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Every year in early April down in Augusta, Georgia, the question “how many amateurs made the cut at the Masters” really matters. Since the green jacket that goes to the tournament winner has always been an elusive prize for amateurs, making the cut is always the first goal for the contingent of amateur golfers invited to test their skills against the big boys at the year’s first major.
Most years, at least one amateur survives to play on the weekend. Though Fred Ridley, Chairperson of Augusta National Golf Club, could not present the low amateur’s silver cup in 2021 and 2022 because none made the cut, last year Sam Bennett, one of seven amateurs in the 2023 Masters field, ended the brief shutout streak. How many of the five amateurs entered in the tournament this year will make the cut? No one knows yet, but it’s a question Masters’ devotees care about, and for reasons far more significant than mere numbers.
Key takeaways:
- Amateurs have always been integral to the Masters tournament and its traditions.
- There are many ways for amateurs to qualify for an invitation to compete in the Masters.
- This year’s class of five amateur invitees is diverse and battle-tested.
- Tiger Woods competed in two Masters tournaments as an amateur.
- No amateur has ever won the Masters, but a few from yesteryear came very close.
In the golf world, it's no secret that nothing affirms a player’s sense of having arrived at the pinnacle of the sport like receiving an invitation (printed and sent in an oversized green envelope) to compete in the Masters. The chance to enter the grounds of one the game’s hallowed sanctuaries and play at Augusta National is every amateur’s dream.
The dream is so powerful many amateurs refrain from turning pro, no matter the financial consequences. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how amateurs fit into the fabric of the Masters. We’ll also examine how they get invites to the tournament, spotlight the five amateurs in this year’s field while detailing how each of them qualified, and finally recall some of the best and most history-making performances by amateurs over the years.
The Masters is all about tradition
Traditions abound at the Masters. From Magnolia Lane to the Champions Dinner, Par 3 Contest, honorary starters Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson hitting the ceremonial first tee shots, polite decorum of “the patrons” in attendance, blooming azaleas, pimento cheese sandwiches and other concessions, the green jacket ceremony in Butler Cabin, and so much more, the Masters is defined by traditions.
Since the inception of The Masters, amateurs have been a highly valued component of the tournament and its traditions. During Masters Week, they alone enjoy the honor of staying in the little dormitory-like space known as the Crow’s Nest on the third floor of the Augusta National clubhouse. To make amateurs feel at “home” and rev them up for the tournament competition ahead, the Amateurs Dinner on Monday of Masters Week became an annual tradition four years before the first Champions Dinner was served in 1952. Some years those dinners may have been quite boisterous, as around a fifth of the Masters field consisted of amateur players. For any amateur, being in the Masters field not only presented a prized opportunity to compete alongside the world's best professional golfers, it also made real the game's honored traditions, the quest for excellence, and the pursuit of the game's highest honor.
The aura of Bobby Jones at The Masters
To understand why amateurs are held in such high esteem at Augusta National Golf Club, you need look no further than the co-founder of both the club and the Masters tournament—Bobby Jones. There’s little debate he was the greatest amateur golfer the sport has ever seen, and he’s also considered one of the game’s all-time greatest players, whether professional or amateur.
Throughout the 1920s and up until he stopped playing competitively late in 1930, Bobby Jones remained an amateur. He won 13 majors, including the 1930 Grand Slam consisting of the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, the U.S. Amateur, and the British Amateur in the same calendar year. Through his achievements as an amateur, his sportsmanship, and his contributions to the game of golf, Bobby Jones was a legendary figure who embodied Masters traditions and instilled a reverence for amateurs throughout Augusta National Golf Club.
Patrons attending the Masters always show reverence for the amateur players, too. The tournament's emphasis on amateur golfers competing alongside professionals evokes a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for the amateur ethos of the game. Beyond admiring the dedication and talent of the handful or so of amateurs in the field each year, the patrons often root a little harder for these underdog golfers to succeed against the formidable lions of the game.
This year, especially, we’ll be curious to see if the extra support amateurs receive is any more vociferous. It’s hard to imagine that the fractured landscape of professional golf and the festering rivalry between PGA TOUR players and those who have joined LIV golf won’t be on the minds of patrons at the Masters or a hot topic for discussion over beers in town.
