Augusta National Golf Club strips Masters invitations from PGA Tour Fall Series winners
The Masters Tournament will no longer issue invitations to winners of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Fall Series as part of a joint venture with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club to expand eligibility to winners of selected national opens.
The Augusta National Golf Club announced the changes to its invitation criteria on Aug. 26. The winners of full points FedEx Cup PGA Tour events through last week’s Tour Championship (500 or more points for the winners) will receive invitations, and the Fall Series events have been eliminated in favor of the winners of the Scottish, Spanish, Japan, Hong Kong, Australian and South African Opens.
In a news release, Augusta National said, “This approach builds on the R&A’s longstanding and successful Open Qualifying Series and will ensure strong international pathways into both major championships from several professional tours, recognizing the global strength of elite professional golf.”
That means the winner of the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club on St. Simons Island, Ga., which has anchored the Tour’s Fall schedule, will no longer receive an invitation to the Masters, if not otherwise eligible.
RSM tournament director Todd Thompson did not immediately return a phone message and email left by the Times-Union.
The other fall tournaments are the Procore Championship, Sanderson Farms Championship, Baycurrent Classic, Bank of Utah Championship, World Wide Technology Championship and the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Winners of the Fall events will still earn a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a spot in The Players Championship.
Augusta looks for stronger international field
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement that the move was to strengthen the tournament’s field on an international basis.
“The Masters Tournament has long recognized the significance of having international representation among its invitees,” Ridley said. “We, along with The R&A, have a shared commitment to the global game and are proud to work together. Today’s announcement strengthens our organization’s collective vision of rewarding top talent around the world who rise to the top of historic national open championships.”
The Open Qualifying Series began in 2013 and offers players entry into the British Open through 15 events in 13 countries.
The schedule for The Open Qualifying Series and the list of exemptions for The 154th Open will be announced in September.
The 90th Masters will be April 9-12, 2026.
What are the current Masters eligibility requirements?
- 1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
- 2. Last five U.S. Open Champions
- 3. Last five British Open Champions
- 4. Last five PGA Champions
- 5. Last three Players champions
- 6. Current Olympic Gold Medalist, for one year
- 7. Current U.S. Amateur Champion and runner-up
- 8. Current British Amateur Champion
- 9. Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion
- 10. Current Latin America Amateur Champion
- 11. Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion
- 12. Current NCAA Division I Men’s Individual Champion
- 13. The first 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters Tournament
- 14. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open
- 15. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s The Open Championship
- 16. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship
- 17. Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation applied to the season-ending Tour Championship
- 18. Those qualifying and eligible for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
- 19. Current Scottish Open Champion
- 20. Current Spanish Open Champion
- 21. Current Japan Open Champion
- 22. Current Hong Kong Open Champion
- 23. Current Australian Open Champion
- 24. Current South African Open Champion
- 25. The 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
- 26. The 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking published during the week before the current Masters
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour Fall Series winners will no longer get Masters invitations
