Norman Earns a Trip to Masters by Virtue of His Top-50 Ranking

There probably won’t be any special invitations to the Masters this year, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be Greg Norman.

The invitation list released Saturday by Augusta National Golf Club contains the most amateurs in 11 years, along with five Americans who might otherwise not have been invited except for sweeping changes in the qualification system.

The Masters announced last year it would take the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking from the end of 1998, which allows Norman to return to Augusta for another try at the elusive green jacket.

The change did not have a significant impact on the size of the field--90 of the 99 players on the initial invitation list are expected to play, which is about the same size it has been the past three years.

Norman almost certainly would have received a special invitation that Augusta National traditionally sends to international players at its discretion. Instead, he and four other foreign players got in through the world rankings--Jumbo Ozaki, Carlos Franco, Thomas Bjorn and Shigeki Maruyama.

The rankings also provided five Americans a trip to Augusta--Loren Roberts, Brad Faxon, Bill Glasson, Brian Watts and Brandt Jobe.

Arnold Palmer is expected to play for the 45th consecutive year, which would break the record he shares with Sam Snead. Jack Nicklaus, who tied for sixth last year at age 58, will end his streak of 40 consecutive Masters because of hip-replacement surgery scheduled for Wednesday.

The six amateurs are the most in the Masters since 1988, the last year Augusta National invited Walker Cup or World Cup players. Since 1989, the only amateurs to get in are the U.S. Amateur finalists (Hank Kuehne and Tom McKnight) and winners of the British Amateur (Sergio Garcia), U.S. Mid-Amateur (John Miller) and U.S. Public Links (Trevor Immelman).

The additional amateur is Matt Kuchar, who thrilled the Augusta gallery last year with his charming smile and tied for 21st.

Kuchar also would have qualified by virtue of his tie for 14th at the U.S. Open.

The invitation list is not final. Players who win a PGA Tour event through the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta the week before the Masters would qualify.