On The Cusp Of A Potential Masters Debut, This PGA Tour Winner Is Set To Play In The DP World Tour's Mauritius Open To Potentially Book His Place At Augusta National

The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open’s place in the calendar gives it a little more intrigue than it might otherwise have.

The DP World Tour event takes place between December 18th and 21st – the last of the year on the circuit and also the final opportunity for some players to earn precious world ranking points before a deadline to claim one of the most sought-after prizes in golf.

The field for The Masters is already taking shape, and it will become a little clearer after the tournament, when the world’s top 50 at the end of the year will be confirmed.

Every player inside the top 50 at that time will receive an invite to the Augusta National Major. Because of that, one PGA Tour pro in with a chance of breaking into the top 50 will tee it up at the tournament.

Ryan Gerard began the week 53rd in the rankings and, as first reported by popular X world rankings account @VC606, he is in the entry list for the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

Gerard won this year’s PGA Tour-DP World Tour co-sanctioned Barracuda Championship, giving him category 3 status for the event, which gives places in the field to winners of recent Race to Dubai Ranking tournaments.

Of course, that victory also counts as a PGA Tour win, an achievement that would ordinarily lead to a place at The Masters. However, because the Barracuda Championship is an “alternate event,” it doesn’t apply, meaning Gerard is turning to his world ranking to get in.

Gerard currently averages 0.0723 world ranking points fewer than the player who began the week in 50th, Nico Echavarria, with Nick Taylor and JT Poston the two players between him and the Colombian.

Taylor played in this week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, finishing T18, but that only projects a total of around 1.31321 ranking points – less than his current average.

Neither Echavarria, Taylor, nor Poston is scheduled to play in any more ranking events this year, supposedly leaving the way clear for Gerard to take his place in the top 50, should he put in a strong performance at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

For the 26-year-old, the incentive is even clearer given that he has yet to make his Masters debut, although he has proved his Major credentials elsewhere, most notably with a T8 at this year’s PGA Championship.

Even if Gerard doesn’t make it to Augusta National via the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, he will have other chances in 2026, including winning a PGA Tour event that awards a full-point allocation towards the Tour Championship and being inside the world’s top 50 the week before The Masters.