Masters Extends Two Special Invitations for First Time Since 2019

For the first time since 2019, Augusta National has extended two rare special invitations to the 2023 Masters Tournament. 

The tournament invited 19-year-old Gordon Sargent and 27-year-old Kazuki Higa to compete in their first Masters, and on Thursday Augusta National announced that both players have accepted the invitation. 

The last time Augusta National extended an invitation to a non-exempt player was in 2019, to Japan’s Shugo Imahira. Imahira was ranked 53rd in the world at the time—just outside of an automatic invitation through a top-50 ranking. 

Higa is in a similar position as Imahira, as he has collected six career wins on the Japan Golf Tour, with four of those coming this past year. He finished at the top of Japan Golf Tour’s Order of Merit in 2022 as well, an honor which 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama also has on his resume. 

The Masters has long been known to promote the growth of the game globally, so Higa’s invitation is fitting. Sargent, however, is the first American to ever receive and accept a special invitation to the Masters. 

The Vanderbilt University sophomore is the reigning NCAA Division I men’s individual champion. He captured the prestigious title by birdieing the first hole of a four-man playoff. Sargent, the No. 3 amateur in the world, became the first freshman since 2007 to take home the individual title. 

Sargent is also the first amateur to accept a special invitation from Augusta National since Aaron Baddeley in 2000. 

The 19-year-old’s special invitation could signal a decision by the Masters to invite the reigning NCAA champion annually, as many have called for. The tournament already invites both the U.S. Amateur Champion and the U.S. Amateur runner-up. The additional exemption would align with the game’s recent efforts to give younger players additional pathways to the high ranks of professional golf. 

The Masters’s invitation of Higa also sympathizes with this trend, as the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour recently announced a new partnership with the Japan Golf Tour, providing mobility for its players between tours.

The 2023 Masters field now includes 80 players. Just last month, Augusta National announced that eligible LIV Golf members will be permitted to play in the tournament. As of now, 16 members of the Saudi-backed league will be teeing it up come April.