Given the riches the top pros are reaping and the degree to which money drives the game, the amateur who is happy to be playing in the tournament and who won’t receive any prize money from the hefty Masters purse is a throwback to a bygone era. While this is admittedly too simplistic a characterization and everything might change for the amateur invitee as soon as the Masters is over, without doubt it’s much easier to identify with the amateurs than the pros.
To date, no amateur has ever claimed the green jacket that goes to the Masters champion. Nonetheless, this year, like any other year but perhaps more so, the amateur invitees have a unique opportunity to showcase their skills and make a significant impact on the tournament.
How Amateurs Can Get a Masters Invitation
Six golf tournaments provide an automatic invitation into The Masters
The Masters is the most exclusive of golf’s four majors. Whereas the U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship welcome 156-man fields, each year’s Masters field is much smaller. The Masters Committee likes to keep the number of invitees—yes, it is another tradition that tournament competitors are sent a formal invitation and called “Invitees”—to between 85 and 100 players. Qualification for invitation has changed significantly over the years. The pathway to compete in the first major of the year now consists of twenty different lanes. The Masters website further denotes how each invitee gained qualification. Six of the qualification criteria are strictly for amateurs. These include the current winners of the
- U.S. Amateur Championship
- The Amateur Championship (aka British Amateur)
- Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
- Latin America Amateur Championship
- U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
- NCAA Division I Individual Championship
The runner-up in the U.S. Amateur also receives an invitation. There’s one huge proviso that comes with these six qualifications—invitees must remain their amateur status. If you turn professional before the Masters, you forfeit your invitation.
Other ways amateurs can gain invitations to The Masters
Just like professional players, any amateur who wins the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, or the PGA Championship, or who finishes among the top four players (including ties) in any of those tournaments would receive an invitation to the Masters. Moreover, a win in a major championship has the added perk of earning you invitations for five years.
If an amateur were to win the Olympic gold medal in golf, he would qualify for the Masters (one year only). Still another way into the field is to win a PGA TOUR tournament. Current U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap did precisely that at the 2024 American Express, becoming the first amateur since Phil Mickelson in 1991 to hoist a PGA TOUR trophy. While Nick Dunlap subsequently gave up his amateur status, thereby forfeiting his U.S. Amateur Champion’s invitation to the Masters, his TOUR victory secured his invitation regardless of whether he remained an amateur or not.
The best possible scenario for an amateur golfer at the Masters is to take advantage of an invitation and win the green jacket. Masters champions are rewarded with lifetime invitations.
Anyone competing in the Masters can also earn an invitation to the next year’s tournament by finishing among the first 12 players, including ties. In the 2023 Masters, Sam Bennett nearly accomplished this feat. After posting 68-68 to become only the third amateur in Masters history to shoot multiple rounds in the 60s, the fifth-year senior at Texas A&M faded and finished in 16th place. While he won the silver cup and became the first amateur to record a top-20 since 2005, he missed out on an automatic return to make his way up Magnolia Lane to play in this year’s Masters tournament.
Special invitations for amateurs to play in The Masters
At its discretion, the Masters Committee also invites players who have not otherwise qualified. While the Masters website says that this perk is for international players, in 2023 Gordon Sargent of the United States received a special invitation into the field.
It seems that this special invitation to Sargent was the Masters Committee's stopgap measure to get the 19-year-old current NCAA Division I Individual Champion into the Masters field while it was formalizing the addition of the NCAA Division I Individual Champion to its list of qualifications for invitation. Nonetheless, Gordon Sargent was the first amateur to receive a special invitation to the Masters since Aaron Baddeley of Australia in 2000.
Note: The “Special Invitations” provision gives the Masters Committee discretion in dealing with professional golfers from LIV Golf who don’t meet the Masters’ qualifications for invitation. This year, the Committee extended a special invitation to the Argentine player Joaquin Niemann, a LIV Golf star who won that tour’s 2024 season-opening tournament in Mexico.
Who are the amateur invitees to the 2024 Masters?
