Two Australians, past major champions, rising stars among nine players in line to earn Masters invites via year-end OWGR

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[PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox]

For nine lucky tour professionals, December truly is the most wonderful time of the year, provided you’ve snuck into the final end-of-year top 50 Official World Golf Ranking projection.

Many players inside the top 50 have already earned a Masters invitation via a number of different qualifying criteria. But for those not otherwise exempt, finishing inside the top 50 at year’s end earns you a coveted invite from Augusta National. Nine players in total fit that bill this week, a list featuring a couple of major champions a few rising stars in the sport – and two Australians.

Perhaps the most surprising name in the bunch is Jason Day, who is ranked 38th in the world and has played in all but one Masters Tournament between 2011 and 2024. Day, the 2015 PGA Champion, made more than $US4.1 million on the course during the 2024 PGA Tour season but failed to pick up a victory, his last coming at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson, which earned him a spot in the 2024 Masters. This coming April, he’ll tee it up in the event for the 14th time.

The other major champion in the bunch is Lucas Glover, who enjoyed a career resurgence in 2023 that helped earn him a spot in all four majors in 2024 after he missed all four a year prior for the first time since 2004. Glover tied for 20th in the 2024 Masters, matching his career-best finish in the event. The 2025 edition will be his 11th appearance.

Nick Dunlap, Tom Kim and Min Woo Lee were three of the other intriguing names on the list, which can be viewed in full in the tweet below from OWGR Twitter/X guru Nosferatu:

Kim, 22, has already played in two Masters, tying for 16th and tying for 30th. Dunlap missed the cut in his debut this past April, while Lee has finished T-22 or better in two of his first three appearances. Corey Conners has become a Masters regular, appearing seven times already and finishing inside the top 10 three straight years from 2020 and 2022. Denny McCarthy made his first Masters start last year, tying for 45th.

Rounding out the group are Max Greyserman and Rasmus Hojgaard, who will both be making their first Masters starts in April.