The Masters is expanding the weekend field starting this year and will make three changes to its list of entry qualifications for 2014, Augusta National chairman Billy Payne announced Wednesday.
- The top-12 finishers in the each year's tournament will be invited to return the following year. The top 16 had received return invitations.
- The top-four finishers in the U.S. Open, instead of the top eight, will receive invitations (it is the same criteria that Augusta National has used for the British Open and PGA Championships).
- The top-30 money winners on the PGA Tour at season's end will no longer automatically receive invitations (most of those golfers are already covered by other Masters qualification standards).
The new standards are expected to change the field by one to two golfers annually. If the rules had been in place for 2013, all in this field would have made it to Augusta and only three were borderline: Kevin Na would have made it as a top-12 Masters finisher; John Peterson would have made it with his tie for fourth in the U.S. Open, and Michael Thompson would be in with his runner-up (or top-four finish) at the U.S. Open.
The changes were necessitated partially by Augusta National’s wish to continue to invite those who win full-point PGA Tour events. The PGA Tour last year revamped its fall schedule for the 2013 season, making those winners eligible.
“All of us take great pride and pleasure in seeing a tournament winner beam with pride and pleasure in seeing a tournament winner beam with pride and excitement knowing that his victory had earned him an invitation to the Masters,” Payne said.
While it may be more difficult for players to gain entry to the Masters, those who do may get a greater opportunity to compete for a green jacket.
Payne also announced Wednesday that the Masters, beginning this year, will expand its cut line to the top 50 golfers and ties, plus those within 10 strokes of the leader. The tournament had used the top 44 and ties since 1962.
Competition committee chairman Fred Ridley said that change shouldn’t add more than a few groups to the fields for the third and fourth rounds. The change would be accommodated by adding tee times to the mornings of the final two rounds.
“We believe offering more playing opportunities for the participants over the weekend is a positive for everyone involved,” Payne said.
Other topics covered by Payne on Wednesday during the chairmen’s annual address:
On the addition last August of the club’s first two female members, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore:
“They are both here this week, like so many of our members, working as hard as they can to make sure our guests have an experience that exceeds their highest expectations. At the time, we described that welcoming Condi and Darla as members of Augusta National as a joyous moment for the club. This week, that’s truer than ever.”
On 14-year-old eighth-grader Tianlang Guan competing this year. He qualified for the Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, a tournament created in a joint partnership between Augusta National and the Royal and Ancient four years ago:
“I had no idea (an eighth-grader would make it to the Masters).”
Before saying that, Payne said that they “started the initiative with R&A with the simple objective of creating heroes in an area that we believe was fertile for the growth of golf.”
Payne said Augusta National and the Royal and Ancient are considering starting similar tournaments in other parts of the world.
On the potential ban of anchored putters being considered by the USGA and R&A:
“We are not a governing body,” he said. “… We hope and believe that they can reach common ground so that golf will continue under one set of rules.”
Should the two groups split, with one allowing the putters and the other not, Augusta National would have to decide which set of rules it would follow.
On the possibility of allowing more of the Masters to be televised:
“One of the tenets we that we hold to most dearly is that, you know, it is limited,” he said. “And I think because it is, it makes it a little more special.
“And so we always have that delicate balance about people wanting more and how much more we are willing to do, and at the same time exploring the future into how content is going to be distributed.”
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