Santiago de la Fuente
Santiago de la Fuente of Mexico qualified for the 2024 Masters by winning the Latin America Amateur Championship in January. This year the Latin America Amateur was held in Panama City, Panama at Santa Maria Golf Club. De la Fuente, who played golf collegiately for two years at Arkansas Tech University before joining the University of Houston Men's Golf program in 2022, began the final round of the Latin America Amateur Championship three strokes out of the lead. He shot a six-under-par 64 in blustery conditions at Santa Maria Golf Club to overtake compatriot Omar Morales by two strokes. De la Fuente’s path from humble origins to Latin America Amateur Championship titleholder and Masters invitee is a heartwarming story of determination. Growing up in Ocotlán, Mexico, he began his love affair with golf when his father introduced him to the game at age three on what Santiago remembers was the worst course he’s ever seen. By age nine de la Fuente started playing in tournaments but he didn’t have his own full set of clubs or an experienced coach until he was in high school.
Christo Lamprecht
At six feet eight inches tall, Christo Lamprecht of South Africa will be the tallest golfer ever to be in the Masters field. He qualified for the 2024 Masters by winning The Amateur Championship in June 2023 at Hillside Golf Club in England. Lamprecht rallied from 2down to defeat Ronan Kleu of Switzerland 3&2 in the 36-hole final. Winning the Amateur Championship is the crowning achievement in Christo Lamprecht’s highly decorated amateur career. In 2017, as a 16-year-old, he became the youngest winner of the South African Amateur Championship. He went on to be a two-time All-American and All-ACC golfer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Christo Lambrecht has reached a World Amateur Golf Ranking high of #3. He immediately followed up his Amateur Championship victory by winning the silver medal for low amateur at the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club last July.
Jasper Stubbs
In October 2023, Jasper Stubbs realized his dreams at historic Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia when the 21-year-old Melbourne resident secured a playoff win at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Stubbs emerged victorious in a three-way playoff with Sampson-Yunhe Zheng and Wenyi Ding, both of China. Jasper Stubbs’ victory was a stunning upset. He came to Royal Melbourne with a #476 World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). That was dwarfed by the #48 ranking of Zheng, a senior at U Cal Berkeley, and the #8 WAGR of Ding, the first male golfer from China to win a USGA championship (2022 U.S. Junior Amateur). “Stubsy,” as Jasper Stubbs is called by his teammates on the Australian National Team, earned his place in the playoff at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship by shooting a two-under-par final round 69. Roaring winds battered Royal Melbourne Golf Club that day. After birdieing the first playoff hole, Jasper Stubbs continued on to the second playoff hole with Ding. A par, well-earned with a 60-foot lag putt leading to a tap-in, secured Stubbs the championship—and a Masters invite—when Ding scored only a bogey. Jasper Stubbs can take inspiration from Hideki Matsuyama who was the 544th ranked amateur when he captured the first of his two Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships in 2011. Matsuyama won the green jacket as a professional at Augusta National in 2021.
Stewart Hagestad
At age 32, Stewart Hagestad, a native of Newport Beach, California who played collegiately at USC, is the graybeard of the 2024 class of amateur invitees. He earned his third trip to Augusta National Golf Club by capturing the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship for the third time in September 2023 with a 3-and-2 victory over Evan Beck at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Hagestad's remarkable run at the U.S. Mid-Amateur began in 2016 when he staged a dramatic comeback from 4 down with 5 to play to defeat defending champion Scott Harvey in 37 holes. The following year Hagestad made history by becoming the first invited U.S. Mid-Amateur champion to make the cut at the Masters. He finished tied for 36th in his Masters debut and also claimed the silver cup as the low amateur. Despite his remarkable achievements in golf, Hagestad has never expressed a desire to turn professional, opting instead to continue his pursuit of excellence in the amateur ranks. Though he has worked in the financial field as an investment analyst, he’s more apt to be golfing. Stewart Hagestad is a member of Los Angeles Country Club as well as other esteemed private clubs throughout the country. He’s been on four U.S. Walker Cup teams (including 2023), all of them winners.
