Augusta National chairman confirms LIV Golf star has received special Masters invite

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley has confirmed LIV Golf's Joaquin Niemann has accepted an invitation to play the Masters Tournament for the second year running. 

Ridley confirmed the news on 8 January, with fewer than 100 days to go until the first major of the year. 

The golf chief also revealed Augusta National officials deemed Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard worthy of an invitation to the tradition unlike any other. 

Hojgaard, 23, made his Ryder Cup debut in 2023 and has risen to 60th in the world rankings. 

Only the top 50 players in the OWGR in December 2024 have so far guaranteed their spots.

Players that are in the top 50 on 31 March 2025 will also be added to the field. 

PGA Tour winners from now until April will also qualify. You can see the field so far at the bottom of this page. 

Past champions always get to play, along with the existing NCAA champ and the winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship.

There are a few other categories in which players can qualify. 

Niemann is currently No. 71 in the OWGR but he has made efforts to play non-LIV events since making the jump to the breakaway tour to improve his chances of getting into the majors. 

This was touched upon by Ridley, who said: "In support of Augusta National's efforts to develop interest in golf globally, deserving international players not otherwise qualified have been invited throughout the Tournament's history. 

"The tradition continues as we welcome Nicolai and Joaquin back to the Masters, as both players have showcased their talent while competing around the world. We look forward to their arrival this April."

It helps Niemann's case, as well, that he is a former Latin America Amateur champion. 

He will make his sixth appearance at Augusta in April and has so far made the cut in the past four editions. 

Hojgaard made his debut in 2023. His twin brother Rasmus will also be playing, which marks the first time that a pair of twins will compete in the same staging. 

Masters field 2025

Past winners

• Scottie Scheffler
• Jon Rahm
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Dustin Johnson
• Tiger Woods
• Patrick Reed
• Sergio Garcia
• Danny Willett
• Jordan Spieth
• Bubba Watson
• Adam Scott
• Charl Schwartzel
• Phil Mickelson
• Angel Cabrera
• Zach Johnson
• Mike Weir
• Vijay Singh
• Jose Maria Olazabal
• Bernhard Langer
• Fred Couples

PGA champions (five years)

• Xander Schauffele
• Brooks Koepka
• Justin Thomas
• Collin Morikawa

U.S. Open champions (five years)

• Bryson DeChambeau
• Wyndham Clark
• Matt Fitzpatrick

The Open champions (five years)

• Brian Harman
• Cameron Smith

NCAA champion

• Hiroshi Tai (a)

U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up

• Jose Luis Ballester (a)
• Noah Kent (a)

U.S. Mid-Amateur champion

• Evan Beck (a)

Latin American Amateur champion

TBC

Top 12 and ties from the 2024 Masters

• Ludvig Åberg
• Max Homa
• Will Zalatoris
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Cameron Young
• Matthieu Pavon
• Adam Schenk
• Cameron Davis

Top four and ties from the 2024 PGA Championship

• Viktor Hovland
• Thomas Detry

Top four and ties from the 2024 U.S. Open

• Rory McIlroy
• Patrick Cantlay
• Tony Finau

Top four and ties from the 2024 Open

• Thriston Lawrence

PGA Tour winners since the 2024 Masters (full FedExCup points)

• Taylor Pendrith
• Davis Riley
• Robert MacIntyre
• Davis Thompson
• Jhonattan Vegas
• Aaron Rai
• Keegan Bradley
• Patton Kizzire
• Kevin Yu
• Matt McCarty
• J.T. Poston
• Nico Echavarria
• Austin Eckroat
• Rafael Campos
• Maverick McNealy

Field from the 2024 Tour Championship

• Sam Burns
• Sungjae Im
• Sahith Theegala
• Shane Lowry
• Byeong Hun An
• Russell Henley
• Akshay Bhatia
• Billy Horschel
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Sepp Straka
• Chris Kirk
• Tom Hoge
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Top 50 from the final world ranking in 2024

• Tom Kim
• Nick Dunlap
• Max Greyserman
• Rasmus Hojgaard
• Jason Day
• Corey Conners
• Denny McCarthy
• Justin Rose
• Min Woo Lee
• Lucas Glover

Top 50 from the March 31, 2025 world ranking

TBC

Special invitations

• Joaquin Niemann
• Nicolai Hojgaard

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