The Masters, which already has the tightest field among the four Majors, could have an even smaller field next year.
With the golf season over for 2023 and only 14 events next year before the Masters in April, the 2024 field could be one of the smallest in decades.
As it stands, it looks like 11 players currently ranked inside the top 50 will receive invitations to Augusta National next year, which would bring the field to 77 players.
Those 11 players in the top 50, who aren’t otherwise eligible through other criteria such as being a past champion, include: Ryan Fox, Min Woo Lee, Will Zalatoris, Denny McCarthy Justin Rose, Harris English, JT Poston, Eric Cole, Adrian Meronk, Adam Hadwin and Nicolai Hojgaard.
Three players will make their Masters debuts, despite not yet winning on the PGA Tour yet: Cole, McCarthy and Adam Schenk, who qualified for his first trip down Magnolia Lane by reaching the Tour Championship this year, where the top 30 in the points list compete for the FedEx Cup.
Ludvig Aberg, Luke List, Camilo Villegas and Erik van Rooyen have booked their tickets after winning in FedEx Cup Fall events.
One more player, the winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship at Panama's Santa Maria Golf Club in January, will be added to the list, meaning the field could possibly fall below 80 for the first time since the 1985 tournament.
More players could be added through new champions in the 14 events leading up to the Masters, while the top 50 will likely shuffle around before the final cutoff on April 7.
There could also be special invitations for international players who aren’t PGA Tour regulars. Augusta National occasionally hands out special invites, like this year when amateur Gordon Sargent and the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit winner Kazuki Higa received invitations. They were the first invites since 2019, when Shuga Imahira was added to the field.
Several notable players currently sit just outside the top 50 rankings, including Matt Kuchar, Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel and LIV Golf's Joaquin Niemann, who recently won the Australian Open. LIV Golf's individual champion Talor Gooch is also not yet in the field, with Bryson DeChambeau recently telling the Rick Shiels Golf Show that he feels bad both men aren't ranked in the top 50 due to joining the Saudi-backed circuit.
"I’m in the Majors, I’m lucky enough that 2020 was an amazing year for me and the US Open really set me up for a lot of success but I feel bad for the guys like Joaquin Niemann that deserve a spot, he is good enough to play in every Major championship. He’s a top 50 player in the world, doesn’t have that opportunity. Talor Gooch, he won three times this year."
Kuchar, who is used to being on the bubble after narrowly missing out in the previous two years, says he’s not thinking too much about it.
"I think I was really close last year, as well," Kuchar told ESPN.
"I've never been one to think, 'I need to play well this week because I'm 53rd in the world.' If you didn't tell me where I was in the world ranking, I could not have told you … I've always thought your best chance to play good golf is to just go out and do it, and not because you have to do it."
The Masters has traditionally had fields ranging between 85 to 100 players, with 88 competing for the Green Jacket this year.
The smallest ever Masters field is 42, which occurred in 1938 and 1942, while the largest is 110, seen in 1962.
