament.
8) Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama had a lot of struggles since winning here in 2021. Most of them were related to neck and back injuries that finally seem to be in the past. After falling out of the top-50 in the world rankings, he won at Riviera, then tied for 12th at Bay Hill and for sixth at THE PLAYERS before playing in the Valero Texas Open. Matsuyama tied for 14th at the Masters two years ago and for 16th last year -- and he wasn't fully healthy for either of them.
9) Cameron Smith
Smith has been spectacular at the Masters with three top-5s in the past six years, famously losing a Sunday duel with Scheffler two years ago. He finished only T34 last year, but that seems to be the aberration since he had top-10s at the next two majors. Further, he's back on his game at LIV this year, with a runner-up to Abraham Ancer in Hong Kong last month after a T8 in the season opener at Mayakoba.
10) Joaquin Niemann
Still only 25, Niemann has gotten better every time he's played the Masters, going from a missed cut in his 2018 debut to T40 to T35 to T16 last year. He's back again only because Augusta National Golf granted him one of three special invites for 2024. Niemann has been the best player in LIV Golf in the early going this season, winning two of the first three events before tying for fourth in Hong Kong. Like all the other LIV golfers, he was tuning up for the Masters at the LIV event in Miami.
CONTENDERS
11) Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick tied for 10th at last year's Masters, his eighth straight made cut at Augusta. He tied for 14th the year before and has a best of T7 in 2016. He had gotten off to a slow start in 2024 with zero top-10s in his first seven starts. But then before THE PLAYERS, he was alerted to a four-gram weight that he had forgotten was in his driver -- for about a year! It was removed and Fitzpatrick saw immediate results with a solo fifth at TPC Sawgrass. He was among the 30 Masters golfers in the field for the Valero Texas Open.
12) Sahith Theegala
Augusta National is a hard course to navigate for anyone, much less first-timers. But Theegala handled it better than most. He tied for ninth last year. It was by far his best major in 2023. And considering he has a great short game and is one of the best putters around, that makes sense. This year, Theegala has been fantastic, with a runner-up at the Sentry back in January, a top-5 at Phoenix and two more top-10s, including at THE PLAYERS.
13) Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris did not play in last year's Masters, shutting down his season a few weeks before to have back surgery. But he had outstanding results in his first two trips to Augusta. He was runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama in his 2021 debut, then followed it up with a tie for sixth in 2022. And after that, Zalatoris was runner-up in both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. So, the guy knows how to play majors (even with that putter!). Continuing with the runner-up theme, Zalatoris was second at the Genesis two months ago. He was then fourth at Bay Hill. He's missed his last two cuts at THE PLAYERS and the Valspar.
14) Collin Morikawa
Morikawa broke a 2-plus-year winless stretch by taking the ZOZO in Japan last October. But he has not been able to use that win as a springboard. He did tie for fifth in the limited-field Sentry to start 2024, but he hasn't cracked the top-10 since in five starts before playing the Valero Texas Open. Through the past couple of years of largely subpar play for him, Morikawa has still excelled at the Masters – T5 two years ago, T10 last year. Later last year, he tied for 14th at the U.S. Open.
15) Cameron Young
Young recorded his seventh runner-up in just 60 career starts three weeks back at the Valspar. That's the most on the PGA Tour without a win going back to at least 1983. But it also means he played well in what was his final Masters tuneup. Young tied for seventh at Augusta last year after missing the cut the year before in his debut. He closed 2023 with a T8 at the Open after finishing as runner-up there the year before.
16) Viktor Hovland
Hovland had his best Masters by far last year, when he tied for seventh. He's never missed a cut in four starts, though that was his first top-20. He went on to tie for second at the PGA before notching top-20s at both Opens. He has gotten off to a very slow start in 2024. In five tournaments, his best finish was T19 at the Genesis. He has not played since tying for 62nd at THE PLAYERS.
