It was a dramatic Sunday on the northwestern shore of Maui where Jon Rahm came from seven strokes back at the start of the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions to win by two. Rahm was aided in large part by Collin Morikawa, who started the day with a six-stroke lead over the field, only to squander it with a closing, 1-under 72, good for solo second.
While the Spaniard’s eighth career PGA TOUR victory extends his perfect record of having at least one win in every season since his inaugural of 2016-17, none of what transpired at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course affected what happens on this page. Both superstars already are exempt into both THE PLAYERS Championship and the Masters this year. Each also will be among the entrants in the other three majors when their qualifying criteria is official over time.
That allows for the focus of this update to land squarely on a pair of special invitations into the Masters – Kazuki Higa and Gordon Sargent. On Thursday, Jan. 5, Augusta National Golf Club announced that the duo was extended exemptions to compete in the first major of 2023.
Higa, 27, is fresh off a dominant year on the Japan Golf Tour during which he scattered four wins and comfortably finished atop the money list. In his only previous appearance in any major, he missed the cut at The Open Championship at St. Andrews in 2022.
The 19-year-old Sargent is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, but he’s arguably best known as the 2022 NCAA individual champion. He’s never appeared in a major or a PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament.
NOTE: Golfers are omitted if they recently haven’t competed in majors for which they are eligible (e.g., The Open Championship=Justin Leonard).
TPC = THE PLAYERS Championship
MAS = Masters
PGA = PGA Championship
US = U.S. Open
OPEN = The Open Championship
Recent Additions
TPC — none
MAS — Kazuki Higa; Gordon Sargent
PGA — none
US — none
OPEN — none
| Golfer | Qualified |
| Abraham Ancer | MAS |
| Haydn Barron | OPEN |
| Sam Bennett | MAS (must remain an amateur to compete) |
| Daniel Berger | TPC |
| Christiaan Bezuidenhout | TPC, OPEN |
| Dan Bradbury | OPEN |
| Keegan Bradley | MAS, TPC |
| Ryan Brehm | TPC |
| Hayden Buckley | TPC |
| Sam Burns | MAS, TPC |
| Alejandro Cañizares | OPEN |
| Patrick Cantlay | MAS, TPC |
| Ben Carr | MAS (must remain an amateur to compete) |
| Cameron Champ | MAS |
| Stewart Cink | TPC |
| Wyndham Clark | TPC |
| Corey Conners | MAS, TPC |
| Fred Couples | MAS |
| Harrison Crowe | MAS (must remain an amateur to compete) |
| Joel Dahmen | TPC |
| Cam Davis | TPC |
| Jason Day | TPC |
| Bryson DeChambeau | MAS |
| Tyler Duncan | TPC |
| Tony Finau | MAS, TPC |
| Zack Fischer | OPEN |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | MAS, TPC |
| Tommy Fleetwood | MAS, TPC |
| Rickie Fowler | TPC |
| Ryan Fox | MAS |
| Dylan Frittelli | TPC |
| Sergio Garcia | MAS |
| Doug Ghim | TPC |
| Lucas Glover | TPC |
| Talor Gooch | MAS |
| Lanto Griffin | TPC |
| Emiliano Grillo | TPC |
| Chesson Hadley | TPC |
| Adam Hadwin | TPC |
| James Hahn | TPC |
| Nick Hardy | TPC |
| Brian Harman | MAS, TPC |
| Tyrrell Hatton | MAS, TPC |
| Russell Henley | MAS, TPC |
| Lucas Herbert | TPC |
| Kramer Hickok | TPC |
| Kazuki Higa | MAS |
| Lee Hodges | TPC |
| Tom Hoge | MAS, TPC |
| Max Homa | MAS, TPC |
| Billy Horschel | MAS, TPC |
| Beau Hossler | TPC |
| Viktor Hovland | MAS, TPC |
| Mark Hubbard | TPC |
| Mackenzie Hughes | MAS, TPC |
| John Huh | TPC |
| Sungjae Im | MAS, TPC |
| Stephen Jaeger | TPC |
| Dustin Johnson | MAS |
| Zach Johnson | MAS |
| Jerry Kelly | TPC |
| Si Woo Kim | TPC |
| Tom Kim | MAS, TPC |
| Chris Kirk | TPC |
| Kevin Kisner | MAS, TPC |
| Kurt Kitayama | MAS, TPC |
| Patton Kizzire | TPC |
| Russell Knox | TPC |
| Brooks Koepka | MAS |
| Jason Kokrak | MAS |
| Kelly Kraft | TPC |
| Matt Kuchar | TPC |
