Several other players, both in San Antonio and Morocco this week, could play their way into The Masters with solid weeks this week, and the winners of both the Valero Texas Open and the Shell Houston Open are given invitations if they are not already exempt. At this point, I will make the not-so bold prediction: The Masters will have over 100 players teeing it up for the first time since 1966.
For Augusta National, this may seem like a nightmare scenario. They believe that a smaller tournament makes it more exclusive, and, in turn, more prestigious. The US Open gets their flare from the amount of players who register for local and sectional qualifying every year. Almost anyone in the world has a chance to win that tournament. For The Masters, only the best get to walk the grounds of Augusta National.
But is this really a nightmare scenario for The Masters?
Let's first take a look back at the aforementioned 1966 Masters. Part of the reason the event had that many participants was because of the amount of former champions that played that week. It was the final Masters Tournament for Byron Nelson, and you also has players who played a majority of their best golf in the 1930's, such as Gene Sarazen and Henry Picard. These players weren't contenders for the title (though Nelson did miss the cut by only one stroke), but it still must have been a joy to watch these legendary players walk the grounds of Augusta for a day or two.
The tournament itself ended up being a memorable one. Jack Nicklaus won his second consecutive green jacket, but had to do so in a playoff against Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. Four time champion Arnold Palmer gave it a run, but ended up finishing two shots out of the playoff. The fact that there were over 100 players in the tournament didn't take away from the drama at the end, nor did it provide an unworthy champion.
Fast forward to 2015, where Ben Crenshaw will be playing in The Masters one final time. Other past champions, such as Tom Watson and Ian Woosnam, are unlikely to even make the cut, more less contend. Seven amateurs are going to play and experience the thrill of a lifetime, and it would be a victory if any of them were playing on Saturday. When it's all said and done, however, will we be remembering the number of players in the field on Thursday, or will we remember the champion on Sunday?
Of course, there are a lot of factors that remain. One depends on who is in contention on Sunday. A bunched leaderboard with some big name players will attract a ton of attention. If it is similar to last year, where Bubba Watson was not challenged on the back 9, it will be another year with down ratings. Also, if an unusual number of players make the cut, it could lead to some slow play on the weekends. The current cut at The Masters is the top 50 players and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader. If no one gets out to a big lead, you could see a lot of players playing on Saturday and Sunday who may not have much of a chance to win the green jacket.
In the end, however, the field size does not really matter, especially if it's going to be a one year problem. Would I have an issue if they changed their qualifications a tad? Not really, though they need to hold on to the tradition of inviting back all the past champions, and they need to keep the qualification of every PGA Tour full field winner gets an invite. After that, if they wish to change things around, you will not hear much complaining from me, but I'm not going to be less interested this year just because the field list went over the century mark.
The tournament itself ended up being a memorable one. Jack Nicklaus won his second consecutive green jacket, but had to do so in a playoff against Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. Four time champion Arnold Palmer gave it a run, but ended up finishing two shots out of the playoff. The fact that there were over 100 players in the tournament didn't take away from the drama at the end, nor did it provide an unworthy champion.
Fast forward to 2015, where Ben Crenshaw will be playing in The Masters one final time. Other past champions, such as Tom Watson and Ian Woosnam, are unlikely to even make the cut, more less contend. Seven amateurs are going to play and experience the thrill of a lifetime, and it would be a victory if any of them were playing on Saturday. When it's all said and done, however, will we be remembering the number of players in the field on Thursday, or will we remember the champion on Sunday?
Of course, there are a lot of factors that remain. One depends on who is in contention on Sunday. A bunched leaderboard with some big name players will attract a ton of attention. If it is similar to last year, where Bubba Watson was not challenged on the back 9, it will be another year with down ratings. Also, if an unusual number of players make the cut, it could lead to some slow play on the weekends. The current cut at The Masters is the top 50 players and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader. If no one gets out to a big lead, you could see a lot of players playing on Saturday and Sunday who may not have much of a chance to win the green jacket.
In the end, however, the field size does not really matter, especially if it's going to be a one year problem. Would I have an issue if they changed their qualifications a tad? Not really, though they need to hold on to the tradition of inviting back all the past champions, and they need to keep the qualification of every PGA Tour full field winner gets an invite. After that, if they wish to change things around, you will not hear much complaining from me, but I'm not going to be less interested this year just because the field list went over the century mark.
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