Masters gives out two special invites, including one for the first time in more than two decades

Matt Smith — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 10:12:17 +0000

The field for the 2023 Masters just got a little bigger with two golfers accepting special invitations.

Augusta National Golf Club announced that amateur Gordon Sargent and Japan Tour pro Kazuki Higa will play in this year’s tournament. Both will be making their Masters debuts.

Sargent, a Vanderbilt sophomore, is the reigning NCAA champion. He turned heads last May, not only by winning the individual title as a freshman, but by registering a staggering 194-mph ball speed off the tee on the final hole of regulation.

Sargent, 19, is the first amateur to accept a special invitation to the Masters since Aaron Baddeley in 2000. The Masters traditionally invites the reigning US Amateur champion and runner-up, along with the winners of the British Amateur, US Mid-Amateur, Asia-Pacific Amateur and Latin America Amateur. The reigning NCAA champion has not received the same treatment, but perhaps this is a sign that that might change moving forward.

Higa, 27, has six career wins on the Japan Golf Tour, including four victories in 2022 when he finished first on the tour’s Order of Merit. He is currently No. 68 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

There are now 80 golfers who have qualified and expected to compete at the 87th Masters, which is scheduled April 6-9. The field will be filled out by anyone winning a PGA Tour event before then that awards full FedEx Cup points, the top 50 in the OWGR the week before the Masters and the 2023 Latin America Amateur champion, with the event scheduled for next week.

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PGA Tour and DP World Tour announce alliance with Japan Golf Tour

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 09:49:07 +0000

Chung Sung-Jun

By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour announced a new partnership on Monday with the Japan Golf Tour Organization.

According to a joint press release, the top three players on the JGTO Order of Merit will earn membership onto the DP World Tour for the ensuing year, beginning with the 2022-23 season. Additionally, the JGTO will work with both circuits on business development areas, highlighted by a commitment to the ISPS HANDA Championship, which is set to make its debut on the DP World Tour schedule this coming April at PGM Ishioka GC in Omitama, Japan.

Founded in 1973, the JGTO boasts the third-largest purses in professional golf. Kazuki Higa, ranked No. 73 in the OWGR, is the tour’s reigning money winner.

“Japan has a long, storied history of producing world-class golf talent that deserves the opportunity to compete on the game’s highest stage, and today’s announcement is recognition of that,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “Over the past 30 years, 25 players have claimed at least one victory on both the PGA Tour and Japan Golf Tour, including current Japan Golf Tour chairman Isao Aoki, who in 1983 became the first Japanese-born player to win on the PGA Tour when he holed out for eagle on the 72nd hole to win the Sony Open in Hawaii. His legacy continues today with eight-time JGTO winner Hideki Matsuyama and will now endure for years to come under this new pathway.”

Added Aoki: “We are proud of the rich tradition the Japan men’s golf tour has established over the last 40 years, and this development is the next step in the journey of our organization.”

The news comes months after the PGA Tour and DP World Tour strengthened their strategic alliance in the threat posed by the emergence of LIV Golf. As part of the alliance, the leading 10 players on DP World Tour’s Race To Dubai Rankings, in addition to those already exempt, will earn PGA Tour cards beginning with the 2024 season.

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Kazuki Higa Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Masters gives out two special invites, including one for the first time in more than two decades

PGA Tour and DP World Tour announce alliance with Japan Golf Tour