The Masters, the opening Major of the year, is on the horizon and as always there are plenty of big names set to miss out on the iconic drive down Magnolia Lane.
Out of the four men’s Majors, The Masters field is by far the smallest with less than 100 competitors so it is the toughest one to book your spot. One of the best perks of winning The Masters is that past champions get invited back each and every year but golfers outside of the world’s top 50 must meet certain criteria otherwise an invite won’t be turning up at their door.
This year’s Masters is also the first in this new post-LIV Golf world, where some star LIV names are missing out due to their world rankings sliding. A number of LIV players have qualified for The Masters already due to past Green Jacket wins, Major triumphs and high world rankings, but most of those who haven’t won Majors recently, or a Masters before, are on the sidelines.
So, which big names are currently not looking like getting a start at Augusta National this year?
PAUL CASEY
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Casey is set to miss The Masters for the second year in a row after 15 appearances at Augusta National. The Englishman’s decision to join LIV ultimately meant he sacrificed his Masters spot, as he was in the world’s top 30 when he joined in July.
The Englishman now finds himself outside of the world’s top 100 and likely out of all four of the year’s Majors.
RICKIE FOWLER
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Fowler has shown a real upturn in form over the past six months and will come very close to making his first Masters start since 2020 after missing out on the last two editions.
He currently ranks 59th in the world and needs to be inside the top 50 in the week prior to the event. He has a good chance of booking his spot!
WEBB SIMPSON
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The 2012 US Open champion was World No.4 less than three years ago but he is now outside of the world’s top 130. He was 164th in the world prior to his T7th at the Valspar Championship, which lifted him up around 30 spots in what was his first top ten since November 2021.
Simpson has played in the past 11 Masters tournaments but looks set to miss this year’s instalment.
IAN POULTER
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Poulter, now a LIV Golf player, is facing the prospect of playing in no Majors this year for the first time since 1999.
The Englishman is down at 151st in the world and will not be at Augusta for the second year running. His best Masters finish was a T6 in 2015.