17) Shane Lowry
Lowry has really figured out how to play Augusta National. He's had top-25s the past four years, with a T16 last year and a T3 the year before. He had fallen out of the top-50 in the world earlier this year before busting his way back in with two top-5s in Florida at the Cognizant and Bay Hill. He also had a top-20 at THE PLAYERS. The very next week, he played a DP World Tour event ... in Singapore. He tied for 29th.
18) Wyndham Clark
It might be hard to believe the No. 4-ranked golfer in the world, the reigning U.S. Open champion, has never played in a Masters. But Clark's career took off soon after last year at Augusta. Since then, he's won the Wells Fargo, the U.S. Open and Pebble Beach. And if not for Scheffler, he could've won twice more recently at Bay Hill and THE PLAYERS, where he was runner-up to the world No. 1 both times. The big question for Clark will be: How well can he learn Augusta's nuances in just one week? The other big question: How is his back, which he tweaked before the Houston Open? He stayed in the tournament, made the cut and had his best round on Sunday.
19) Ludvig Aberg
Aberg is ranked in the top-10 in the world and has played in a Ryder Cup. So it is remarkable that this will be his first career major. The closest thing for the 23-year-old Swede was last month's PLAYERS Championship, and all he did there was tie for eighth. But TPC Sawgrass is far more straightforward than Augusta National, which can take years to, um, master. Aberg won the RSM last fall, was T9 at the Farmers and runner-up at Pebble Beach. He also played at the Valero Texas Open.
20) Dustin Johnson
Johnson is now in his age-40 season and coming off a subpar year at the majors. He had only one top-25 and that was a T10 at the U.S. Open (he also had only one top-45, but why quibble). However, Johnson has been back on his game on the 2024 LIV circuit, winning the tournament in Las Vegas after a T5 at the season-opener at Mayakoba.
21) Tony Finau
Finau had recently slipped all the way to 30th in the world rankings until sharing second at the Houston Open. As usual, his putter has held him back, resulting in top-25s instead of top-10s. Finau has had a top-5 and two other top-10s at the Masters, but the past two years resulted in T35 and T26. After a brilliant four-year run across all the majors, he has not had a top-10 in his past 10 dating to 2021.
22) Patrick Cantlay
After going a dozen majors from 2019 to '22 without so much as top-10, Cantlay has had results more befitting one of the best golfers in the world. He finished T8 at the 2022 Open, then T14 at last year's Masters, T9 at the PGA and T14 at the U.S. Open. Still, that's not exactly contending, which he's done only once ever in a major -- the 2019 Masters won by Woods. Cantlay has not been great in 2024, with just one top-10 in seven starts. That was a T4 at the Genesis in which he lost a big lead on Sunday after waking up with a high temperature.
23) Russell Henley
Henley had his best career Masters with a tie for fourth last year. He's always done well at Augusta – just not that well. He now has four top-25s and has made six of seven cuts. He has 11 top-25s in 36 career majors, which is not half bad. Henley has a par of T4s already in 2024, at the Sony and Bay Hill. He missed his first cut of the year at THE PLAYERS but reached the weekend at the Valero.
24) Sungjae Im
Im has fallen to 39th in the world rankings and simply has not played well in 2024. Also, curiously, he didn't play for two weeks straight heading to Augusta -- and he's a guy known for playing a lot of tournaments. After a T5 at the limited-field Sentry to start the year, Im has done no better than T18 at Bay Hill. He has been quite good at the Masters, however, with a runner-up in his 2020 debut (in the November Masters], a T8 in 2022 and a T16 last year.
25) Corey Conners
Connors had a great stretch of Masters results -- T10 to T8 to T6 – come to an end with a missed cut last year. That happened the week after he won the Valero Texas Open for the second time, and he was in the San Antonio field again this year. Conners has been steady if unspectacular so far in 2024. He's made all nine of his cuts with three top-25s, including a best of T13 at THE PLAYERS. In fact, he has not missed a cut since last year's U.S. Open.
