Christmas has come early for some of the best golfers in the world.
A handful of players took to social media to announce—let’s be honest, show off—their invitations from Augusta National had been delivered this week, signaling their entries into the 2023 Masters field.
Adrian Meronk got the fun started, as the Polish golfer, thanks to wins at the Irish and Australian Opens, moved into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking to earn his first invite to the Masters:
LIV Golf members Kevin Na and Patrick Reed also posted their invitations on Instagram:
Earlier this week Augusta National announced that it will keep its current field criteria for the 2023 Masters, meaning it will not ban LIV Golf members for the upcoming tournament. In a statement, Augusta National and Masters chairman Fred Ridley wrote that, “Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it.” However, while Ridley said he was “disappointed” in these developments, “our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers.”
“Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament,” Ridley said. “As we have said in the past, we look at every aspect of the Tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future Tournaments will be announced in April.”
Six current LIV Golf players have lifetime exemptions into the Masters as past champions: Reed, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Phil Mickelson. Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will earn invites for winning majors in the past five years. Joaquin Niemann will be in the field for reaching the 2022 Tour Championship, while Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak, Na, Abraham Ancer and Louis Oosthuizen get invites for being inside the Official World Golf Rankings’s top 50.
The 2023 Masters begins April 7. Scottie Scheffler is the defending champ.