| Martin Laird | TPC |
| Bernhard Langer | MAS |
| Nate Lashley | TPC |
| Danny Lee | TPC |
| K.H. Lee | MAS, TPC |
| Min Woo Lee | OPEN |
| David Lipsky | TPC |
| Luke List | TPC |
| Adam Long | TPC |
| Justin Lower | TPC |
| Shane Lowry | MAS, TPC |
| Sandy Lyle | MAS |
| Peter Malnati | TPC |
| Hideki Matsuyama | MAS, TPC |
| Denny McCarthy | TPC |
| Matthew McClean | MAS (must remain an amateur to compete) |
| Max McGreevy | TPC |
| Rory McIlroy | MAS, TPC |
| Maverick McNealy | TPC |
| Adrian Meronk | MAS |
| Troy Merritt | TPC |
| Phil Mickelson | MAS |
| Keith Mitchell | TPC |
| Larry Mize | MAS |
| Francesco Molinari | MAS, TPC |
| Taylor Moore | TPC |
| Collin Morikawa | MAS, TPC |
| Trey Mullinax | TPC |
| Sebastián Muñoz | TPC |
| Kevin Na | MAS |
| Matthew NeSmith | TPC |
| Joaquin Niemann | MAS |
| Alex Noren | MAS, TPC |
| José Maria Olazábal | MAS |
| Louis Oosthuizen | MAS |
| Ryan Palmer | TPC |
| C.T. Pan | TPC |
| Taylor Pendrith | TPC |
| Mito Pereira | MAS, TPC |
| Scott Piercy | TPC |
| Thomas Pieters | MAS |
| J.T. Poston | MAS, TPC |
| Aldrich Potgieter | MAS (must remain an amateur to compete) |
| Seamus Power | MAS, TPC |
| Andrew Putnam | TPC |
| Jon Rahm | MAS, TPC |
| Aaron Rai | TPC |
| Chad Ramey | TPC |
| Chez Reavie | TPC |
| Doc Redman | TPC |
| Patrick Reed | MAS |
| Davis Riley | TPC |
| Patrick Rodgers | TPC |
| Justin Rose | TPC |
| Sam Ryder | TPC |
| Gordon Sargent | MAS |
| Xander Schauffele | MAS, TPC |
| Scottie Scheffler | MAS, TPC |
| Adam Schenk | TPC |
| Matthias Schwab | TPC |
| Charl Schwartzel | MAS |
| Adam Scott | MAS, TPC |
| Greyson Sigg | TPC |
| Webb Simpson | TPC |
| Vijay Singh | MAS |
| Alex Smalley | TPC |
| Cameron Smith | MAS |
| Austin Smotherman | TPC |
| J.J. Spaun | TPC |
| Jordan Spieth | MAS, TPC |
| Scott Stallings | MAS, TPC |
| Brendan Steele | TPC |
| Sepp Straka | MAS, TPC |
| Robert Streb | TPC |
| Kevin Streelman | TPC |
| Justin Suh | TPC |
| Adam Svensson | MAS, TPC |
| Callum Tarren | TPC |
| Nick Taylor | TPC |
| Sahith Theegala | MAS, TPC |
| Justin Thomas | MAS, TPC |
| Michael Thompson | TPC |
| Brendon Todd | TPC |
| Kevin Tway | TPC |
| Sami Välimäki | OPEN |
| Harold Varner III | MAS |
| Jhonattan Vegas | TPC |
| Matt Wallace | TPC |
| Bubba Watson | MAS |
| Nick Watney | TPC |
| Mike Weir | MAS |
| Vince Whaley | TPC |
| Danny Willett | MAS, TPC |
| Aaron Wise | MAS, TPC |
| Gary Woodland | MAS, TPC |
| Tiger Woods | MAS, TPC |
| Brandon Wu | TPC |
| Cameron Young | MAS, TPC |
| Will Zalatoris | MAS, TPC |
REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA
Criteria are listed in chronological order where possible. Best estimates are given but all are subject to change.
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP (TPC) @ TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) – March 9-12
• Winners of PGA TOUR events thru the final week before THE PLAYERS.
• Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of The Honda Classic (Feb. 26).
• Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (Feb. 27).
• If necessary to complete the field of 144, golfers outside the Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the Honda Classic on Feb. 26 will gain entry in order of position.
MASTERS (MAS) @ Augusta National Golf Club – April 6-9
• Winners of PGA TOUR events that award full FedExCup points allocation for the TOUR Championship.
• Winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Jan. 15).
• Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (April 2).
• Special invitations to international players per Masters Tournament Committee as its discretion.
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP (PGA) @ Oak Hill Country Club – May 18-21
• TBD
U.S. OPEN (US) @ The Los Angeles Country Club (North) – June 15-18
• TBD
THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (OPEN) @ Royal Liverpool – July 20-23
• TBD (planned to be released in February)