MAKING THE CUT
26) Justin Thomas
In a bombshell development a week before the Masters, Thomas announced that he had parted ways with caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay, with whom he won the 2022 PGA Championship. When that rock-star partnership was announced more than two years ago, big things were expected. But outside of that one week, it never happened. Thomas had a disastrous 2023 that included a Friday 78 and trunk slam at last year's Masters. He had turned a corner late last year into this year, until a missed cut at THE PLAYERS was followed by a disastrous third-round 79 at the Valspar in which he had one of the worst putting rounds on record. Thomas reportedly has turned to veteran caddie Matt Minister, who has worked previously with Cantlay. All that said, Thomas has been pretty good at the Masters through the years, last year notwithstanding. He otherwise has made all seven of his cuts with a top-5, another top-10 and six top-25s. But this seismic change virtually on the eve of the Masters makes him very hard to rank.
27) Tommy Fleetwood
It is well known that Fleetwood has never won a PGA Tour event. Based on his Masters history, in won't happen this week. Mind you, he hasn't been bad, just not great. He's made the cut in six of seven years with three top-25s. His best was T14 two years ago. He's had far more success at the other three majors. Fleetwood is up to No. 12 in the world, though that's largely because of a win in Dubai in January and a runner-up late last year in the DP World Tour Championship. Stateside, he had made only four starts with one top-10 before the Valero Texas Open.
28) Si Woo Kim
Kim has been pretty consistent at the Masters through the years. He's made the cut six straight years after missing in his debut, with three top-25s. He tied for 29th last year. He's been awful in the other majors (13 of 20 missed cuts), but that's a concern for another day. Kim has not missed a cut in eight starts in 2024, registering three top-25s before his best finish of the season, a T6 at THE PLAYERS. He's been off since then.
29) Phil Mickelson
This will be Mickelson's 31st Masters and 122nd major. The three-time winner at Augusta came oh-so-close to No. 4 last year at age 52, when he shared runner-up behind Rahm. He went T58-MC-MC at the next three majors. But Mickelson can play Augusta practically blindfolded, and it shouldn't matter that he'll have a new caddie after his brother Tim recently retired. Jon Yarbrough, who's been around a long time and on Scott Stallings' bag for a decade, reportedly got the assignment. Mickelson tied sixth for at LIV Jeddah two months ago but otherwise his results have been uneventful.
30) Max Homa
Homa finally had his first career top-10 in a major, barely, in his 17th major. He tied for 10th at last year's Open Championship. He's made only eight cuts in those 17 starts, perhaps the worst mark in majors of any top player. After missing the cut in his first two Masters, he's finally figured out how to stick around for the weekend with T48 and T43 the past two years. In 2024, Homa has been decent but surely not great for a player of his caliber: three top-15s plus a T8 at Bay Hill before playing in the Valero.
31) Min Woo Lee
Even though Lee missed the cut at last year's Masters, he's proven to be a very solid player in majors in the early part of his career. He's made six of nine cuts and has a top-25 in each of the four, including T14 at Augusta two years ago, T18 at last year's PGA and T5 at last year's U.S. Open. He was runner-up at the Cognizant, but otherwise he hasn't had a top-20 in seven PGA Tour starts in 2024.
32) Tyrrell Hatton
The most recent PGA Tour defector to LIV Golf, unless you want to count Anthony Kim, Hatton has struggled throughout his career at the Masters. He's made five of seven cuts, but with just one top-25 – a T18 in 2021. He's had at least one top-10 at each of the other majors. Hatton has done well in his first season with LIV, though he has gone backwards from T8 to T12-T15-T21 heading into Miami.
33) Harris English
The U.S. Open has been English's best major by far, going eight for eight in cuts with three top-10s, including last year. At the Masters, he's made three of four cuts, with a T43 a year ago and a best of T21 in 2021. In 2024, English already has six top-25s, one at THE PLAYERS, and two top-10s, with a best of T7 at Riviera. He missed the cut at the Valero.
34) Justin Rose
Soon to turn 44 and having recently slipped out of the top-50 in the world, this could be Rose's final Masters. But for now, this will be his 19th, he's done great at Augusta and has shown little sign of slowing down there. He's missed only two career cuts, though they've both come in the past five years. But he tied for 16th last year. Rose had his best chance in 2017, when he lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia. He does not have a top-10 in 2024 and missed his past two cuts.
