PARIS – Lucas Glover held down the 50th spot in the final world ranking of the year, making him one of nine players who will be added to the invitation list to play in the golf Masters. The field has eight more players than it did at this time a year ago.
The Masters takes the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the calendar year, and it will take the top 50 not already invited from the world ranking published a week before the tournament is held April 10-13.
The addition of the nine players brings the field to 85 players who are eligible and expected to play. There were 77 players who were eligible at this time a year ago, a difference that would point to weaker fields in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall.
The Masters has the smallest field of the four majors, and Augusta National prefers that it stays below 100 to give players an experience unlike any other. It last topped 100 players in 1966, when there were 103 players in the field.
The Masters had 89 players this year.
Glover had dipped outside the top 50 in the last few weeks, but the ranking is based on a formula that measures a two-year period with points gradually losing value.
Tom Kim at No. 21 was the highest-ranked player who had not already qualified. The others to get in through the world ranking are Nick Dunlap, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Jason Day, Corey Conners, Denny McCarthy and Min Woo Lee.
It was the second straight year McCarthy and Lee earned spots in the Masters through the year-end world ranking. Neither has won on the PGA Tour.
A year ago, four players from the 77 who had qualified by the end of the year earned invitations by winning PGA Tour events in the fall. This year, all eight fall winners were not eligible when they won tournaments.
