PGA Tour Pro Playing In 12th Event In A Row In One Final Bid To Make Dream Masters Debut

Ben Griffin has put in a three-month run of consecutive PGA Tour starts in a bid to make his Masters debut, which now all comes down to his result at the Houston Open

Ben Griffin at the Houston Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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Playing in The Masters is special for every pro golfer, and two PGA Tour pros are showing just how special as they continue on marathon runs of consecutive starts in a bid to make the field at Augusta National.

At the Houston Open this week, Michael Kim is playing for the eighth straight week to try and make The Masters, but Ben Griffin can beat that as the ultra marathon man is playing in a 12th consecutive PGA Tour event.

That's three solid months of grinding on the PGA Tour going straight from venue to venue for Griffin - all in a desperate attempt to make his debut at The Masters.

Time is running out to qualify for The Masters, with the end of the Houston Open being the cut-off point for the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking who have not already qualified to bank their invitation to Augusta National.

And with Kim sitting in 52nd in the OWGR and Griffin in 53rd, they simply had no choice but to keep their starting streaks going to try and punch their tickets for a trip down Magnolia Lane.

They're not the only ones either, with last year's Houston Open champion Stephan Jaeger needing a decent title defence sitting at No.44 in the OWGR, while Eric Cole (61) and Si Woo Kim (66) need big performances to play their way in.

“I’m really running on fumes at this point,” Kim said on social media ahead of the Houston Open.

"I still have one more chance at qualifying for the Masters. I’ll (probably) need a top 20 to get a spot. At this point, I’ll be happy with or without the week off, but I want to give myself the opportunity.”

Everything depends on how the rest of the field and those around them in the OWGR perform, of course, but despite being just one place apart in the standings the minimum requirements are quite different.

Kim needs a minimum of a top 50 finish in Houston to get in, while Griffin needs at least a solo finish of 28th to achieve his dream of making his Masters debut.

Starting the year as the World No.156, Kim's fortunes have been boosted by finishing second in Phoenix and then a huge fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Michael Kim takes a shot at the WM Phoenix Open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Griffin started 2025 in much better shape as the World No.68 but struggled to make serious inroads until back-to-back T4 finishes at the Mexico Open and Cognizant Classic saw him dip inside the OWGR top 50.

Missing the cut at The Players Championship was a massive blow with so many points at stake and also failing to make the weekend at the Valspar Championship really piled on the pressure.

Both men will now have to battle physical and mental fatigue to claim their prize - a Masters debut for Griffin and a first trip to Augusta since 2019 for Kim - with the pair showing just how much this iconic tournament means to them.

Kim and Griffin both shot level-par rounds of 70 on the opening day in Houston, which was right around the projected cut mark after round one.

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
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Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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