The Masters: Anticipation builds as field takes shape with 50 days to go

With 50 days to go until the opening round of the 2026 Masters Tournament, experienced Augusta National campaigners and debutants alike are counting down towards the first men's Major Championship of the year.

For many, the entire week is like Christmas Eve for six days in a row, with the event boasting an appeal that transcends golf.

Rory McIlroy is set to return to the grounds of Augusta as the defending champion after his historic Grand Slam-winning triumph last year saw him fulfil a childhood dream of winning all four Major Championships.

With the countdown on, the field is taking shape with the routes to book a spot narrowing.

The latest of those will come for DP World Tour members at next week's Investec South African Open Championship, where the winner will secure a place if not already exempt.

But for many a spot has long since already been ensured, including a mix of regulars and newcomers from the DP World Tour.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Kristoffer Reitan - both winners on the 2025-26 Race to Dubai schedule - are among those who are confirmed to make their first starts, along with 2025 Seve Ballesteros Award winner Marco Penge.

Fellow DP World Tour members Harry Hall, Sami Välimäki and Tom McKibbin are also set to break new ground in their careers, along with in-form American pair Chris Gotterup and Ryan Gerard.

For others, experience at Augusta is something they possess in abundance with Justin Rose - who lost to McIlroy in a play-off last year - set for his 21st Masters start.

He, like several of his European Ryder Cup team-mates, including established global stars Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick, is chasing more Major glory, while the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg and Robert MacIntyre are looking for a breakthrough at this level.

Here, we list the field - the smallest of all four Major Championships - as it stands, and how they got their spot.

Ludvig Åberg 13,18,25

Akshay Bhatia 18,25

Keegan Bradley 17,18,25

# Michael Brennan 25

# Jacob Bridgeman 18

Sam Burns 18,25

Angel Cabrera 1

Brian Campbell 17

Patrick Cantlay 18,25

Wyndham Clark 2,15,25

Corey Conners 13,18,25

Fred Couples 1

Jason Day 13

Bryson DeChambeau 2,13,16,25

Harris English 13,15,16,18,25

# Ethan Fang 8

Matt Fitzpatrick 2,15,25

Tommy Fleetwood 17,18,25

Ryan Fox 17,25

Sergio Garcia 1

# Ryan Gerard 25

# Chris Gotterup 15,17,18,19,25

Max Greyserman 25

# Ben Griffin 17,18,25

# Harry Hall 18

Brian Harman 3,18,25

Tyrrell Hatton 14,25

Russell Henley 18,25

# Jackson Herrington 7-B

Rasmus Højgaard 25

# Brandon Holtz 11

Max Homa 13

Viktor Hovland 14,18,25

# Mason Howell 7-A

Sungjae Im 13,18,25

Dustin Johnston 1

Zach Johnson 1,13

# Naoyuki Kataoka 21

# John Keefer 25

Michael Kim 25

Kurt Kitayama 17,25

Brooks Koepka 4

# Fifa Laopakdee 9

Min Woo Lee 25

Haotong Li 15

Shane Lowry 18,25

Robert MacIntyre 14,18,25

Hideki Matsuyama 1,18,25

Rory McIlroy 1,5,18,25

# Tom McKibbin 22

Maverick McNealy 18,25

Phil Mickelson 1,4

Collin Morikawa 3,17,18,25

# Rasmus Neergaard- Petersen 23,25

Alex Noren 25

# Andrew Novak 18,25

José María Olazábal 1

Carlos Ortiz 14

# Marco Penge 20,25

Aldrich Potgieter 17

# Mateo Pulcini 10

Jon Rahm 1,2

Aaron Rai 25

Patrick Reed 1,13,25

# Kristoffer Reitan 25

Davis Riley 16

Justin Rose 13,17,18,25

Xander Schauffele 3,4,13,25

Scottie Scheffler 1,3,4,5,13,17,18,25

Charl Schwartzel 1

Adam Scott 1

Vijay Singh 1

Cameron Smith 3

J.J. Spaun 2,18,25

Jordan Spieth 1

# Samuel Stevens 25

Sepp Straka 17,18,25

Nick Taylor 18

Justin Thomas 4,17,18,25

# Sami Välimäki 25

Bubba Watson 1

Mike Weir 1

Danny Willett 1

Tiger Woods 1

Cameron Young 14,17,18,25

bold denotes DP World Tour or affiliate member.

# denotes first Masters

Masters Invitation Criteria

1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
2. U.S. Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
3. The Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
5. Winners of the Players Championship (Three years)
6. Current Olympic Gold Medalist (One Year)
7. Current U.S. Amateur Champion (7-A) (Honorary, non-competing after one year) and the Runner-up (7-B) to the current U.S. Amateur Champion
8. Current The Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year)
9. Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion (One year)
10. Current Latin America Amateur Champion (One year)
11. Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion (One year)
12. Current NCAA Division I Men's Individual Champion (One year)
13. The first 12 players, including ties, in the previous year's Masters Tournament
14. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's U.S. Open
15. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's The Open Championship
16. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's PGA Championship
17. Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation applied to the season-ending Tour Championship
18. Those qualifying and eligible for the previous year's season-ending Tour Championship
19. Current Scottish Open Champion (One year)
20. Current Spanish Open Champion (One year)
21. Current Japan Open Champion (One year)
22. Current Hong Kong Open Champion (One year)
23. Current Australian Open Champion (One year)
24. Current South African Open Champion (One year)
25. The 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
26. The 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament