Ranking the Masters field: 1 sentence for all 89 players (2024)

With only 89 players in the field, the Masters is once again the most exclusive major championship in professional golf.

The list features a number of past champions, youthful amateur winners, and the rest of the best players on the planet not named Talor Gooch.

Here's how we see the field heading into Thursday's opening round.

Field rankings

89. Jose Maria Olazabal - The 58-year-old claimed the green jacket in 1994 and 1999 and is now joined by another Spaniard at the Champions Dinner in Jon Rahm.

88. Vijay Singh - Despite being the oldest man in the field at 61, Singh will likely log more range hours than most of his other competitors.

87. Jasper Stubbs (a) - The 22-year-old Aussie qualified by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last year but ranks well behind the other amateurs in the field at 335th in the world.

86. Mike Weir - The 2003 champion simply does not have the distance to keep up in the Masters these days, as he averaged just 270 yards off the tee last year to finish over 50 yards behind Rory McIlroy's field-leading 323 yards.

85. Santiago de la Fuente (a) - The Latin America Amateur Champ is the 23rd-ranked collegiate golfer, 27th-ranked amateur in the world, and No. 85 on our list ahead of his Masters debut.

84. Stewart Hagestad (a) - The old man of the amateur game is 32 and returns to Augusta while looking to improve on a T-36 in 2017 that was his best showing.

83. Neal Shipley (a) - The burly, long-haired finalist from the U.S. Amateur last year will undoubtedly be a crowd favorite for his prodigious length and energy-filled approach to the game.

82. Fred Couples - After finding the first page of the leaderboard on almost a yearly basis, the distance in the modern game has finally caught up with Couples, who has four missed cuts and a 50th-place showing in his last five Masters.

81. Christo Lamprecht (a) - The tallest man in the field at 6-foot-8, Lamprecht boasts incredible distance that resulted in him actually leading the Open Championship as an amateur after 18 holes last year.

80. Peter Malnati - With a bucket hat, yellow ball, and never-ending pep in his step, Malnati will certainly be an easy player to root for in his first Masters.

79. Grayson Murray - Murray is making his Masters debut thanks to a win in the Sony Open that marked his return to the PGA TOUR after years on the Korn Ferry.

78. Byeong Hun An - Despite a strong run of results this season, An has a scoring average of 74.4 over 10 rounds at Augusta that doesn't inspire much confidence.

77. Taylor Moore - Moore has yet to finish inside the top 35 at a major in his career and only cracked par once in four rounds during his Masters debut last year.

76. Camilo Villegas - The comeback story of the year, Villegas makes his first start in a major since 2015 thanks to his incredible win at the Bermuda Championship.

75. Danny Willett - Willett has missed five of seven cuts at Augusta since his improbable win in 2016 and has yet to play this season as he recovers from surgery.

74. Lee Hodges - This Masters rookie has just one top-20 finish in 16 tournaments since his victory in Minnesota last summer.

73. Eric Cole - Another Masters rookie, Cole will be attempting to beat his father Bobby's best finish of T-15 at Augusta.

72. Denny McCarthy - Watching how the best putter on TOUR navigates Augusta's iconic greens in his debut will be fun.

71. Stephan Jaeger - The only man to beat Scottie Scheffler since February added some serious speed to his game and took down the World No. 1 at the Houston Open as a result.

70. Kurt Kitayama - Kitayama has been solid this year with only one missed cut but has yet to break 75 at Augusta through two rounds.

69. Adam Schenk - Schenk makes his Masters debut after missing all three major cuts for which he qualified last year.

68. Erik van Rooyen - The South African has played well since winning in Mexico in the fall but has a scoring average of 76 in three rounds at Augusta.

67. JT Poston - The explosive Poston's ability to make birdies in bunches hasn't translated from regular TOUR events to majors.

66. Ryo Hisatsune - The 21-year-old Japanese star already has four professional wins to his name and won DP World Tour Rookie of the Year in 2023.

65. Zach Johnson - While his prime playing days are well behind him, Johnson will forever sit beside Sam Snead, Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, and Jack Nicklaus as the only men to win at both Augusta and St. Andrews.

64. Emiliano Grillo - Grillo only has one top-10 finish in 23 career majors, but it did come in his last start at the 2023 Open Championship.