Neal Shipley
Neal Shipley, who secured his invitation to the 2024 Masters by finishing runner-up in the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, is easy to spot on the golf course. The native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is large-framed, full of energy, and he wears a mullet proudly. He’s also something of a brainiac. Shipley played three years at James Madison University, during which time he graduated with a degree in quantitative finance. He then joined the Ohio State Golf Team in 2022-2023 as a grad transfer and completed a masters degree in data analytics. Shipley’s fierce competitive spirit was on full display last August at the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Golf Club in Denver. In his quarterfinal and semifinal matches he pulled off comeback victories to advance to a 36-hole final match duel against Nick Dunlap. Both Shipley and Dunlap, then #9 in the WAGR and a star at the University of Alabama, played well in the tight match. Though the contest was tied after 18 holes, Dunlap pulled away for a 4&3 victory with a birdie barrage. Had Shipley emerged victorious, he would have joined Jack Nicklaus (1959, 1961) and John Cook (1978) as the only Ohio State Buckeyes to wear the U.S. Amateur crown.
What about current U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap?
It’s rare that an amateur who gets an invitation to the Masters for the first time passes it up to turn professional. Nick Dunlap wasn’t about to forego his chance to participate in the world’s most prestigious major either. After becoming the U.S. Amateur champion, he returned to the University of Alabama and rejoined his Crimson Tide teammates for what he thought would be the rest of the 2023-2024 season.
The 20-year-old’s plans changed abruptly when he won the PGA TOUR’s 2024 American Express in January. Dunlap’s victory, the first by an amateur on the PGA TOUR since Phil Mickelson in 1991 and only the seventh by an amateur since 1945, secured his second automatic invitation to the Masters. Suddenly, he no longer needed to use the invitation he had earned for winning the U.S. Amateur. Nick Dunlap turned pro right after the American Express. This April, when he comes to Augusta National Golf Club, he’ll compete as a professional rather than as an amateur and be able to collect any money he earns in pursuit of the green jacket.
How did Tiger Woods do as an amateur at The Masters?
Tiger Woods, who now is one green jacket short of tying Jack Nicklaus for the all-time record of six, played in two Masters tournaments as an amateur. A child prodigy who captured three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur championships, Tiger received his first invitation to the Masters in 1995 when he was a 19-year-old freshman at Stanford. He qualified for an invitation with a great comeback victory over Trip Kuehne in the 1994 U.S. Amateur at TPC Sawgrass. When he arrived at Augusta National Golf Club, Tiger Woods was an immediate sensation. He wowed everyone on the grounds with his monstrously long drives. Gary Player, his playing partner in the Par 3 Contest, echoed the common refrain that “this young guy has got it.” Tiger Woods finished his first Masters at five over--good enough to win the silver cup as the low amateur. He was the only amateur to make the cut that year.
The next year (1996) Tiger Woods competed in the Masters as an amateur again, having secured his second invitation for repeating as U.S. Amateur Champion in 1995 at Newport Country Club. This time, Woods failed to make the cut.
As everyone knows, everything changed at the 1997 Masters. No longer an amateur, Tiger Woods qualified for the tournament as a professional and obliterated the field for his first major title. His mind-blowing 12-stroke margin of victory remains the largest in Masters history.
Best finishes by an amateur at The Masters
The 2024 amateur invitees at the Masters can draw inspiration from the notable achievements of the amateurs who have come before them. While no amateur has ever won the Masters, a few have come very close to putting on a green jacket. We have to go back decades to find them, though.
1956—Ken Venturi
Ken Venturi, who enjoyed a long career as a golf commentator calling the Masters and other tournaments for CBS after his playing career ended, had his heart broken more than once at Augusta National. The first time was as an amateur. In 1956, the 24-year-old San Francisco native looked like a shoe-in to be a wire-to-wire winner, only to see Jack Burke, Jr., walk away with the green jacket. Venturi led Burke, who passed away in January 2024 at age 100, by a whopping eight strokes entering the final round. Alas, faltering in very blustery conditions, Venturi shot an 80 to lose by a single shot. He is the only amateur in Masters history to record a solo second-place finish.