35) Adam Scott
Scott is now 43 and has recently fallen out of the top-50 in the world despite a top-10 in Dubai and another at Phoenix this year. The 2013 Masters winner, this will be his 23rd start at Augusta and he's made 14 straight cuts, albeit without a top-30 since 2019. Scott has been an incredible cut machine in all the majors through the years, missing only nine in his past 55 starts beginning in 2010. He tied for 45th at THE PLAYERS, then made the cut at the Valero.
36) Rickie Fowler
Fowler played in every Masters from 2011 to 2020 but not the past three years. He tied for fifth in 2014, was runner-up to Reed in 2018 and tied for ninth in 2019. He's missed only one cut in 10 tries. This will be Fowler's 50th career major and he's made 40 cuts, including a solo fifth at last year's U.S. Open. He has not been able to duplicate his remarkable 2023 career renaissance so far in 2024. In fact, Fowler hasn't cracked the top-15 since winning the Rocket Mortgage last July. But he had made six of eight cuts this year before missing at the Valero.
37) Sam Burns
Burns has five PGA Tour wins, but he's been a different player in majors – i.e., a not very good player. He has one top-25 in 14 starts and has missed six cuts. His two Masters have gone MC and T29 last year. So, progress? That was his best major finish in 2023. Burns opened 2024 with four top-10s in his first five starts, including a T3 at Phoenix. But since then he's gone T30 at Bay Hill, T45 at THE PLAYERS and missed cut at the Valspar.
38) Jason Day
Day has had some great results at the Masters, but nothing recently. He tied for 39th last year and missed the cut in 2020 and '21. He's had three career top-5s at Augusta. He shared runner-up at the Open Championship last summer. Day has not been able to fully recreate his incredible turn-back-the-clock 2023 season so far in 2024, though he does have three top-10s. He tied for sixth at Pebble Beach and was solo ninth at Riviera.
39) Keegan Bradley
Bradley returned to the Masters last year after a three-year hiatus. He tied for 23rd, giving him six made cuts in seven career starts. That was just his second top-25. Bradley had a runner-up at the Sony back in January but has slowed considerably since then. He's missed three of his past four cuts, including at Riviera and THE PLAYERS, and he's been idle since another missed cut at the Valspar.
40) Bryson DeChambeau
After making his first five Masters cuts, DeChambeau has missed the past two. His best finish remains a T21 when he debuted as an amateur in 2016. He's been far better in all the other majors, winning the 2020 U.S. Open, tying for fourth twice at the PGA, including last year, and for eighth at the Open Championship in 2022. DeChambeau had finished top-10 in three straight LIV events heading into Miami.
41) Chris Kirk
Kirk tied for 23rd last year in his first Masters in seven years. It had also been seven years since he played in all four majors. He tied for 29th at the PGA before missing the cut at both Opens. In all, he's made the cut in three of his four Masters. Kirk, who turns 39 next month, won the season-opening Sentry back in January. He hasn't had a top-15 since but has made six of seven cuts.
42) Tiger Woods
Woods entered 2024 having said his ankle (and every other injured body part) was the best if had been since his 2021 car accident and that he wanted to play once a month. It's now April has he's played 24 holes. He withdrew from the Genesis in the second round with the flu, surely a bad break. But then he curiously skipped THE PLAYERS without explanation, so the once-a-month plan is kaput. Woods made the Masters cut last year before withdrawing amid miserable playing conditions on Saturday. This year, he can break the all-time record for consecutive made cuts at Augusta, a mark he shares with Fred Couples and Gary Player. He'll attempt that with Lance Bennett as his caddie. Bennett, who was on the bag at Riviera, is now the full-time caddie for rookie Adrien Dumont de Chassart and has worked in the past for Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Im, among others.
