Els, Goosen fail to make Masters cut

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South African major champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are both in danger of missing the Masters in 2012.

South African major champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are both in danger of missing the Masters in 2012.

The duo currently do not meet the initial requirement of being in the top 50 in the world at the end of the season, and would need to either play themselves back into the top 50 by the end of March or win a PGA Tour event (save for those tournaments held opposite WGC events).

Els, a three-time major champion who has come desperately close to winning the Masters on several occasions and hasn’t missed a single one since his first in 1994, is currently ranked 56th, while Goosen, himself a two-time US Open winner, is ranked 53rd.

American Jim Furyk narrowly made the cut after finishing the year in 50th spot – though he started 2011 in 5th.

Players who have already ensured Masters qualification include Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Alvaro Quiros, K.T. Kim, Simon Dyson, Sang-moon Bae, Rickie Fowler, Francesco Molinari, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

Some players who are in the same boat as the South Africans include Ryo Ishikawa (No 51), Ben Crane (No 54), Ryan Moore (No 57), Matteo Manassero (No 58), Robert Allenby (No 59), Anthony Kim (No 75) and Camilo Villegas (No 89).

The Masters has the smallest field of all four majors, with Augusta National preferring to have no more than 100 players participating.

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