Masters field already taking shape through wins, world rankings

Kristoffer Reitan of Norway and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark will be PGA Tour rookies next year having earned cards by being among the leading 10 players on the European tour not already exempt.

They already have one edge over the other rookies. They’re in the Masters.

Both earned their spot in the growing field at Augusta National by winning last week. Neergaard-Petersen had an amazing par save on the 18th hole to win the Australian Open, which this year awarded a spot in the Masters.

“As soon as I watched that tournament, it was the first event that I was like, ‘If I one day be a professional golfer, that’s the event I want to play.’ So it’s a dream come true and I can’t wait for April,” said Neergaard-Petersen, who played his college golf at Oklahoma State.

Reitan, who won the Soudal Open and had two runner-up finishes this year in Europe, held on for a wire-to-wire win in the Nedbank Golf Challenge. That moved him to No. 33 in the world and assured he will be among the top 50 who get Masters invitations at the end of the year.

Only two weeks of official events remain this year, the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa and the Mauritius Open.

According to an Official World Golf Ranking expert who goes by “Nosferatu” on X, 10 other players not already in the Masters are assured of staying in the top 50. That includes two Americans who were not even on a main tour to start the year.

Michael Brennan was on the PGA Tour of Americas, earned a Korn Ferry Tour card and then received a sponsor exemption to the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert and won. Johnny Keefer was the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year who has two wins among his seven top 10s.

Including spots still to be awarded to the winners of the South African Open and Latin American Amateur early next year, that puts the field at 86 players who are exempt and expected to play.

Rory’s honour

Team Europe won the Ryder Cup on American soil for the first time in 13 years, and it was the runner-up in voting by the Association of Golf Writers for its prestigious Golfer of the Year award.

That’s how special a year it was for Rory McIlroy.

He was the overwhelming choice of British media for the award, which McIlroy won for the sixth time. He won the Masters to become the first European to capture the career Grand Slam, won a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy as Europe’s top player, won the Irish Open before a home crowd, and picked up victories at The Players Championship and Pebble Beach.

There also was that small matter of taking on the verbal abuse at Bethpage Black and going 3-1-1 in a European victory.

The Ryder Cup team finished second, followed by FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood.

Gerard’s last chance

Ryan Gerard was at No. 49 in the world when he missed the cut at Sea Island in the final PGA Tour event of the season. That was key because the top 50 in the world at the end of the year get invitations to the Masters. Gerard fell to No. 53.

Now he’s taking one more chance.

Gerard is in the field for the Mauritius Open next week, co-sanctioned between the European tour and the Sunshine Tour. It’s the final tournament of the year that gets ranking points. Gerard is in the field as a winner of a European tour event with at least a $2 million purse. He won the Barracuda Championship opposite the British Open, co-sanctioned by the European tour.

It’s a long flight to Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean about 700 miles from Madagascar. But travel is nothing new for Gerard. In the last four months, he has played in Ireland, England, Japan and Abu Dhabi. The ultimate destination is Augusta National.

Q-school awaits

The last chance for a full PGA Tour card starts this week at Q-school, where five cards are on offer for 176 players. For the first time, there will be a playoff to determine the final spot.

The PGA Tour says the big difference this year is top-five players will have a greater certainty of schedule and “equitable playing opportunities,” a result of only the top 100 in the FedEx Cup — down from 125 players — keeping full status.

Then again, it’s not like the six players (no playoff) who made it through Q-school last year were deprived. They averaged 26 tournaments in 2025, with three of them playing in 29 events.

Takumi Kanaya was the only player who finished in the top 100 in the FedEx Cup (No. 99).

Ironman on PGA Tour

Eric Cole started the season by playing seven tournaments in a row. After missing the Masters, he played the next 10 straight tournaments.

When the season ended, Cole led the PGA Tour by playing in 32 tournaments. The four tournaments he missed for which he was eligible were the Mexico Open, Rocket Classic, Scottish Open and the Bank of Utah Championship.

But he had only four top 10s, and despite playing in all eight of the signature events, Cole wound up at No. 76 in the FedEx Cup.

Seven players played in 31 tournaments. Sam Stevens was the only player from that group who finished among the top 50 in the FedEx Cup.

British calendar

The British Open is moving to Aug. 3-6 for 2028 to avoid a clash with the Los Angeles Olympics. It will be the latest start since 1893, and it will be the first time the claret jug is presented in August.

It also will be the eighth month for the British Open, which has been in July every time since 1936.

The earliest start was on April 8, 1879. The latest The Open was played was Nov. 16 in 1883. It also has been held in May, June, September and October.

Stat of the week

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood were the only players to start and finish the year in the top 10 in the world.

Final word

“No, nothing.” — Hideki Matsuyama when asked if there was something else he enjoyed as much as winning golf tournaments.