43) Tom Kim
Still only 21, Kim had a great year at the majors in 2023. He tied for 16th in his maiden Masters, then was T8 at the U.S. Open and shared runner-up at the Open Championship. And then he won his third career PGA Tour event at the Shriners in October. But Kim hasn't had a top-15 on Tour since then, and that includes nine starts. He withdrew from THE PLAYERS with an unknown illness and then skipped the Valspar the next week after being announced in the field. And then he missed the cut at the Valero.
44) Brian Harman
Harman has made only two cuts in five Masters appearances, which seems incongruous with a top-10 player. Further complicating things, one of those two made cuts was a tie for 12th in 2021. Harman won the Open Championship last summer. It was only his third top-10 in 30 career majors. He had made eight straight cuts to start 2024, with a runner-up at THE PLAYERS, before making the cut at the Valspar.
45) Charl Schwartzel
The 2011 champion, who turns 40 later this year, has made his past four Masters cuts. He had a T10 in 2022 but was T50 a year ago. Schwartzel then admirably went through qualifying to get into the Open Championship, though he did miss the cut. He also missed the cut at an Asian Tour event in Oman in February. Schwartzel finished runner-up to Niemann at LIV Jeddah last month, his only result inside the top-35 heading into Miami.
46) Adam Hadwin
Hadwin has been good about making major cuts – 15 of 22 in his career, including his past four. He's gone two for three at the Masters, though he hasn't appeared since missing the cut in 2020. He tied for 24th in 2018. Hadwin has made six of nine cuts in 2024, with three outstanding finishes of T6 or better.
47) Taylor Moore
Moore is in the field for the second straight year. Last year, it was via winning the Valspar. this year, it's because he reached the 2023 Tour Championship. He impressively made the cut with a T39 in his first career major, then did likewise at the PGA before missing at both Opens. Moore has not missed a cut since that Open Championship, with 14 cashes in a row, including the Valero Texas Open. He shared runner-up at the Houston Open.
48) Emiliano Grillo
Grillo is back for his fourth Masters but first since 2019. He has yet to miss a cut with a best of T17 in 2016. He played in three majors last year – two missed cuts and then a tie for sixth at the Open. Grillo has made every cut in nine starts in 2024 with five top-25s and a best of T8 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
49) Nick Taylor
To say the 35-year-old Canadian is a late bloomer is an understatement. He's played in 10 career majors over the previous 15 years and three of them came last year. He missed every cut. Taylor has played the Masters only once, tying for 29th in 2020. He's notched three of his four PGA Tour wins since then, including the Canadian Open last year and Phoenix in February. He then tied for `12th at Bay Hill.
50) J.T. Poston
Poston played in his second Masters last year and tied for 34th after missing the cut in 2020. That's been his best result in 12 career majors. He also made the cut last year at the PGA and the Open. Poston got off to a fast start in 2024 with top-6s in the two Hawaii events and has added another top-10 and two more top-20s. But in his past three starts have been 66-55-T45. Still, he made all three cuts and has missed only one this season.
BORDERLINE
51) Cam Davis
The 29-year-old Aussie tied for 46th in his lone Masters in 2022. He's a far better golfer now, as evidenced by his tie for fourth at last year's PGA Championship. That's how he qualified for this year's Masters (he also finished the year in the top-50 OWGR). Davis has three top-25s so far in 2024, but his best result was a T18 at Bay Hill and he missed the cut at THE PLAYERS.
52) Adrian Meronk
The best golfer ever to come out of Poland last year became the first Pole to play in the Masters. He missed the cut, but then went on to reach the weekend at both the PGA and Open Championship in a very successful season. Meronk was irked that he was bypassed for the European Ryder Cup team, which he said was part of the reason he went to LIV Golf. He's played well with the breakaway circuit, recording two top-10s and then a top-15 before the Miami tournament.
53) Austin Eckroat
The up-and-coming Oklahoma State alum qualified for his first Masters by winning the Cognizant Classic in March. But he's not new to majors. In fact, Eckroat went through qualifying and tied for 10th at last year's U.S. Open, an experience that not only will get him a return ticket to this year's Open but should provide valuable help at Augusta. Eckroat also played the U.S. Open in 2019 but missed the cut. He played in the Valero and made the cut.
