Overview
- Augusta National and The R&A announced Monday that the Masters will again invite winners of six designated national opens as part of a coordinated 2027 qualification framework.
- The six tournaments are the Scottish Open, Spanish Open, Japan Open, Hong Kong Open, Australian Open and South African Open and their champions will earn Masters invitations under the renewed criteria.
- The R&A will publish its 2027 Open Qualifying Series schedule imminently, a series reported to include 19 events in 15 countries that also offer routes into The Open at St. Andrews.
- The policy keeps a tournament-based path open to players across multiple tours, including LIV Golf, and it follows last year’s use of the same criteria that produced Masters qualifiers such as Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Naoyuki Kataoka.
- Most of the designated national opens will be played in the fall with the South African Open set for March, a timing detail that affects which season’s champion receives the exemption and raises the profile of national championships worldwide.