Here are the 27 different ways to qualify for a 2026 Masters invitation

Getting an invitation to the 2026 Masters is quite an accomplishment. It means you've done something special in men's golf, garnering an opportunity to play in the only major championship conducted as an invitational tournament.

While the Masters is an invitational tournament, and Augusta National Golf Club determines who gets invited at their sole discretion, there are 27 different ways a golfer can earn an invitation to the Masters.

The best way to earn a Masters invitation is to win the Masters. Masters Tournament winners are effectively invited back for life, and they're celebrated as part of the tournament's lore frankly in a way the other majors don't or can't.

The next best way to earn a Masters invitation is to win one of the other three major championships. Winners of a major championship get invited to the other three majors for five years after winning, meaning a guaranteed 20 consecutive major starts after taking a major title. While not on the level of a major, The Players Championship is a huge tournament, and winners of the PGA Tour's crown jewel get a three-year exemption across the majors.

After those three ways, all the other paths to a Masters invitation come with one-time invites that have to be earned back the next year. The qualification criteria range from winning or getting to the final of a prestigious amateur event, to winning on the PGA Tour, to reaching the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking by certain cutoff dates.

Then, the Masters Tournament could always simply choose to invite who they would like, which they do from time to time. The Masters has added additional criteria to qualify for the tournament this year, allotting spots to the winners of specific national championships.

Amateurs are an important part of the history of the Masters Tournament, and a variety of amateur standouts and champions are invited each year -- provided that they remain an amateur when they compete in the Masters.

If a player satisfies multiple criteria to earn a Masters invitation, they don't get multiple years' worth of invitations, just an invite under the criteria with the greatest weight and longest counting period.

The 21 different ways to qualify for a Masters invitation

1. Former winners of The Masters
2. Winners of the U.S. Open in the last five years
3. Winners of the British Open in the last five years
4. Winners of the PGA Championship in the last five years
5. Winners of the Players Championship in the last three years
6. Winner of the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal in men's golf
7. Winner and runner-up from the last U.S. Amateur Championship
8. Winner of the last British Amateur Championship
9. Winner of the last Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
10. Winner of the last Latin America Amateur Championship
11. Winner of the last U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
12. Winner of the last NCAA men's individual championship
13. The top 12 finishers (including ties) from last year's Masters tournament
14. The top 4 finishers (including ties), from last year's U.S. Open
15. The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year's British Open
16. The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year's PGA Championship
17. Full PGA Tour event winners -- excluding the FedEx Cup Fall -- since the last Masters
18. All eligible players who qualified for the most recent Tour Championship
19. Winner of the last Genesis Scottish Open
20. Winner of the last Open de España
21. Winner of the last Japan Open Golf Championship
22. Winner of the last Hong Kong Open
23. Winner of the last Australian Open
24. Winner of the last South African Open Championship
25. The top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the last calendar year
26. The top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking published the week before the Masters
27. Special invitations