A growing trend is challenging a Masters tradition. More amateurs are turning professional, forfeiting their spots at Augusta National. Now, Chairman Fred Ridley has addressed what it means for golf's most prestigious invitation.

"As you stated, amateur golf has been very important to the Masters since its beginning. I think when we... I played in the tournament; there were as many as 12 or 14 amateurs because there were different classifications of invitations," Fred Ridley said on Wednesday.

"I think probably in that day it was less likely that any one of us would turn professional, at least until the tournament was over,” he added during the press conference at Augusta.

Players like Michael La Sasso are among those who've made the leap. The 2025 NCAA individual champion joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC in January this year, giving up his place in the 2026 Masters.

Jacob Skov Olesen did something similar a year after the 2024 British Amateur. He joined the DP World Tour card through Q-School.

One of the motivating factors for this shift is the ever-growing purses at professional events. However, the discussion also turned to the invitation criteria and whether the current field includes enough amateurs. 

Fred Ridley Signals Review of Masters Invitation Criteria as Amateur Spots Come Under Focus

“We've lost a few players because of that, but really not that many. I think it just points out that we look at our invitation criteria every year,” added the 73-year-old, who competed in the Masters as an amateur 50 years ago.

Jackson Koivun, despite being the world’s No. 1 amateur, did not qualify for the Masters as he did not meet the tournament’s set exemption criteria. He did not win the NCAA individual title, nor did he secure victories in the U.S. Amateur or the British Amateur, which provide automatic entry.

The Masters also does not offer a qualification based on world amateur ranking, and his professional ranking was not within the required range.

“As you know, in recent years, we added the NCAA champion. I'm not saying we're going to add any other categories, but we might because we're going to look at that,” said Ridley.

Six amateurs are part of the 91-player field at Augusta National Golf Club this week. “I think also you may recall that we have - on one occasion, I believe, given a special invitation to an amateur," he added.

"That's not something we usually do. But it just points out the flexibility we have, and we'll continue to have that flexibility," Ridley suggested.

Do you think amateurs should be allowed to forfeit a Masters invite? Share your opinion in the comments.

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Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi