Masters 2023
Masters 2023: Top-50 OWGR projection has 4 players finally getting their Augusta invites
Jason Day will play in the 2023 Masters after missing the tournament last year.
Jared C. Tilton
Come Monday, Jason Day will have more to celebrate than his strong recent form and deep run into this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. According to projections from the Official World Golf Ranking after the conclusion of the quarterfinals on Saturday at Austin Country Club, Day is among four players who had not previously qualified for the Masters who will make it to Augusta National by being in the top 50 in the OWGR on March 27.
The projection are based off the fact that the final four players had been determined in the Match Play in Austin.
The other players who are now official for the Masters are Harris English, projected at No. 44, Keith Mitchell (46) and Min Woo Lee (47). That brings the number of players expected to compete at this year's Masters to 89.
At this point, the only other path to get into the Masters is for the player who wins next week's Valero Texas Open, if he hasn't otherwise qualified.
Day, who fell in the quarterfinals to Scottie Scheffler, entered the week easily in the top 50 at No. 37 after posting four top-10 finishes so far in 2023. It’s been an impressive turnaround after a difficult 2022, when he finished the year 112th in the OWGR.
On the other side of the line, Australian Lucas Herbert will be the most disappointed. The 27-year-old started the Match Play week at No. 56, and advanced out of the group-play stage. But Herbert needed to beat Rory McIlroy in their Round of 16 match on Saturday to earn enough points to slip inside the top 50. When he fell to the Northern Irishman, that left him projected to finish an agonizingly close 51st in the rankings, thus missing a chance at a second Masters start after he missed the cut last year.
Day, 33, didn’t qualify for the 2022 Masters, missing the tournament after 11 straight starts there. The 2015 PGA Championship winner has four top-10s at Augusta but has missed two consecutive cuts.
English, 33, a Georgia native, has played in three Masters, with a T-21 his best finish in 2021. This will be Mitchell’s second Masters, with the 31-year-old’s first start coming in 2019. Lee, 24, tied for 14th in his Augusta debut last year.