
Joaquin Niemann and Nicolai Hoggard received special invitations to the Masters earlier this week.
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The 2025 Masters will have at least 2 names older than the 2025 one.
Earlier this week, Augusta National Golf Club announced the signing of a contract with two up-and-coming professional golfers, LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann and PGA Tour’s Nicola Hoyga Nicolai Hojgaard – Issued a special invitation to participate in golf's first major championship in 2025.
Of course, this is the time of year when the Master invites you. Augusta National Golf Club is distributing its highly anticipated green letters through the mail during the holidays, securing much of the course before the rest of the golf world rings in the New Year. But Niemann and Hoggard are notable additions because they're not expected Players who do not meet the invitation criteria for any existing Masters tournament.
You may ask, how did Hojgaard and Niemann get into this field? Well, because the Masters is invitational tournamentmeaning Augusta National can select the players it wishes to invite at its leisure, even if those players don't meet the standards set by the Masters for tournament participants.
Discussions of special invitations have never been particularly foreign to the Masters, but in recent years the noise has grown louder with the sudden emergence of LIV Golf, disrupting the natural order of golf's “world rankings” and what they offer A coveted major championship berth.
In the past, players like Niemann, who plays for LIV's Torque GC, might have been able to qualify for the Masters by virtue of a PGA Tour victory or a high enough world ranking to earn an OWGR exemption. But now, since LIV does not receive world ranking points and does not automatically receive a Grand Slam championship, most of LIV's players have obtained invitations to the Masters through exemptions from past Grand Slam champions. That doesn't help players like Niemann, a 26-year-old who has never won in his major championship career but who most in golf agree has the competitive pedigree to compete on the biggest stages. .
This has allowed Niemann to compete in OWGR-certified events and qualifiers around the world throughout the year in addition to the LIV schedule, hoping that such a start will boost his resume and enter the major championship field. Those efforts paid off in 2024, when Niemann received the same special exemption invitation to the Masters and invitations to the PGA Championship and Open.
“To support Augusta National's efforts to cultivate interest in golf around the world, we have continued to support Augusta National throughout the tournament's history,” Augusta National President Fred Ridley said in a post announcing the decision. “We welcome back Nicola and Joaquín to the Masters, a tradition that continues with both players demonstrating their talent in tournaments around the world. Looking forward to their arrival this April.”
Now, in 25 years, he will be joined by Hoygaard, a young PGA Tour/DP World Tour pro and a promising former Ryder Cup player whose The 2024 season leaves him on the outside seeking exemption from the Masters. The 2025 Masters will begin on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Augusta National.