Par4QC You do not just 'show up' to the ball, without the invitation, sorry.

It's semantics. Do you think they just send out the invites a week before the tournament? Phil likely had his invite already. That's why they asked him not to come.

Who decides who gets invited to the Masters golf tournament?
The Masters golf tournament is technically an invitational. But that doesn't mean a committee of Augusta National Golf Club members sits down and decides who gets to play and who doesn't. There are qualifying criteria for playing in the Masters, and a golfer who meets one of those criteria automatically qualifies to receive an invitation to play.

One of those qualifying criteria is a past champion so he automatically qualifies.

      garyt1957 automatically qualifies

      ....if invited!!

      I can keep this up all day, btw. Nothing to do otherwise. 😆

          https://www.golfdigest.com/story/2018-masters-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20qualifying%20tournaments%20for%20the%20Masters%2C,given%20out%20as%20well%2C%20but%20they%20are%20rare.

          How do you qualify for the Masters?
          There are no qualifying tournaments for the Masters, and no alternate spots in the field. Players get into the Masters by invitation only if they fulfill one of the 19 criteria, which can be found here at Masters.com. There are special exemptions given out as well, but they are rare.

          https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/heres-what-you-need-know-ahead-2022-masters-tournament

          The Masters has the fewest competitors, with typically under 100 golfers invited to the field. According to the tournament’s official website, there are 19 ways a golfer can qualify to compete for a green jacket. Guaranteed admission varies in length depending on the qualification standard.

          The qualifications for invitation are:

          Masters Tournament Champion (lifetime)
          U.S. Open Champion (honorary, non-competing after five years)
          The Open Championships (honorary, non-competing after five years)
          PGA Championships (honorary, non-competing after five years)
          Winners of The Players Championship (three years)
          Current Olympic Gold Medalist (one year)
          Current U.S. Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year) and the runner-up to the current U.S. Amateur Champion
          Current The Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year)
          Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion (one year)
          Current Latin America Amateur Champion (one year)
          Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion (one year)
          The first 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters Tournament
          The first four players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open
          The first four players, including ties, in the previous year’s The Open Championship
          The first four players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship
          Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters
          Those qualifying for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
          The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
          The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament
          The Masters Committee also reserves the right to invite any international players who didn’t otherwise qualify.

            azgreg The qualifications for invitation are:

            This.

              garyt1957 Do you think they just send out the invites a week before the tournament? Phil likely had his invite already. That's why they asked him not to come.

              I'd bet you are correct. Not sure of the timeline of Phil's issues or of the sending of invites, but they likely don't wait til last minute.

                https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/golf/news/masters-champions-dinner-2022-menu-hideki-matsuyama-miyazaki-wagyu/p0gej3c1ietober8vcgempjr#:~:text=Matsuyama%20has%20chosen%20the%20following%20for%20his%20Masters,ribeye%20with%20mixed%20mushrooms%20and%20vegetables%3B%20sansho%20daikon

                Hideki Matsuyama's menu for 2022 Masters Champions Dinner
                Matsuyama has chosen the following for his Masters Champions Dinner menu, per the Augusta Chronicle.

                Appetizers: Assorted sushi, Sashimi and Nigiri and Yakitori chicken skewers
                First course: Miso-glazed black cod — dashi broth
                Main course: Miyazaki Wagyu — A5 wagyu beef ribeye with mixed mushrooms and vegetables; sansho daikon
                Dessert: Japanese strawberry shortcake — fluffy sponge cake with whipped cream and amaou strawberries

                  azgreg
                  I want this. It sounds so good. Love sushi and everything listed will be top quality. The wagyu beef alone $$$$$

                    KCee GP fits right in with the good ol boys!

                      SMT he's amazing. I hope he is around for the weekend!

                        ode I think it is Charles Coody (not that I knew right away, just from a search of images it's my best guess).

                            Eguller As Google is my friend, it's Tommy Aaron.

                            Sorry, I'll stay out of the rest of these, but the guy above Ian Woosnam has been fairly anonymous lately and might not be readily known...

                              My best guess, starting with the back row, and working left to right:

                              Woods, Lyle, Bubba Watson, Faldo, Scott, Zoeller, O'Meara
                              Reed, Olazabal, Garcia, Mize (skip to far right) Dustin Johnson, Schwarzel
                              Singh, Speith, Nicklaus, Willett, Langer, Aaron, Zack Johnson, Immelman, Stadler, Woosnam, Couples
                              Weir, Coody, Player, Matsuyama, Crenshaw, Ridley, Floyd, Tom Watson

                              Watching Tiger prep, it appears his swing is in very nice shape, but his physical condition is not.

                              Reports are they got about 2 inches of rain yesterday.

                              Interesting the debate re: "modest" rollback if equipment on TGC with Brandel and McGinley in response to Chairman Ridley's comments. What does that even mean, modest.....that must mean the ball, but ?? Chairman Ridley then stated he did not think it would change the distance of courses🤔. I get that it will bring some of the skill, that these guys are referring to, back! But....the longer hitters will still have the advantage, possibly moreso. These guys talk about the not so long hitters having no chance, but in this scenario of a modest equipment roll back and same/similar length courses, the shorter hitters might fair worse. I dunno, but I'm all for more working the ball and more mid and long irons in on par 4's,etc, but will it really make much of a difference?

                                ode

                                I say don't change the course length or equipment. Just change par on the course and make the rough more penal. Lets take #13 at Agusta for instance at 510 yards. Sure sounds like a US Open par 4 to me. Maybe for the pro players they change par on some of the holes at various courses. Maybe we see mor par 70 or even par 69 courses if that's what they call for. Also tighten up some of the fairways(not applicable at Agusta) on the regular PGA tour spots. Put a premium on hitting fairways. Just my 2 pennies.

                                    Mattyv that was one of my immediate thoughts.....change it (#13) to a par 4 because that is what it is to the modern pro. It might* make a difference on how they approach that hole. I'm kw they can lengthen it, but could they change the angle of the tee shot?

                                      Mattyv In addition, perhaps soften the fairways to limit the amount of role.

                                        ode
                                        What if they went to a more balata like ball that had more spin.? Big hitters would also be much wilder and it might not be worth the extra distance to go hard at it?

                                            garyt1957 A change to equipment that makes bad shots worse would seem to be an obvious avenue to explore - would put more emphasis on the quality of a player's ballstriking. The long hitters would still have an advantage when it comes to distance, but would they take the risk of maximising distance if a bad swing put them 60 yards off line instead of 20?

                                              Watch live on CBSSports.com -------- cool. Following Tiger now.

                                              Looking like they've gone with some pretty nasty pin placements on the front nine to start the tournament. Just watched two guys on number 5 (actually I think it may have been 6 - not sure as I walked in from the room I'm working in for a brief look). One putts from the bottom of the hill and watches his putt make a u-turn 15 feet short of the hole and come right back to him. The other putts from the top of the hill, runs his putt a bit past the hole and it rolls all the way down to the bottom of the hill 60 feet away. Watching that happen to pros is interesting. ESPN+ has holes 4, 5, and 6 showing live.

                                              Masters.com has some decent featured groups right now. Woods group and Scheffler group.