Four players not otherwise exempt qualified for next week’s Masters by being inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking that was published on Monday.
Cameron Smith, Satoshi Kodaira, Dylan Frittelli and Chez Reavie were all ranked between Nos. 44-48 in the latest rankings. Smith, who moved up from No. 50 after making the Round of 16 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, will return to Augusta National for the second time after finishing T-55 in 2016.
Reavie started the year ranked No. 95 but made a big jump after following a T-2 finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a playoff loss at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He’ll make his fourth trip after missing the Masters cut in 2002, 2009 and 2012. Frittelli and Kodaira will both be making their Masters debuts.
The four additions bring the total number of qualified players to 87, including reigning U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka who is expected to miss because of a wrist injury but has yet to formally withdraw. It means the tournament will likely feature its smallest field since 1991, when Ian Woosnam topped a field of 87 players.
The only spot remaining would go to the winner of this week’s Houston Open if not otherwise qualified. A total of 18 players who are already exempt for the Masters are playing in Houston, including Reavie and Frittelli, leaving 126 players vying for a single entry into the most exclusive major.
Among the notables not yet exempt for the Masters but expected to play in Houston are Ian Poulter, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas, Charles Howell III, Steve Stricker, Ernie Els and Lee Westwood.
Source: Internet
