The Masters Tournament – the first Major Championship of 2025 – gets under way this week, and a host of former HotelPlanner Tour players will tee it up at Augusta National.
In total, 15 of the 95-strong field are HotelPlanner Tour alumni, including former HotelPlanner Tour Number One Tommy Fleetwood. The Englishman graduated after a stellar 2011 season, which included one victory and two runner-up finishes. Fleetwood, still searching for his first Major win, finished tied for third at the 2024 Masters.
2014 Rolex Trophy winner Byeong Hun An is making his sixth Masters appearance. The South Korean graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour 11 years ago and booked his spot at Augusta after qualifying for last year’s Tour Championship at East Lake.
Danish twins Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard will also feature. Rasmus is making his first Masters appearance, Nicolai, however, finished tied for 16th 12 months ago. Nicolai received an invitation for the first Major of 2025, whereas Rasmus played his way into the field after ending 2024 inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
Another HotelPlanner Tour alumni who followed a similar route to Augusta is Laurie Canter. After winning the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship and finishing second in the Investec South African Open Championship, Canter jumped inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, earning the Englishman a spot at The Players Championship. Despite missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass, Canter found himself inside the top 50 come the Masters field cut off.
2017 HotelPlanner Tour graduate Aaron Rai is making his Masters debut after winning his first PGA TOUR event last year. The 30-year-old won three times whilst on the HotelPlanner Tour before earning DP World Tour status.
Rai’s PGA TOUR colleague Thomas Detry is another alumni making his Augusta National bow. The Belgian’s 2016 Bridgestone Challenge win saw him equal the lowest finish in HotelPlanner Tour history. Since the turn of the year, Detry has also tasted victory on the PGA TOUR, which came at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
European Ryder Cup trio and HotelPlanner Tour alumni Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre are also in the field, as is Matthieu Pavon. Frenchman Pavon finished sixth in the 2017 Race to Oman Rankings to earn his DP World Tour card.
Five-time Major winner, Brooks Koepka, won three times in the space of two months on the HotelPlanner Tour back in 2013 to graduate, and will go in search of a maiden Masters title this week having finished second in 2019 and 2023.
Tyrrell Hatton graduated 11 years ago and has gone on to become an eight-time DP World Tour winner. He’s also in the field at Augusta, hoping to build on an impressive ninth place finish at the 2024 Masters.
South African Thriston Lawrence, competing in his first full PGA TOUR season after finishing third in the 2024 Race to Dubai Rankings, will play his first Masters after placing fourth at last year’s Open. Lawrence’s countryman Christiaan Bezuidenhout is another HotelPlanner Tour alumni set to tee it up at Augusta. Bezuidenhout booked his spot in the field after qualifying for the 2024 Tour Championship.