1961 and more—Charles Coe
When it comes to amateur achievements at the Masters, Augusta National member Charles Coe dominates the record book. His closest call to winning a green jacket came in 1961. He finished second, tied with Arnold Palmer, just one stroke behind Gary Player, the tournament’s first international champion. In all, Coe played the tournament 19 times and recorded nine top-25 finishes and three top-10s. He earned low amateur honors six times, including at least once in four consecutive decades between the 1940s and 1970s.
1954—Billy Joe Patton
Though he is only credited with a third-place finish in the 1954 Masters, Billy Joe Patton missed being in a playoff with Ben Hogan and eventual winner Sam Snead by a single stroke. Patton led the tournament by one as late as the 12th hole of the final round. He was done in by a double bogey on hole 13 when his ball found Rae’s Creek and a bogey on hole 15 that spoiled his dreams of Masters immortality.
1947—Frank Stranahan
Nicknamed “Stranny” and the “Toledo strongman,” Frank Stranahan was a fabulous athlete. Born into wealth—his father founded the Champion Spark Plug company—he was a champion bodybuilder, powerlifter and golfer all at the same time. After his golf career ended, he devoted himself to long-distance running, completing 102 marathons. From 1936 to 1954, Stranahan won 70 amateur golf tournaments. At the 1947 Masters he finished in a tie for second with Byron Nelson just two strokes behind Jimmy Demaret.
1961—Deane Beman
While amateurs have always come up a little short in their quest for the green jacket at Augusta National, they can count one small, but notable, victory as their own. Deane Beman, who would later win four times as a professional on the PGA TOUR and serve as the TOUR’s commissioner for twenty years from 1974 to 1994, won the 1961 Par 3 Contest. Back then winning the Par 3 Contest was more prestigious than it is now, but it was hardly a major title. Beman said his prize for the triumph was a nice tea set.
So . . . what’s next for amateur golfers at The Masters?
Can anyone in the 2024 class of amateur invitees make a mark like these amateurs of yesteryear? Will any of the five in this year’s tournament make the cut or challenge for the title? Could one of those amateurs turn out to be the next Tiger Woods, or Fred Couples, or Adam Scott? With the talent level of today’s best amateurs elevated higher than it’s ever been, a historic breakthrough seems possible.
Imagine if it happened. Imagine the roars from Amen Corner if an amateur was in the hunt, coming down the stretch and contending for a Masters title with the likes of Patrick Cantlay and Cameron Smith, and maybe also Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler.
Someday, something like that will happen. What you can bank on, though, is that during Friday's round everyone will be pulling for an amateur to make the cut. Another thing you can count on is that whether they make the cut or not, the amateurs competing at Augusta National will be respected and warmly embraced by the club and the patrons. It’s one of the great traditions of the Masters, and this year it just might seem a little more special.
A few FAQs about amateurs at The Masters
* Who was the low amateur in the 2023 Masters? — Sam Bennett
Bennett was the only one of the seven amateurs in last year's tournament to make the cut.
* How much money did Sam Bennett get at the 2023 Masters? -- None. Amateurs are prohibited from receiving any tournament prize money.
* What happens if an amateur wins the Masters? He would get his green jacket in a ceremony in Butler Cabin and he would receive a lifetime invitation to the Masters.
* Can Masters winners keep their green jackets? — Only for a year. When the next year’s champion is crowned, the jacket must be returned to Augusta National. Thereafter, the jacket can only be worn at the club and at approved Masters or Augusta National functions off-premises.
* What is the lowest score at the Masters by an amateur? — 66. Ken Venturi shot a bogey-free 66 in the first round of the 1956 Masters. The low score for four rounds by an amateur is 281 by Charles Coe in 1961.
* Who was the 14-year old who played in the Masters several years ago?— Guan Tianlang of China. Guan Tianlang earned his invitation for the 2013 Masters by virtue of winning the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. The 14-year-old made the cut and finished the tournament in 58th place. He was the low amateur. Guan Tianlang is the youngest golfer to ever make the cut in a major.
* Why do amateurs at the Masters consider the Crow’s Nest to be a lucky place? Though amateurs are winless at the Masters, several amateurs who have slept in the the spartan little dorm area in the Augusta National clubhouse have won the tournament as professionals. The impressive roster most notably includes Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
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