The field for the 2026 Masters is shaping up ahead of a big milestone, with just two weeks of action left before the Official World Golf Ranking top 50 is locked in for the year.
The end-of-year OWGR always takes on extra significance with those players inside the top 50 earning that most coveted of invites to play in The Masters at Augusta National next April.
As part of a revised Masters qualifying criteria, winners of several national Opens received Masters invites - with Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen the last of those following his Australian Open triumph.
He joined Chris Gotterup (Scottish Open), Marco Penge (Spanish Open), Naoyuki Kataoka (Japan Open) and Tom McKibbin (Hong Kong Open) in winning places at Augusta.
The likes of Aaron Rai, Alex Noren, Kristoffer Reitan, Max Greyserman, Michael Brennan, Michael Kim, Sami Valimaki, Rasmus Hojgaard, Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim, and John Keefer all likely bagged their top 50 spots after recent results, but some are still sweating on their place.
After dropping down to World No.57, PGA Tour pro Ryan Gerard will play in the Mauritius Open, the final counting event of the year, in a bid to climb back into the top 50 and secure a Masters debut.
It's particularly impressive from Brennan and Keefer who have qualified despite starting 2025 not even on the PGA Tour - Brennan earning an exemption into the Bank of Utah Championship and going on to win, while Keefer won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour and managed to climb into the top 50.
Places are also up for grabs early next year at the South African Open and Latin American Amateur.
There are further chances to play your way into The Masters in 2026, as winners of PGA Tour events awarding full points claim a spot in the field, along with anyone else inside the the world’s top 50 the week before The Masters.
McKibbin is one of 13 LIV Golf players who have qualified for The Masters, joining the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton and a number of former champions such as Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson.
2026 Masters field - As it stands
- Ludvig Aberg, 13, 18
- Akshay Bhatia, 18
- Keegan Bradley, 17 (Travelers), 18
- Jacob Bridgeman, 18
- Sam Burns, 18
- Angel Cabrera, 1
- Brian Campbell, 17 (John Deere Classic)
- Patrick Cantlay, 18
- Wyndham Clark, 2, 15
- Corey Conners, 13, 18
- Fred Couples, 1
- Jason Day, 13
- Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13, 16
- Harris English, 13, 15, 16, 18
- Ethan Fang (a), 8
- Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 15
- Tommy Fleetwood, 17 (Tour Championship), 18
- Ryan Fox, 17 (RBC Canadian Open)
- Sergio Garcia, 1
- Chris Gotterup, 15, 17 (Scottish Open), 18
- Ben Griffin, 17 (Charles Schwab), 18
- Harry Hall, 18
- Brian Harman, 3, 18
- Tyrrell Hatton, 14
- Russell Henley, 18
- Jackson Herrington (a), 7
- Max Homa, 13
- Brandon Holtz (a), 11
- Max Homa, 13
- Viktor Hovland, 14, 18
- Mason Howell (a), 7
- Sungjae Im, 13
- Zach Johnson, 1, 13
- Dustin Johnson, 1
- Naoyuki Kataoka, 21 (Japan Open)
- Kurt Kitayama, 17 (3M Open)
- Brooks Koepka, 4
- Michael La Sasso (a), 12
- Fifa Laopakdee (a), 9
- Haotong Li, 15
- Shane Lowry, 18
- Robert MacIntyre, 14, 18
- Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 18
- Rory McIlroy, 1, 5, 13, 18
- Tom McKibbin, 22
- Maverick McNealy, 18
- Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
- Collin Morkiawa, 3, 18
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, 23
- Andrew Novak, 18
- Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
- Carlos Ortiz, 14
- Marco Penge, 20 (Spanish Open)
- Aldrich Potgieter, 17 (Rocket Classic)
- Jon Rahm, 1, 2
- Patrick Reed, 1, 13
- Davis Riley, 16
- Justin Rose, 13, 17 (FedEx St. Jude), 18
- Xander Schauffele 3, 4, 13
- Scottie Scheffler, 1, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 16, 17 (Byron Nelson, PGA, Memorial, Open Championship, BMW), 18
- Charl Schwartzel, 1
- Adam Scott, 1
- Vijay Singh, 1
- Cameron Smith, 3
- J.J. Spaun, 2, 14, 17 (U.S. Open), 18
- Jordan Spieth, 1
- Sepp Straka, 17 (Truist), 18
- Nick Taylor, 18
- Justin Thomas, 4, 17 (RBC Heritage), 18
- Bubba Watson, 1
- Mike Weir, 1
- Danny Willett, 1
- Tiger Woods, 1
- Cameron Young, 14, 17 (Wyndham), 18
2026 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: Top 50 in final Official World Golf Ranking for 2025
- 26: Top 50 on Official World Golf Ranking the week before 2026 Masters
