New criteria for qualifications for masters and open announced

Augusta, Georgia – 13. April: Rory Mcilroi from Northern Ireland, retaining the trophy after she wins the balloquery during the final circle of the master of 2025. Year in August National Golf Club, 13. April 2025. years. (Photography David Cannon / Getty Images)

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National Golf Club Augusta and Royal and Ancient Golf Club St Andrews (R & A) announced plans to harmonize qualifications for the Master Tournament and Open Championship, which are set to take effect immediately. Changes include an automatic qualification for the invitation to winners of several new National Outdoor Championships for Master Tournament, as well as changes to qualifying criteria for the winners of the SELECTI PGA Tour Tour winners. According to R & A, these changes “will ensure strong international roads in both main championships with several professional tours, recognizing the global power of elite professional golf.”

Augusta National President Golf Club Club Fred Ridley resonated a similar feeling. Ridley said “The Master Tournament has long recognized the importance of international representation among its calls …”

Starting from the Master from 2026. year, the National Golf Club of Augusta added an automatic call for SCottish Open, Spanish Open, Open, Japan Open, Hong Kong Open, Australian Open, Australian Open, Australian Open. Adding these SELECT National Open Championships should help raise the profiles of these tournaments, as well as players outside the first 50 official golf ranking, which are not already exempt already exempted already exempted for the call of the master tournament.

In addition, the criteria for the qualifications for the master tournament in terms of the winners of the PGA touring events are also changed. The call will now be assigned to only individual winners of the PGA tour events that assign full-point partition (minimum 500 points) that is applied to seasonal championship in progress.

The move of the National August Golf Club that require to be awarded in the entire championship in the season, will result in an end to automatic invitations for the winners of the PGA tour of the series. The PGA tour season usually contains weak fields, with players with FedEx Cup ranking 50 for some status of the PGA tour for 2026. Year, all eight winners in the autumn season were not already eligible for the call of the Master Tournament.

The R & A will also release the current champions of Scottish open, open open open, open in Hong Kong, Australian Open and South African and South African opened in the open championship. The Australian Open, South African open, and Japan Open are already part of an open qualification series, so it is a call of the master tournament for winners, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa, with the Chairman of Ridley, this purpose for the International Masters.

This is the first important change on the master criteria for the tournament’s invitation since 2013. years and comes soon after the PGA Tour General Director of Brian Rolapp signaled that competitive changes can come to the PGA tour. Rolapp stated that we focus on the evolution of our competitive model and appropriate media products and sponsor elements and models of the entire sport. The goal is not an incremental change. The goal is a significant change in the new competition board ROLAPP.

It is unclear that the rolapp changes intend to make. Some changes could involve consolidation of schedules, which can target events during the PGA tour series. The announcement of the National Golf Club Augusta and R & A can eventually help consolidate schedules, because it certainly makes the decline in events less relevant in connection with the master tournament.

Given these new qualifications, fans can see some fresh new faces come 2026 on the master tournament, which begins 9. April and open championship, which returns to Royal Birkdale at the beginning of July 16. July. July.