63. Adam Hadwin - A lot has happened to the Canadian since he last played Augusta in 2020, including the biggest tackle professional golf has ever seen last summer.

62. Austin Eckroat - The Masters rookie booked his spot with a victory in the Cognizant Classic at the diabolical PGA National in February.

61. Lucas Glover - The magic of the broomstick putter seems to have left Glover, who has never finished inside the top 20 at Augusta.

60. Thorbjorn Olesen - The Dane finished sixth in his Masters debut but hasn't qualified for the event since 2019.

59. Jake Knapp - The rookie's outrageous length helped him to his first victory in Mexico this year, but he will need to be patient in his Masters debut.

58. Cameron Davis - One of the nicest golf swings in the field hasn't translated to success at Augusta, where he has a career scoring average of 75.

57. Luke List - List made his Masters debut in 2005, but his third career start at Augusta is somehow coming 19 years later.

56. Adrian Meronk - Meronk has performed well since making the move to LIV Golf, but he missed the cut in his only previous Masters start.

55. Charl Schwartzel - It's been 13 years since his insane Sunday round snatched victory from McIlroy, but the South African struggled mightily in three of four LIV events this year.

54. Ryan Fox - The New Zealand bomber made the cut last year in his debut despite battling pneumonia.

53. Nick Dunlap - Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA TOUR since 1991 earlier this year, turned professional, and will now be making his Masters debut.

52. Sepp Straka - He broke par just twice in eight rounds at Augusta but made the cut in both his starts.

51. Harris English - Born in Georgia, played at Georgia in college, lives in Georgia, but has never won a professional event in Georgia.

50. Nicolai Hojgaard - The young European Ryder Cup standout nearly won at Torrey Pines in January but has been awfully quiet since.

49. Chris Kirk - Kirk has only one top-10 finish in 24 career majors, but he won earlier this year in Hawaii on a course that features similar undulations as Augusta.

48. Matthieu Pavon - The Masters rookie has played brilliantly to start 2024 with a win and three other top-seven showings worldwide.

47. Gary Woodland - He will be an incredibly easy player to root for should he contend given his comeback from brain surgery.

46. Keegan Bradley - Bradley has never putted well enough to contend at Augusta and currently sits 161st on TOUR this season in that area.

45. Tom Kim - He played well in his debut and ended up with a T-16 finish, but he has zero finishes inside that number in any tournament this year.

44. Akshay Bhatia - The former Drive, Chip and Putt champion at Augusta grabbed the final spot in the field with his victory on the weekend in Texas.

43. Bubba Watson - His form has been dreadful since joining LIV Golf, but with two green jackets in his closet, there's always potential for a magical run.

42. Russell Henley - He rarely gets mentioned but is an incredibly consistent player at Augusta, with last year's tie for fourth his best showing.

41. Rickie Fowler - Fowler made nine cuts in 10 previous starts at Augusta, but he's making his first appearance at the Masters since 2020.

40. Tiger Woods - Tiger will break the record of 23 straight Masters cuts made if he sees the weekend - a much more realistic goal than contending for a sixth green jacket.

39. Sergio Garcia - Garcia missed the cut at Augusta in four of his five starts since winning his only major in 2017.

38. Phil Mickelson - The biggest wild card in the field has shown almost no form the last two seasons but somehow finished in a tie for second at the Masters in 2023.

37. Min Woo Lee - The Aussie social media sensation and his Let Him Cook campaign will be looking to cook up his second top-five finish in his last three majors.

36. Si Woo Kim - He once broke his putter out of anger at Augusta and was forced to putt with a 3-wood for four holes while sitting just two shots off the lead.

35. Justin Rose - Rose has finished inside the top 10 in six of his 18 starts at Augusta but hasn't broke 70 in an event since February.

34. Nick Taylor - One thing is for sure - if Taylor becomes just the second Canadian to win a major championship on Sunday, you can bet it will be in dramatic fashion.

33. Sungjae Im - Outside of a missed cut in 2021, the South Korean finished second, eighth, and 16th in his four starts at Augusta.

32. Adam Scott - Nobody has claimed the Masters in more dramatic fashion than Scott did in 2014, but the Aussie limps in without a round under 70 since mid-February.

