[Photo: Megan Briggs/TGL]
We’ve reached the final month of the 2025, and while there are only a handful of events still to be played, there are a dozen or so professionals who have so much on the line.
Specifically… Masters invitations.
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The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the year earn invites for the 2026 major at Augusta National. With that in mind, there will be a critical eye placed on Nos.45-55 in the world ranking over the next four weeks, with many heralded players occupying those spots teeing it up at a time they might otherwise be taking a break from golf to either protect, or improve, their respective positions.
But first, let’s start with this week, where there are three events that offer a chance for significant rankings movement: Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge is in the Bahamas, while there are two events on the DP World Tour, the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne and the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
There are only 20 players competing in the Hero World Challenge, but one will be playing for as many world ranking points as possible. Billy Horschel tied for 11th place at the Bank of Utah Championship in his last tournament appearance this year and sits 45th in the latest world ranking. A good performance in the Bahamas ought to be enough to send the PGA Tour veteran, who sat out four months this year after having hip surgery in May and is playing at Albany Golf Club thanks to a special exemption, to Augusta National for the 11th time in his career. (Note: Akshay Bhatia is in the field and ranked 43rd but is already eligible for the Masters via qualifying for the Tour Championship. Jordan Spieth is ranked 70th but will obviously play in the Masters as a past champion.)
Meanwhile, Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim and Matt McCarty are all playing in the Australian Open with chances to solidify their positions. Lee tied for fifth place in the Australian PGA Championship on Sunday, moving up from 46th to 42nd in the OWGR and making it likely he will qualify for the Masters. He’ll be right back at it this week at Royal Melbourne in his home country. Kim and McCarty enter the week ranked 54th and 55th respectively.
Those closest to the 50th spot playing in South Africa who have not yet qualified for the Masters are Thomas Detry (56th), Kristoffer Reitan (59th) and Laurie Canter (60th).
After this week, only the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship (December 11-14) and Mauritius Open (December 18-21) remain for anyone to improve their status. Those fields are not yet solidified.
Taylor Pendrith (46th), Johnny Keefer (47th), Sam Stevens (48th) and Nicolas Echavarria (50th) are the final players who would be in if the rankings ended today. Jason Day sits 49th, but he’s already in the Masters field because he tied for eighth place at Augusta this year.
Here is the list of all 13 players who have yet to qualify for the 2026 Masters who would earn invites for being in the top 50 if this week’s ranking was the final one for the year (in order of their current ranking):
Alex Noren (17)
Aaron Rai (23)
Max Greyserman (32)
Michael Brennan (35)
Michael Kim (36)
Rasmus Hojgaard (37)
Sami Valimaki (40)
Min Woo Lee (42)
Billy Horschel (5)
Taylor Pendrith (46)
Johnny Keefer (47)
Sam Stevens (48)
Nicolas Echavarria (50)