Ludvig Aberg and Wyndham Clark headline an eager cluster of 17 rookies who will drive down Magnolia Lane as a competitor for the first time at the 2024 Masters.
Each will be hoping and dreaming of re-writing history and taking Fuzzy Zoeller's well-known record from 1979. Famously, the two-time Major winner became just the third player ever to win on debut after Horton Smith in the very first Masters and Gene Sarazen the following year.
Of the modern-day crop, four are amateurs who won titles to earn an invite while all but three of the professionals have tasted individual success at least once over the past 12 months. But who are they? Let's take a look at each of the debutants starting The Masters in 2024.
Wyndham Clark is the only Major winner yet to tee it up at Augusta but will do so as a result of his US Open triumph last year. He has continued that strong form since, too, winning this season's Pebble Beach Pro-Am for his second outright PGA Tour victory after lifting the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship in May.
Ludvig Aberg may not have a Major to his name, but the supremely-talented Swede has a win either side of the Atlantic (RSM Classic and Omega European Masters) as well as a success in his sole Ryder Cup start. His rapid ascent towards the top of the game makes him highly respected already.
Alicia Bogdanski and Wyndham Clark with the trophy at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Speaking of Ryder Cuppers, Nicolai Hojgaard was another of Luke Donald's dozen in Rome. The Danish player lifted the DP World Tour Championship last November and is set to experience his third Major championship debut in a row following a T50 result at the 2023 PGA Championship and a T23 finish at The Open.
Meanwhile, there are a handful of the Masters rookies who can thank themselves for punching their ticket after winning on the PGA Tour over the past year. Nick Dunlap (American Express 2024), Austin Eckroat (Cognizant Classic 2024), Lee Hodges (3M Open 2023), Jake Knapp (Mexico Open 2024), Grayson Murray (Sony Open 2024), and Matthieu Pavon (Farmers Insurance Open 2024) all earned a nice extra perk after becoming a PGA Tour winner.
Ryo Hisatsune scooped the top prize at the DP World Tour's Open de France last September before going on to be awarded the Rookie of the Year trophy. While those accolades did not automatically garner a Masters invite, they may have played their part in the 21-year-old Japanese star being presented with a committee invite alongside Joaquin Niemann and Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen.
For three other players, consistency was key to their trip over to Augusta. Eric Cole, the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Denny McCarthy, and Adam Schenk all received invites to the season's first Major after sitting inside the world's top-50 at the cut-off point.
Eric Cole won the 2023 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Award
And in terms of the quartet of amateur players who can also be categorized as Masters rookies, their respective invites were earned via wins at the Latin America Amateur Championship (Santiago de la Fuente), The Amateur Championship (Christo Lamprecht), and the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (Jasper Stubbs).
Neal Shipley reached the final of the US Amateur but lost to Nick Dunlap at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado last year. However, as a result of Dunlap's decision to turn pro, he forfeited a start via that method and gave Shipley the chance of a lifetime.
Santiago De la Fuente
Masters rookies 2024:
- Ludvig Aberg
- Wyndham Clark
- Eric Cole
- Nick Dunlap
- Austin Eckroat
- Ryo Hisatsune
- Lee Hodges
- Nicolai Hojgaard
- Jake Knapp
- Denny McCarthy
- Grayson Murray
- Matthieu Pavon
- Adam Schenk
- Santiago de la Fuente (a)
- Christo Lamprecht (a)
- Neal Shipley (a)
- Jasper Stubbs (a)
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