August 13, 2020

The 2020 Masters Tournament will go on, but without patrons

Augusta National Golf Club made the announcement on Wednesday, that the tournament is scheduled for Nov. 9-15.

Augusta National is all about white dogwoods and pink azaleas, but not this year, not at Thanksgiving.

ANGC announced the postponement of the tournament in March, along with cancellations of the 2020 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Drive, Chip & Putt finals.

“Since our initial announcement to postpone the 2020 Masters, we have remained committed to a rescheduled Tournament in November while continually examining how best to host a global sporting event amid this pandemic,” club and tournament chairman Fred Ridley said in a release. “As we have considered the issues facing us, the health and safety of everyone associated with the Masters always has been our first and most important priority.”

Ridley added that while the decision is disappointing, it’s incumbent upon Augusta National to make safety the top priority when conducting the tournament.

“Even in the current circumstances, staging the Masters without patrons is deeply disappointing. The guests who come to Augusta each spring from around the world are a key component to making the Tournament so special,” he said in the release.

“Augusta National has the responsibility, however, to understand and accept the challenges associated with this virus and take the necessary precautions to conduct all aspects of the Tournament in a safe manner. We look forward to the day when we can welcome all of our patrons back, hopefully in April 2021.”

According to the club, all 2020 ticket holders will be guaranteed the same tickets for the 2021 Masters. The club said it will communicate with all ticket holders and 2021 ticket applicants in September.

The Masters not only set a new date, but it also filled out its field - 96 players, regardless of what happens until November. Four players were added to the field by being among the top 50 in the world - McDowell, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Augusta added 1,460 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the two weeks leading up to August 6, bringing the Richmond County total Wednesday to 3,921, which is just under 2% of the population.

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April 8, 2019

The last man invited to The Masters

Corey Conners claimed his first PGA Tour victory and earned an invite to the Masters on Sunday, winning the Valero Texas Open less than a week after qualifying.

Conners is having a decent season, having finished second at the Sanderson Farms Championship and T-3 at the Sony Open. But he's playing this season on conditional status, meaning that even with those results he had to head to a Monday qualifier to try to earn one of the last four spots in the field at TPC San Antonio. He qualified, then the Canadian shocked the field in the final round with 10 birdies and his first career PGA Tour victory.

The win brings with it the 87th and final spot in next week's Masters. It also means he won't have to worry about any more Monday qualifiers until at least 2022.

''My wife got an email this morning letting her know we could check in for our flight back home,'' Conners said. ''I told her, 'Aw, don't check in yet. Maybe we can make other plans.' Big change of plans. It was going to be an off week. I'm glad it won't be.''

Conners played in the Masters just once before, missing the cut in 2015 as an amateur after losing in the finals of the 2014 U.S. Amateur. He became the first player to go from Monday qualifier to the winner's circle on Tour since Arjun Atwal won the 2010 Wyndham Championship.

Ran DeBord - All Access Sporting News

PREVIOUSLY ===============

The 2019 Masters

Who's gonna be playing?

The 87 players who are eligible and expected to play in the 83rd Masters, which starts Thursday. Players listed only in the first category for which they are eligible.

MASTERS CHAMPIONS: Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Tiger Woods, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize.

U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONS (five years): Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer.

BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONS (five years): Francesco Molinari, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy.

PGA CHAMPIONS (five years): Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS (three years): Webb Simpson, Si Woo Kim.

U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPION AND RUNNER-UP: a-Viktor Hovland, a-Devon Bling.

BRITISH AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Jovan Rebula.

ASIA-PACIFIC AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Takumi Kanaya.

LATIN AMERICA AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Alvaro Ortiz.

U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Kevin O'Connell.

TOP 12 AND TIES-2018 MASTERS: Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Tony Finau, Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Rose.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2018 U.S. OPEN: Tommy Fleetwood.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2018 BRITISH OPEN: Kevin Kisner, Xander Schauffele.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2018 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: Stewart Cink.

PGA TOUR WINNERS SINCE 2018 MASTERS (FULL FEDEX CUP POINTS AWARDED): Satoshi Kodaira, Andrew Landry, Aaron Wise, Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Na, Michael Kim, Brandt Snedeker, Keegan Bradley, Kevin Tway, Matt Kuchar, Charles Howell III, Adam Long, J.B. Holmes, Keith Mitchell, Paul Casey, Corey Conners.

FIELD FROM THE 2018 TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP: Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay, Kyle Stanley, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland, Patton Kizzire.

TOP 50 FROM FINAL WORLD RANKING IN 2018: Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Eddie Pepperell, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ian Poulter, Li Haotong, Thorbjorn Olesen, Matt Wallace, Lucas Bjerregaard, Emiliano Grillo, Branden Grace.

TOP 50 FROM WORLD RANKING ON MARCH 31: Justin Harding, Shane Lowry.

SPECIAL INVITATION: Shigo Imahira.

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