Field Notes: Akshay Bhatia Valero earned the final spot in the field with its dramatic playoff win at the Texas Open on Sunday. He is the first former Drive, Chip and Putt participant to make the Masters field. , Scotty Scheffler As world No. 1 at Augusta National and reached the top of the FedExCup standings. He has finished worse than second in his last three starts Since switching to mallet putters, He went back-to-back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and The Players, then finished second at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. This is Scheffler’s fifth Masters. He finished T10 last year and never finished outside the top 20… Tiger Woods is and will be in the field Pre-tournament press conference Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET, This is Woods’ first start since The Genesis Invitational, where he withdrew in the second round after suffering flu-like symptoms. Woods played the Masters last year but withdrew over the weekend and had ankle fusion surgery shortly afterward. It marks the fifth anniversary of his “return to glory” victory in 2019. Woods has made the cut 23 consecutive times at Augusta National – the most ever – and this year he will look to add to that record… Rory McIlroy He is achieving his 10th success in completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters. McIlroy has had his opportunities, most famously in 2011. He has finished in the top 10 in seven of the last nine Masters, including finishing runner-up in 2022, but is coming off a missed cut last year. He earned his first top-10 of the season last weekValero tied for third at the Texas Open after recently teaming up with renowned swing coach Butch Harmon… Bhatia is among 20 players competing at Augusta for the first time. Windham Clark And ludvig aberg Highlight the rookie class along with the 2023 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Eric ColeValspar Championship Winner Peter Malnati (who is making his Masters debut at age 36) and first-time PGA Tour winner Nick Dunlop,stephan jaeger, austin acroet, jake knapp And lee hodges, Dunlap was already in the field as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, but then turned professional after winning The American Express, giving him a spot in the field after turning professional. Fuzzy Zoeller is the only Masters rookie to win the green jacket, while six have been runner-up in their first Masters… There are several big-name players looking for their first major title, including Victor Hovland, patrick cantlay, max homa And xander schaufele, ranked among the top 10 in the world. In Schauffele’s case, he was in the final group at both The Genesis Invitational and The Players on Sunday. He finished T10 at the Masters last year and was runner-up in 2019.