31. Sam Burns - It's time for Burns to show up in a major, as the World No. 20 has zero top-20 finishes in 14 starts.

30. Cameron Young - The young phenom has yet to win on the PGA TOUR but has a remarkable four top-eight finishes in his last seven majors.

29. Bryson DeChambeau - DeChambeau is better than his ranking suggests, but he has been absolutely abysmal at Augusta since telling CBS Sports that the iconic layout was a "par 67" for him.

28. Shane Lowry - The 2019 Open Champion hasn't finished outside the top 25 at Augusta in five years and has two top-four showings in his last three PGA TOUR events.

27. Corey Conners - The Canadian ball-striking savant has three top-10 finishes in 20 career majors - all at Augusta National.

26. Justin Thomas - The vibes around the two-time PGA Champion are not exactly high with three missed cuts in his last four majors and a high-profile breakup with caddie Bones Mackay last week.

25. Patrick Reed - Reed hasn't exactly lit up LIV Golf since making the move a couple years ago, but he'll always be a threat to make noise at Augusta.

24. Tyrrell Hatton - Despite being virtually the only person ever to not speak glowingly about Augusta, the stars might be aligning for Hatton to have a big week.

23. Max Homa - Homa finally notched his first top-10 finish at a major in what was his 17th try at last year's Open, and he comes to the Masters in fine form.

22. Brian Harman - The former Georgia standout is a different class of player this time around thanks to his Open Championship win last year.

21. Tony Finau - Finau will be eyeing a win to give people a better memory of him at Augusta than the gruesome ankle injury he suffered while celebrating an ace in the par-3 contest a couple years ago.

20. Jason Day - The Aussie has quietly been one of the more solid TOUR players over the past 16 months, with a top-20 finish in 15 of his last 31 starts.

19. Tommy Fleetwood - Fleetwood has been consistent without ever threatening at Augusta, with almost half of his 26 rounds under par.

18. Patrick Cantlay - Cantlay is an exceptional week-to-week player on TOUR who somehow has just one top-five finish in 27 career major starts.

17. Ludvig Aberg - Aberg is not only making his Masters debut but playing in his first career major.

16. Matt Fitzpatrick - Fitzpatrick has finished in the top 15 in the last two Masters and will look to add a green jacket to the tartan one in his closet after winning the RBC Heritage.

15. Sahith Theegala - Theegala finished ninth in his Masters debut last year with a final-round 67 igniting the patrons and making him an easy fan favorite.

14. Collin Morikawa - His form has been dreadful by his lofty standards, but a return to a course that emphasizes approach play could help him turn things around.

13. Will Zalatoris - With two top-six finishes in his only Masters starts, Zalatoris finds himself surrounded by incredible company from a statistical perspective.

12. Dustin Johnson - Johnson has seven top-15 finishes in 13 starts at Augusta and already has a win on LIV Golf this season.

11. Viktor Hovland - Hovland was absolutely brilliant last season in winning the FedEx Cup but has had a rocky run thus far in 2024.

10. Hideki Matsuyama - Matsuyama has a win and four straight top-12 finishes on TOUR as he comes into an event that he won in 2021.

9. Wyndham Clark - The U.S. Open champion has somehow never played in the Masters but will look to become the first debutant to win since 1979.

8. Cameron Smith - Smith holds the unique record of being the only player in Masters history to post all four rounds in the 60s at one tournament.

7. Joaquin Niemann - Niemann has yet to post a top-10 finish at a major in his career, but he has been lighting up LIV Golf this season after winning the Australian Open in December.

6. Jordan Spieth - It's tough to see the man with a green jacket and six top-four finishes at Augusta not being in the mix come Sunday.

5. Rory McIlroy - Perhaps 10 is the lucky number as 2024 marks the 10th time that McIlroy comes to Augusta with the chance to win the career Grand Slam.

4. Xander Schauffele - Schauffele has been just about the biggest Masters tease in recent memory and looks ready to finally claim his first major.

3. Brooks Koepka - He has been very close to winning his third of the four majors on multiple occasions, with a second-place finish at Augusta to Woods in 2019 and to Rahm last year.

2. Jon Rahm - Rahm is looking to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Woods as the only players to win back-to-back Masters since 1960.

1. Scottie Scheffler - Given his ball-striking over the past 12-18 months, if the 2022 champion putts to his average, there will be a second green jacket in his closet come Sunday.