54) Denny McCarthy
One of the PGA Tour's top putters, McCarthy has been playing majors with some regularity of late. This will be his 10th, though his first Masters. He's made seven cuts, including a top-10 and a top-20 the past two years at the U.S. Open. McCarthy is still looking for his maiden Tour win. He had not finished in the top-20 in 2024 before teeing it up at the Valero.
55) Ryan Fox
The now-37-year-old Fox made all four major cuts last year, just missing a top-25 at his first Masters. He tied for 23rd at the PGA. The long-hitting New Zealander has struggled in his first season as a PGA Tour member, missing five cuts in seven starts, the latest coming at the Valero.
LONG SHOTS
56) Gary Woodland
At age 39, Woodland has remarkably returned to the highest levels of golf just months after undergoing brain surgery. The fact that he's really struggled is of course secondary. He had missed five of seven cuts in 2024 before a T21 at Houston a couple of weeks back, by far his best showing since his return. Woodland has made only six of 11 Masters cuts, though his best result ever was last year's T14. This could be his final trip to Augusta, as it's his fifth and final exemption after winning the 2019 U.S. Open.
57) Sepp Straka
After a wildly successful 2023 that included a win at the John Deere, a runner-up at the Open Championship, a tie for seventh at the PGA and being named to the European Ryder Cup team, Straka has taken a step back in 2024, maybe two. In his past seven starts he's missed four cuts with just one top-25. But he has made the Masters cut twice in two appearances, T30 two years ago and T46 last year.
58) Eric Cole
The now-35-year-old old former mini-tour legend burst upon the scene with a runner-up at last year's Honda. He went on to have good major results at the PGA Championship (T15) and U.S. Open (T39). Cole should qualify for all four this year, beginning with his first Masters. Known for rarely taking a week off, he has six top-25s already in 2024, though he missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and the Valero and it's fair to wonder about tiredness at some point.
59) Nicolai Hojgaard
Part of the Danish golfing twins, Hojgaard just turned 23 last month. He was on the victorious European Ryder Cup team last year and, while it's a different kind of pressure than a major, it might be more intense. But Hojgaard has major experience, too, just not at the Masters. He's been in the past two PGA and Open Championships with three made cuts, including last year's top-25 at the Open. He has struggled since a runner-up at Torrey Pines in January with nothing inside the top-30 in his five subsequent tournaments before playing in the Valero.
60) Stephan Jaeger
Barring Valero winner getting in, Jaeger was the 88th and final golfer to make the field after winning the Houston Open two weeks ago. This will be his first Masters and fifth major spread across the past decade. He's made the cut in three of them, including last year's PGA (T50).
61) Sergio Garcia
Garcia is now 44 and has missed the cut in four of his past five Masters after winning in 2017. He was runner-up in the season-opening LIV event at Mayakoba and added a tie for 15th at Jeddah. Like the other LIV guys, he played in the Miami tournament. Garcia also played in an Asian Tour event in March in Macau and tied for 21st.
62) Erik van Rooyen
The 34-year-old South African played in six majors across 2021 and '22 but missed every cut, including at the '22 Masters. He also played Augusta in 2020 but had to withdraw. After winning the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico in the fall, van Rooyen has piled up top-25s in 2024. He had five, one of them a runner-up at the Cognizant. But he most recently missed the cut at the Valero.
63) Matthieu Pavon
The 31-year-old Frenchman and surprise winner at the Farmers Insurance Open will head to the Masters for the first time. He's played in four career majors, three of them U.S. Opens, missing the cut last year but tying for 25th in 2018. Pavon made three straight cuts after his big win at Torrey Pines, including a solo third at Pebble Beach.
64) Zach Johnson
Now 48, the 2007 Masters champ plays a regular PGA Tour schedule as the Champions Tour gets closer and closer. Johnson has made the cut only 11 times in 19 trips to Augusta, but he's made it four of the past five years, including T34 last year. He had two top-25s in five starts overall in 2024 and was one of 30 Masters qualifiers to play the Valero.
