Masters invites Niemann and Højgaard
Chilean gets second special exemption and Nicolai gets to join twin brother Rasmus
Joaquin Niemann and Nicolai Højgaard snag coveted Masters invites (ANGC)
The Masters Committee, at its discretion, can invite international players otherwise not qualified. On Wednesday, it used that discretion wisely in picking Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard to play in the 2025 Masters. Both players have accepted.
Niemann, 26, earned his second consecutive special exemption despite toiling for no Official World Golf Ranking points on LIV Golf. Højgaard, 23, contended as an Augusta National rookie last year and will now get to join his twin brother, Rasmus, on the tee sheet in April.
“In support of Augusta National’s efforts to develop interest in golf globally, deserving international players not otherwise qualified have been invited throughout the tournament’s history,” Masters chairman Fred Ridley said. “The tradition continues as we welcome Nicolai and Joaquin back to the Masters, as both players have showcased their talent while competing around the world. We look forward to their arrival this April.”
Niemann, a former Latin America Amateur champion, was rewarded last year for his off-LIV efforts and he warranted another in 2025. Niemann’s victory in the PIF Saudi International was against a far stronger field than his 2023 Australian Open win that impressed the Masters committee. He topped the International Series rankings and was second to Jon Rahm in the LIV individual standings.
Højgaard held top-six positions after each of the first three rounds last April and momentarily led the Masters on Saturday before finishing T16 due in large part to a quadruple bogey on the par-3 12th in the final round. Currently No. 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his 2024 included finishing seventh in the Olympics for Denmark and closing the year with five consecutive top-25 performances on the DP World Tour in France, Spain, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
Nicolai’s twin brother, Rasmus, will make his Masters debut in April, marking the first time that a pair of twins will compete in the same Tournament.
Niemann will make his sixth Masters start in April. He has made the cut in each of the past four Masters, including top-25 finishes the past two years. He is currently No. 71 in the OWGR. Last summer he finished T9 in the Olympics for Chile. In the final two months of 2024, he finished T7 in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and T5 as defending champion in the Australian Open before winning the Asian Tour’s International Series finale in Saudi Arabia.
Niemann made his Masters debut in 2018 as the top-ranked amateur in the world and the reigning Latin America Amateur champion.
Their inclusion brings the field up to 87 qualifiers with room for more in three remaining qualification categories:
Winner of next week’s Latin America Amateur Championship;
Winners of 13 PGA Tour events that award a full FedEx Cup point allocation;
The top-50 players on the final Official World Golf Ranking published the week prior to the Masters.
2025 Masters Field
Through Jan. 8, 2024
Here’s how the 87 players currently qualified to play in the 2025 Masters got into the field
# first-timers (17); * amateurs (4); Americans (44); Internationals (43); Seniors (6)
CATEGORY 1 (20 players)
Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
Angel Cabrera (1) – Argentina
Fred Couples (1)
Sergio Garcia (1) – Spain
Dustin Johnson (1)
Zach Johnson (1)
Bernhard Langer (1) – Germany
Hideki Matsuyama (1, 17, 18, 19) – Japan
Phil Mickelson (1, 4)
Jose Maria Olazabal (1) – Spain
Jon Rahm (1, 2, 19) – Spain
Patrick Reed (1, 13)
Scottie Scheffler (1, 5, 6, 13, 17, 18, 19)
Charl Schwartzel (1) – South Africa
Adam Scott (1, 18, 19) – Australia
Vijay Singh (1) – Fiji
Jordan Spieth (1)
Bubba Watson (1)
Mike Weir (1) – Canada
Danny Willett (1) – England
Tiger Woods (1)
