Can a debutant win The Masters? Ranking the 2026 newcomers
No debutant has won The Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller beat Tom Watson and Ed Sneed in a playoff in 1979.
With Augusta National such a precise test, it’s asking an awful lot for a first-timer to solve the puzzle immediately.
Some have gone close – Ludvig Aberg was runner-up on his first start in 2024 – but Zoeller’s record has stood for approaching half a century.
Could that change this year? There are 22 hopefuls although every single one is available at odds of 50/1 or higher.
Let’s rank them.
Chris Gotterup – Age 26
Gotterup will be just the third player since World War II to have racked up four PGA Tour wins before making his Masters debut. Two of those have come this year: the Sony Open and the Phoenix Open while he warmed up for his Masters debut with sixth at the Houston Open.
Gotterup has already flexed his muscles in the Majors with third at the Open Championship a week after he’d landed last summer’s Scottish Open.
Jacob Bridgeman – Age 26
Bridgeman is one of the stars of 2026 and heads to Augusta having recorded top 20s in all eight starts this season.
The highlight was his breakthrough first victory when he held off an elite field to win the Genesis Championship at Riviera – a course which correlates well with Augusta National.
Marco Penge – Age 27
The big-hitting Englishman won the 2025 Spanish Open in a playoff to earn his first start at Augusta National. It was the third DP World Tour win of the year after victories in China and Denmark.
Since winning his PGA Tour card for 2026, he’s shown flashes of his vast potential, most notably at the Valspar Championship where he finished fourth.
Ryan Gerrard – Age 26
Gerrard’s desire to get inside the top 50 in the world rankings by the end of 2025, and thus secure a Masters invite, took him on an unlikely trip to play the Mauritius Open.
He achieved his mission with a second place and then repeated that runners-up finish in his first two starts of 2026 (Sony Open and American Express).
He’s cooled a little since but eighth on his PGA Championship debut last year shows he can cut it at the very top level.
John Keefer – Age 25
The man from Maryland was Rookie and Player of the Year on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour, racking up nine top 10s and winning twice.
On the PGA Tour, he finished seventh in the RSM Classic at the end of 2025 and then took it up a level with third place in last week’s Houston Open. His ceiling looks extremely high.
Harry Hall – 28
The Englishman became a regular in the TV coverage last year as he secured top 25s finishes in more than half of his PGA Tour starts. He also showed up well in his two Majors starts with 19th at the PGA and 28th in the Open Championship.
A demon putter, he has two top 10s this season (Sony Open and Arnold Palmer).
Ben Griffin – Age 29
Griffin’s surge up the world rankings began after last year’s Masters when he won the Zurich Classic pairs event with Andrew Novak.
He then went on a brilliant run which included wins in the Charles Schwab Challenge and World Wide Technology in Mexico, top 10s in two Majors (PGA and US Open) and even a Ryder Cup debut.
He’s struggled to find that form in 2026 though with three missed cuts in the last four.
Sam Stevens – Age 29
Despite not getting the elusive win, Stevens was twice a runner-up in 2025 (Farmers Insurance Open and 3M Open) while he’s already recorded a pair of top sixes in 2026 (American Express and Houston Open).
Stevens, who played at Oklahoma State University alongside Viktor Hovland and Wyndham Clark, has made the cut in all five Majors he’s played (best of 23rd in the 2025 US Open).
Michael Brennan – Age 24
The Wake Forest star showed what a force he could be by winning the Bank of Utah Championship on just his third career start on the PGA Tour. Previously he’d won three times on the PGA Tour Americas in Canada and Minnesota to win promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour.
His massive hitting (he’s 3rd in Driving Distance) should work well at Augusta although he’s yet to have a top 25 in nine PGA Tour starts this year.
Casey Jarvis – Age 22
Part of a new wave of South African talent, Jarvis scored back-to-back wins on the DP World Tour (Kenya Open and South African Open) in February/March, the latter victory securing a first Masters invite.
He’s since finished second in the Joburg Open and 13th at the Indian Open. The 22-year-old has played just one Major, missing the cut in the 2024 US Open.
Sami Valimaki – Age 27
Valimaki will become just the second golfer from Finland to play at Augusta National following Mikko Ilonen. A two-time winner on the DP World Tour, he made the big breakthrough in America with a first PGA Tour success at November’s RSM Classic.
He’s struggled badly in his six starts in the Majors: five missed cuts and a 68th.
Tom McKibbin – Age 23
The only debutant this year who plays on LIV. The man from Belfast won the Hong Kong Open in November by seven strokes. That was his first Asian Tour win and added to his DP World Tour victory at the European Open in Germany in 2023.
McKibbin has made three of his four Majors cuts (best of 41st) while this year on LIV he’s been steady but still hasn’t managed a top 10 (24th, 21st, 24th last three).
Rasmus Neegaard-Petersen – Age 26
One of a bunch of talented young Danes, Neergaard-Petersen will join compatriots Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard in the Masters field. Last December, he won the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne Golf Club to secure his first career DP World Tour win.
A top three in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship banked him a PGA Tour card for 2026 although he’s yet to produce a standout performance (best of 40th) despite making five cuts out of six. A tied 12th in last year’s US Open shows what he’s capable of.
Kristoffer Reitan – Age 28
Viktor Hovland was the first Norwegian to play The Masters and now we have a second with Reitan earning his spot. The man from Oslo won his 2026 PGA Tour card after DP World Tour wins in Belgium (May) and South Africa (December) last year.
Reitan, who was 30th in last summer’s Open, has a best on the PGA Tour this season of 17th at the Cognizant.
Andrew Novak – Age 31
One of three players north of 30 who will be making their Masters debut in 2026. Novak made the Tour Championship in 2025 and teamed up with Ben Griffin to earn his first career PGA Tour win in the Zurich Classic pairs event. He finished MC-62-63 in the three majors he played last year.
Mason Howell (Am) – Age 18
The 6ft 4” teenager was born and raised in Georgia so will get plenty of local support. He became the third youngest winner of the US Amateur when smashing Jackson Herrington 7&6 in the final. He could be a good bet for Top Amateur.
Naoyuki Kataoka – Age 28
Kataoka is here after coming from seven strokes back after three rounds to win the Japan Open in a playoff. That also earned him a spot in this summer’s Open.
Ethan Fang (Am) – Age 20
The Texan won last year’s Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s, earning his Masters invite after beating Ireland’s Gavin Tiernan in the final. He also played The Open at Portrush, a Friday 70 leaving him two shots away from the cut line.
Jackson Herrington – Age 19
The left-handed American, who attends the University of Tennessee, finished runner-up to Mason Howell in the US Amateur.
Fifa Laopakdee (Am) – Age 21
The 21-year-old will be the first amateur from Thailand to play in The Masters. The Arizona State University product won the Asia-Pacific Amateur in Dubai after entering the final round six back.
Mateo Pulcini (Am) – Age 25
Pulcini won the Latin America Amateur in Peru in January – Argentina’s third winner in that event – to secure a first trip to Augusta.
Brandon Holtz (Am) – Age 39
The 39-year-old is the oldest first-timer this year by some way. He won the US Mid-Amateur at Troon Country Club in Arizona with a 3&2 victory over Jeg Coughlin III.