Majority of 2007 Masters field set
At a time when mail boxes are stuffed with holiday cards, bills and the usual batch of junk mail, 17 players might want to be very careful about throwing away unopened letters the next few weeks.
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The players who have qualified and are
expected to compete in the 71st Masters Tournament, to be played
April 5-8 at Augusta National Golf Club. The field will not be set
until March 26 (players listed in only one category):
Masters champions: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Mike Weir,
Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara, Ben Crenshaw,
Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize,
Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Gary Player,
Raymond Floyd.
U.S. Open champions (five years): Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Campbell, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk.
British Open champions (five years): Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Ernie Els.
PGA champions (five years): Shaun Micheel,
Rich Beem.
Players Championship (three years): Stephen Ames, Fred Funk.
U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up: Richie Ramsay, John Kelly.
British Amateur champion: Julien Gerrier.
U.S. Amateur Public Links champion:
Casey Watabu.
U.S. Mid-Amateur champion: Dave Womack.
Top 16 players and ties from 2006 Masters:
Tim Clark, Chad Campbell, Angel Cabrera, Stewart Cink,
Miguel Angel Jimenez, Arron Oberholser, Billy Mayfair,
Scott Verplank, Rod Pampling.
Top eight players and ties from 2006 U.S. Open: Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Nick O'Hern, Jeff Sluman,
Steve Stricker, Kenneth Ferrie.
Top four players and ties from 2006 British Open: Chris DiMarco.
Top four players and ties from 2006 PGA Championship: Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia.
Top 40 players from the 2006 PGA Tour money list: Trevor Immelman, Stuart Appleby, Luke Donald, Brett Wetterich,
David Toms,
Rory Sabbatini, Davis Love III, Carl Pettersson, Brett Quigley,
Dean Wilson, Lucas Glover, Joe Durant, Zach Johnson, K.J. Choi,
J.J. Henry, Tom Pernice Jr., Vaughn Taylor, Troy Matteson,
Tim Herron, Camilo Villegas, Jerry Kelly. Top 50 players from the final 2006 world ranking: Henrik Stenson, David Howell, Paul Casey, Robert Karlsson, Shingo Katayama, Yong-Eun Yang, Ian Poulter, Darren Clarke, Jeev Milkha Singh, Ben Crane, Niclas Fasth, Thomas Bjorn, Robert Allenby, Johan Edfors, Lee Westwood, Bradley Dredge. -- The Associated Press |
One of them could be an invitation to the Masters.
The majority of the field for the 71st Masters was set on Monday when the final world ranking of the year was published. The top 50 at the end of 2006 are eligible, and Bradley Dredge of Wales got the final spot by one-hundredth of a point over Justin Rose.
The list includes 17 players who will be competing for the first time at Augusta National, including Ryder Cup players J.J. Henry, Brett Wetterich and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.
The Masters will be held April 5-8. Phil Mickelson is the defending champion.
The field will include two Singhs for the first time -- Vijay Singh, the 2000 champion, and Jeev Milkha Singh, who won the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama on the European Tour and is No. 37 in the world.
Jeev Singh also is the first player from India to get a Masters invitation, while Camilo Villegas will be the second player from Colombia; Miguel Salas competed from 1961 to 1964, making the cut once.
Masters invitations are expected to go in the mail this week, only it doesn't look like anything special. Charles Howell III, who grew up in Augusta, once recalled getting his letter and almost throwing it away.
"It's a plain, normal, white envelope," Howell said. "Doesn't say Augusta National, no return address."
Howell would love to get a letter now.
Criteria for the Masters range from major champions over the last five years to top finishes in the other three majors, although the bulk of players comes from the PGA Tour money list (top 40) and the world ranking (top 50).
Howell was No. 52 on the PGA Tour money list and is danger of missing the Masters for the first time since 2001, his rookie season on the PGA Tour. He is No. 82 in the world ranking.
There is still hope for him and players such as Rose and former Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman. The field is not set until the spring, the Monday after the World Golf Championship at Doral. Augusta National will issue invitations to the top 50 in the world and the top 10 on the PGA Tour money list that are published March 26.
The Masters also can issue special invitations to international players.
Rose got married last week and did not play, and a slight change in the points pushed Dredge ahead of him. Lee Westwood needed to finish 12th or higher in the South African Open last weekend, and his tie for eighth was enough to assure he would stay in the top 50 by the end of the year. He was at No. 49.
Of the 16 players who qualified Monday through the world ranking, Ben Crane (No. 41) was the only American.
It was not clear how many players were expected to compete at the Masters because Augusta National was waiting to hear from past champions, who are exempt for life. Charles Coody said last year he would not play again, and three-time winner Nick Faldo said this year he would not play because of his new job as the CBS Sports golf analyst.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