65) Lucas Glover
This will be Glover's 47th career major; he's made 20 cuts. At the Masters, he's five of nine, including a tie for 30th last time in 2022. He then had a top-25 at the PGA but didn't qualify for any major last year. Glover went on to win back-to-back tournaments on the PGA Tour late last summer, at the Wyndham and FedEx St. Jude playoff event. He has cooled considerably since then, with no top-25s in 2024 until two weeks ago at the Valspar Championship. He made the cut at the Valero.
66) Thorbjorn Olesen
The 34-year-old Dane received one of three special invitations -- along with Niemann and Ryo Hisatsune -- from Augusta National Golf Club to appear in his fourth Masters. He's never missed a cut, though this will be his first since 2021, when he tied for 21st. His best was a tie for sixth in 2013. Overall, Olesen has made 14 cuts in 24 majors, but has missed all three over the past two years. He won a DP World Tour event in the United Arab Emirates in January. On the PGA Tour, he tied for 46th at Mexico but then missed three cuts in a row before making one at the Valero.
67) Kurt Kitayama
Kitayama made his Masters debut last year and missed the cut. A month later, he tied for fourth at the PGA. He's made the cut in five of 12 career majors. He has played so-so in 2024, though he has made every cut but one. That came in his Bay Hill title defense. Kitayama had a top-10 at Phoenix and a top-20 at THE PLAYERS.
68) Byeong Hun An
To get back to this point – his first Masters in four years – is quite an accomplishment for An. His career nosedived and he was relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour, but now he's made his way back not only onto the PGA Tour but into the top-50 in the world rankings. An has played 27 career majors and made 14 cuts. He's one for four at Augusta. His best major was a T16 at the 2019 U.S. Open and he had a top-25 last year at the Open Championship.
69) Bubba Watson
Watson is now 45 and with LIV, and is largely off the golf radar. The two-time Masters champion (2012, '14) made the cut in 13 of his first 14 trips to Augusta, but he missed last year. It was his only major and that likely will be his annual quota. Watson had two top-25s in four LIV starts before playing Miami. Keep in mind, a LIV top-25 comes in 50ish-man fields.
70) Ryo Hisatsune
The 21-year-old rising Japanese star -- he's been as high as No. 72 in the world rankings -- will play in his first major thanks to one of the three special invitations issued by Augusta National Golf Club. Hisatsune has four worldwide wins, three in Japan and one in France last year on the DP World Tour. Currently a PGA Tour member, his best showing was a tie for 11th at the Amex. He'd made seven of 10 cuts, including at the Valero.
71) Luke List
This will be the 39-year-old List's third Masters. The first two incredibly came 17 years apart. He tied for 33rd in 2005 and missed the cut in 2022. He's made only five cuts in 17 lifetime majors, going one for five the past two years. List won the Sanderson Farms last fall to qualify and also was runner-up at the Genesis in February.
72) Lee Hodges
The 28-year-old Alabaman won the 3M Open last July to reach his fourth major and first Masters. He's played the other three once each and made one cut, a tie for 55th at last year's PGA Championship. After a slow start in 2024, Hodges regrouped with a top-25 at Riviera and a tie for 12th at Bay Hill, but he did miss the cut at the Valero.
73) Adam Schenk
Schenk had his best season on Tour in 2023 -- except for the three missed cuts in majors. But he made both his major cuts in 2022, including a top-25 at the U.S. Open. This will be Schenk's first Masters. In his first 10 starts of 2024, he had three top-25s and three missed cuts, but then he made the cut at the Valero.
74) Peter Malnati
At 36 years old, Malnati will play in his first Masters and only fourth career major after his stunning win at the Valspar a few weeks back. He actually had won once before, at the 2015 Sanderson Farms, but it was an alternate-field event back then and didn't come with a Masters invite. Malnati missed the cut at the 2016 and 2021 PGA Championship and at the 2021 U.S. Open.