CATEGORY 2 (3 players)
U.S. Open champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
Wyndham Clark (2, 18, 19) – through 2028
Bryson DeChambeau (2, 13, 19) – through 2029
Matthew Fitzpatrick (2, 19) – England – through 2027
CATEGORY 3 (4 players)
British Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
Brian Harman (3, 19) – through 2028
Collin Morikawa (3, 4, 13, 18, 19) – through 2026
Xander Schauffele (3, 4, 13, 18, 19) – through 2029
Cameron Smith (3, 5) – Australia – through 2027
CATEGORY 4 (2 players)
PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
Brooks Koepka (4) – through 2028
Justin Thomas (4, 18, 19) – through 2027
CATEGORY 5 (0 players)
The Players Championship Winners (3 years)
—
CATEGORY 6 (0 players)
Current Olympic Gold Medalist (for 2025)
—
CATEGORY 7 A&B (2 players)
Current U.S. Amateur champion (A, Honorary, non-competing after 1 year) and runner-up (B)
#*Jose Luis Ballester (7) – Spain
#*Noah Kent (7)
CATEGORY 8 (0 players)
Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after 1 year)
Jacob Skov Olesen (Denmark) forfeited his spot by turning professional
CATEGORY 9 (0 players)
Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion
Wenyi Ding (China) forfeited his spot by turning professional
CATEGORY 10 (1 player)
Current Latin America Amateur Champion
TBD Jan. 19, 2025
CATEGORY 11 (1 player)
Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion
#*Evan Beck (11)
CATEGORY 12 (1 player)
Current NCAA Individual Champion
#*Hiroshi Tai (12) – Singapore
CATEGORY 13 (9 players)
First 12 players (including ties) in previous year’s Masters
Ludvig Åberg (13, 18, 19) – Sweden
Cam Davis (13, 17) – Australia
Tommy Fleetwood (13, 18, 19) – England
Tyrrell Hatton (13, 19) – England
Max Homa (13, 19)
Mattieu Pavon (13, 18, 19) – France
Adam Schenk (13)
Cameron Young (13, 19)
Will Zalatoris (13)
CATEGORY 14 (3 players)
First 4 players (including ties) in previous year’s U.S. Open
Patrick Cantlay (14, 18, 19)
Tony Finau (14, 18, 19)
Rory McIlroy (14, 17, 18, 19) – Northern Ireland
CATEGORY 15 (3 players)
First 4 players (including ties) in previous year’s British Open
Billy Horschel (15, 18, 19)
#Thriston Lawrence (15, 19) – South Africa
Justin Rose (15, 19) – England
CATEGORY 16 (2 players)
First 4 players (including ties) in previous year’s PGA Championship
#Thomas Detry (16) – Belgium
Viktor Hovland (16, 18, 19) – Norway
CATEGORY 17 (15 players)
Winners of non-opposite PGA Tour events from previous Masters to current Masters
Keegan Bradley (17, 18, 19)
#Rafael Campos (17) — Puerto Rico
#Nico Echavarria (17) — Colombia
Austin Eckroat (17, 19)
Patton Kizzire (17)
Robert MacIntyre (17, 18, 19) – Scotland
#Matt McCarty (17, 19)
#Maverick McNealy (17, 19)
#Taylor Pendrith (17, 18, 19) – Canada
J.T. Poston (17, 19)
#Aaron Rai (17, 18, 19) – England
#Davis Riley (17)
#Davis Thompson (17, 19)
Jhonattan Vegas (17) – Venezuela
#Kevin Yu (17) – Taiwan
CATEGORY 18 (11 players)
Eligible qualifiers for previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
Byeong Hun (Ben) An (18, 19) – South Korea
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (18) – South Africa
Akshay Bhatia (18, 19)
Sam Burns (18, 19)
Russell Henley (18, 19)
Tom Hoge (18)
Sungjae Im (18, 19) – South Korea
Chris Kirk (18)
Shane Lowry (18, 19) – Ireland
Sepp Straka (18, 19) – Austria
Sahith Theegala (18, 19)
CATEGORY 19 (9 players)
Top 50 on final Official World Golf Ranking for previous calendar year
Corey Conners (19) – Canada
Jason Day (19) – Australia
Nick Dunlap (19)
Lucas Glover (19)
#Max Greyserman (19)
#Rasmus Højgaard (19) – Denmark
Tom Kim (19) – South Korea
Min Woo Lee (19) – Australia
Denny McCarthy (19)
CATEGORY 20 (TBD)
Top 50 on Official World Golf Ranking published week prior to current Masters
TBD
SPECIAL EXEMPTION (2 players)
The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players otherwise not qualified
Nicolai Højgaard – Denmark
Joaquin Niemann – Chile
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