Following the Valero Texas Open, the field is now set for the first Major of the year, The Masters.
Only one place was available at the event, and only if the winner at TPC San Antonio wasn’t already in the field.
In the end, JJ Spaun won the title for the second time, closing that avenue off for contenders, as the 2025 US Open champion was already qualified.
Not only did the Masters field size not increase after the tournament, it was actually reduced while the Valero Texas Open was in progress when three-time winner Phil Mickelson announced that he wouldn’t be competing because he’s taking an “extended” break from golf to deal with a family health matter.
That news came shortly after another Augusta National legend, Tiger Woods, confirmed he also wouldn’t be playing this year to "seek treatment and focus on my health" following his latest high-profile car crash.
The upshot of those withdrawals means that a field of 91 will play at the Major, four fewer than a year ago.
There are various ways to qualify for The Masters, with many confirming their places thanks to being in the world’s top 50 either at the end of 2025 or immediately after the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Former winners also receive a lifetime exemption, while there are slots for winners of the other Majors from the last five years.
New for 2026, the winners of select national opens also booked their slots, along with the champions of top amateur events, among various other categories.
All that means that, as ever, there is a fascinating mix of current world-class talent, veterans and amateurs in the field.
A year ago, Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam after a rollercoaster final round, and he will defend his title as he looks to become the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods in 2002.
He’ll face stiff competition from tournament favorite, two-time winner Scottie Scheffler, while other huge names fancied to contend include members of the LIV Golf contingent in the field, such as 2023 winner Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who placed T5 a year ago.
Other relatively recent Masters champions in the field include Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama.
Like DeChambeau, there are several other players with strong records at The Masters still looking for their first Green Jacket, including the man McIlroy beat in a playoff a year ago, Justin Rose.
The likes of Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka also fall into that category.
Recent PGA Tour winners competing include Spaun, Texas Children's Houston Open victor Gary Woodland, Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the Valspar Championship, Cameron Young, who beat Fitzpatrick to The Players Championship title, and Chris Gotterup, who won the Sony Open in Hawaii and WM Phoenix Open.
The veterans taking advantage of their lifetime exemption in 2026 include Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Jose Maria Olazabal and Vijay Singh.
Six amateurs are also in the Masters field in 2026: Ethan Fang, Mason Howell, Jackson Herrington, Brandon Holtz, Fifa Laopakdee and Mateo Pulcini.
Here is the full Masters field, and details of how each player qualified.
The Masters Field 2026
(a) denotes amateur | *denotes making Masters debut
- Ludvig Aberg, 13, 18, 25, 26
- Daniel Berger
- Akshay Bhatia, 17, 18, 25, 26
- Keegan Bradley, 17, 18, 25, 26
- *Michael Brennan, 25, 26
- *Jacob Bridgeman, 17, 18, 26
- Sam Burns, 18, 25, 26
- Angel Cabrera, 1
- Brian Campbell, 17
- Patrick Cantlay, 18, 25, 26
- Wyndham Clark, 2, 15, 25
- Corey Conners, 13, 18, 25, 26
- Fred Couples, 1
- Jason Day, 13, 26
- Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13, 16, 25, 26
- Nicolas Echavarria, 17, 26
- Harris English, 13, 15, 16, 18, 25, 26
- *Ethan Fang (a), 8
- Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 15, 17, 25, 26
- Tommy Fleetwood, 17, 18, 25, 26
- Ryan Fox, 17, 25, 26
- Sergio Garcia, 1
- *Ryan Gerard, 25, 26
- *Chris Gotterup, 15, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26
- Max Greyserman, 25
- *Ben Griffin, 17, 18, 25, 26
- *Harry Hall, 18
- Brian Harman, 3, 18, 25, 26
- Tyrrell Hatton, 14, 25, 26
- Russell Henley, 18, 25, 26
- *Jackson Herrington (a), 7
- Nicolai Hojgaard, 26
- Rasmus Hojgaard, 25
- *Brandon Holtz (a), 11
- Max Homa, 13
- Viktor Hovland, 14, 18, 25, 26
- *Mason Howell (a), 7
- Sungjae Im, 13, 18 25
- Casey Jarvis 24
- Dustin Johnson, 1
- Zach Johnson, 1, 13
- *Naoyuki Kataoka, 21
- *Johnny Keefer, 25
- Michael Kim, 25
- Si Woo Kim, 25, 26
- Kurt Kitayama, 17, 25, 26
- Jake Knapp, 26
- Brooks Koepka, 4
- *Fifa Laopakdee (a), 9
- Min Woo Lee, 25, 26
- Haotong Li, 15
- Shane Lowry, 18, 25, 26
- Robert MacIntyre, 14, 18, 25, 26
- Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 18, 25, 26
- Matt McCarty, 26
- Rory McIlroy, 1, 5, 18, 25, 26
- *Tom McKibbin, 22
- Maverick McNealy, 18, 25, 26
- Collin Morikawa, 3, 17, 18, 25, 26
- *Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, 23, 25
- Alex Noren, 25, 26
- *Andrew Novak, 18, 25, 26
- Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
- Carlos Ortiz, 14
- *Marco Penge, 20, 25, 26
- Aldrich Potgieter, 17
- *Mateo Pulcini 10 (a)
- Jon Rahm, 1, 2, 26
- Aaron Rai, 25, 26
- Patrick Reed, 1, 13, 25, 26
- *Kristoffer Reitan, 25, 26
- Davis Riley, 16
- Justin Rose, 13, 17, 18, 25, 26
- Xander Schauffele 3, 4, 13, 25, 26
- Scottie Scheffler, 1, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25
- Charl Schwartzel, 1
- Adam Scott, 1
- Vijay Singh, 1
- Cameron Smith, 3
- J.J. Spaun, 2, 14, 17, 18, 25, 26
- Jordan Spieth, 1
- *Sam Stevens, 25, 26
- Sepp Straka, 17, 18, 25, 26
- Nick Taylor, 18
- Justin Thomas, 4, 17, 18, 25, 26
- *Sami Valimaki, 25
- Bubba Watson, 1
- Mike Weir, 1
- Danny Willett, 1
- Gary Woodland, 17
- Cameron Young, 5, 14, 17, 18, 25, 26
2026 Masters Qualifying Criteria
- 1: Masters champions (lifetime)
- 2: US Open champions (five years)
- 3: Open champions (five years)
- 4: PGA Championship winners (five years)
- 5: The Players Championship winners (three years)
- 6: Current Olympic gold medalist (one year)
- 7: Current US 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 US 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 four players, including ties, in the previous year's US Open
- 15: First four players, including ties, in the previous year's Open Championship
- 16: First four 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