75) Jake Knapp
Knapp became one of the feel-good stories of this PGA Tour season when the 29-year-old journeyman won the Mexico Open. This will be his second major, thought the first in almost a decade after missing the cut at the 2015 U.S. Open. Knapp tied for fourth at the Cognizant a week after his win, then made the cut in his next two starts.
76) Nick Dunlap
Dunlap was in line to be in the Masters field as the 2023 U.S. Amateur champion – if he retained his amateur status. You know the rest: He won the Amex in January to qualify for Augusta as a PGA Tour winner, turned pro and here he is. Things had not been great for Dunlap since then with three missed cuts in five starts until tying for 11th last time out in Houston. This will be his third major after missing the cut at the past two U.S. Opens.
77) Grayson Murray
The 30-year-old Sony Open winner in January will play in his first Masters and fourth major. They've been spread out in 2013, 2017 and 2022, with two made cuts, including a tie for 22nd at the 2017 PGA. Murray has slowed since his second career Tour win, with four missed cuts in seven starts following the Sony.
78) Camilo Villegas
Now 42, Villegas will play in his 27th major -- but first since 2015. This will be his seventh Masters and he's made three cuts with a best of T13 in 2009. Villegas also had a top-5 and a top-10 in PGA Championships, both more than a decade ago. He stunningly won for the first time in nine years last fall in Bermuda. It was his fifth PGA Tour win. In nine tournaments since the win, he'd missed five cuts with no finish better than a T50.
79) Danny Willett
Willett had surgery last fall and has not played anywhere in the world since September. He's still listed in the field, but we'll see. One of the most unlikely Masters champions in recent memory, if not ever, Willett gets to play every year only because of his 2016 win. He's made the cut four times out of nine. He missed last year's cut but did finish 12th two years ago.
AMATEURS
In order of predicted finish
Christo Lamprecht
The 6-foot-8 South African won the British Amateur last year. That got the now-23-year-old into the 2023 Open Championship, where he tied for 74th, plus this year's Masters and U.S. Open. Lamprecht is the world's No. 1-ranked amateur and attends Georgia Tech.
Stewart Hagestad
The 32-year-old California native who won his third career U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2023 is no stranger to Augusta. He tied for 36th in 2017 and missed the cut in 2022. He's also played in four U.S. Opens, making the cut for the first time in 2022. Hagestad has also played on four Walker Cup-winning teams. He was ranked No. 11 in the world among amateurs.
Santiago de la Fuente
The senior at the University of Houston won the Latin America Amateur Championship in January to qualify for the Masters and the Open at Royal Troon (plus the U.S. and British Amateurs). The 22-year-old from Mexico also played in the Mexico Open in February and tied for 46th.
Jasper Stubbs
The 22-year-old Australian won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to qualify for the Masters and this summer's Open. Stubbs tied for 21st at the Australian Open in December and has played five PGA Tour of Australasia events in 2024, making two cuts.
Neal Shipley
The graduate student at Ohio State was runner-up to Dunlap at the 2023 U.S. Amateur. Shipley, 23, is in final year of college eligibility after transferring from James Madison.
LEGACY CHAMPIONS
In order of predicted finish
With Bernhard Langer missing what was supposed to be his final Masters after tearing his Achilles and Larry Mize and Sandy Lyle playing their final Masters last year, there are only four so-called legacy champions in the field -- the smallest number in many years.
Fred Couples
The 1992 champion turned back the clock last year to make the cut at age 63, after missing four in a row. He tied for 50th. This will be Couples' 39th Masters.
Mike Weir
The youngest of the legacy champions at age 53. the 2003 winner has missed the cut in eight of the past nine years, tying for 51st in 2020. This will be Weir's 25th Masters.
Vijay Singh
Now 61, the 2000 champion has made the cut only once the past eight years (2019). This will be Singh's 31st Masters.
Jose Maria Olazabal
The two-time champion (1994, '99) will tee it up for the 35th time. Now 58, the Spaniard made the cut three years ago, but that's been the only time in the past nine years.
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