Can't wait 'til next year
Our way too early look at everybody who has already qualified for the 2026 Masters
Photo by Stephen Denton
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It feels like forever until the Masters comes around each year, and then seven days at Augusta National race by quicker than you can say Magnolia Lane.
So it was again this past week, with Rory McIlroy proving the 17th time was the charm at Augusta, finally winning a green jacket and in the process finishing off the career Grand Slam in his 11th try of joining that rare club.
The contact buzz of McIlroy’s triumph will keep golf fans euphoric for a little longer than normal, hopefully at least until the best players in golf converge for the next men’s major, the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in May.
But if you’re a Masters fan waking up the morning after the final round wistful for azaleas and Amen Corner, we’ll do our part to try to fill the void until next April. Below is a list of everyone who has already earned an invitation to compete in the 2026 Masters, presuming Augusta National keeps its qualifying criteria the same moving forward. By our estimation, 34 tour pros have already earned spots, with another 16 past champions opting out in 2025.
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A couple fun facts here:
• McIlroy was already in the 2026 Masters field for winning the Players Championship last month. That comes with a three-year invite to Augusta. Of courses, invites to Augusta won't ever be an issue now for the Northern Irishman.
• A top-12 finish at this year's Masters gets you into the 2026 edition, which was ... pardon the pun ... major for Max Homa. The six-time PGA Tour winner had struggled in 2025, and hasn't qualified yet for either the U.S. Open or British Open. And while a double bogey on the 17th hole made things a little anxious in the end for Homa, he now knows where he'll be next April.
• Beside Homa, six other players earned a spot into next year's Masters specifically by their performance this past week: Ludvig Aberg, Corey Conners, Jason Day, Harris English, Sungjae Im and hard-luck runner-up Justin Rose.
2026 Masters Qualifying List
Numbers that follow are the qualification categories that the players earned an invitation for.
Ludvig Aberg, 13
Angel Cabrera, 1
Wyndham Clark, 2
Fred Couples, 1
Corey Conners, 13
Jason Day, 13
Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 13
Harris English, 13
Matt Fitzpatrick, 2
Sergio Garcia, 1
Max Homa, 13
Sungjae Im, 13
Dustin Johnson, 1
Zach Johnson, 1, 13
Brooks Koepka, 4
Hideki Matsuyama, 1
Rory McIlroy, 1, 5, 13
Phil Mickelson, 1, 4
Collin Morikawa, 3
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1
Jon Rahm, 1, 2
Patrick Reed, 1, 13
Justin Rose, 13
Charl Schwartzel, 1
Scottie Scheffler, 1, 5, 13
Xander Schuaffele, 3, 4, 13
Adam Scott, 1
Vijay Singh, 1
Jordan Spieth, 1
Justin Thomas, 4
Bubba Watson, 1
Mike Weir, 1
Danny Willett, 1
Tiger Woods, 1
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PAST CHAMPIONS NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY
Tommy Aaron
Charles Coody
Ben Crenshaw
Nick Faldo
Raymond Floyd
Trevor Immelman
Sandy Lyle
Larry Mize
Jack Nicklaus
Mark O'Meara
Gary Player
Vijay Singh
Craig Stadler
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Tom Watson
Tiger Woods
Ian Woosnam
Fuzzy Zoeller
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 FedEx Cup allocation, from previous Masters to current Masters
18: Those qualifying and eligible for the previous year's season-ending Tour Championship
19: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
20: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters