Masters contender Louis Oosthuizen

Masters contender Louis Oosthuizen. Image: Masters website

The Masters: Three South Africans in the 2023 field

Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel will lead the South African threat at the Masters this year with only one other player in the mix.

Masters contender Louis Oosthuizen

Masters contender Louis Oosthuizen. Image: Masters website

LIV golf players Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel will lead the South African threat at the Masters this year with only one other player in the mix.

And that other player is none other than leading amateur Aldrich Potgieter.

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Masters to test SA crew

Schwartzel’s standing in the game continues to yo-yo. He’s done reasonably well on the LIV circuit as he reaches 40. Last year, he did finish a respectable T-10. In that same breath last year’s finish was only his second top-10 in 11 starts since his win in 2011, and given the questions regarding a lack of competitive reps for LIV Golf members, not too much is expected of the former champion.

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Oosthuizen is perennially listed as a Masters outside pick due to his form at the biggest events. However, since his runner-up at the 2012 tournament he’s finished no better than T12. He withdrew last year through injury.

ALSO READ: LIV Golf: Louis Oosthuizen wins R28.6 million after losing in playoff

Amateur golfer Potgieter became the second youngest winner in the 127-year history of the Amateur Championship in 2022 when he beat England’s Sam Bairstow 3&2 in the 36-hole final at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

At 17 he was a year older than Italian Matteo Manassero, winner at nearby Formby in 2009.

He was also only the third South African to lift the trophy following Bobby Cole in 1966 – he was just 18 and the youngest-ever at the time – and Jovan Rebula four years ago.

It was Potgieter’s fourth win of the year – three in his home country and one in Australia. As well as The Open there will be places waiting for him in next year’s US Open and, by tradition, The Masters at Augusta National. “I haven’t felt this good before,” he said.

charl schwartzel
Charl Schwartzel was good last year at Augusta. Image: The Masters website

Three South Africans in the 2023 field

INVITEESCOUNTRYQUALIFICATION
Ancer, AbrahamMexico18,19
#* Bennett, SamUnited States7-A
Bradley, KeeganUnited States16,18,19
Burns, SamUnited States16,17,18,19
Cantlay, PatrickUnited States16,17,18,19
#* Carr, BenUnited States7-B
Champ, CameronUnited States12
Conners, CoreyCanada12,16,17,18,19
Couples, FredUnited States1
#* Crowe, HarrisonAustralia9
Day, JasonAustralia19
DeChambeau, BrysonUnited States2
English, HarrisUnited States19
#* Fernandez de Oliveira, MateoArgentina10
Finau, TonyUnited States16,17,18,19
Fitzpatrick, MattEngland2,17,18,19
Fleetwood, TommyEngland14,18,19
# Fox, RyanNew Zealand18,19
Garcia, SergioSpain1
Gooch, TalorUnited States17,18
Harman, BrianUnited States17,18,19
Hatton, TyrrellEngland18,19
Henley, RussellUnited States16,18
#^ Higa, KazukiJapan
Hoge, TomUnited States17,18,19
Homa, MaxUnited States16,17,18,19
Horschel, BillyUnited States16,17,18,19
Hovland, ViktorNorway14,17,18,19
Hughes, MackenzieCanada16,18
Im, SungjaeKorea12,17,18,19
Johnson, DustinUnited States1,12,18
Johnson, ZachUnited States1
Kim, Si WooKorea16,19
# Kim, TomKorea16,18,19
Kirk, ChrisUnited States16,19
Kisner, KevinUnited States18,19
# Kitayama, KurtUnited States16,18,19
Koepka, BrooksUnited States2,4
Kokrak, JasonUnited States18
Langer, BernhardGermany1
Lee, Kyoung-HoonKorea16,17,18,19
Lee, Min WooAustralia19
Lowry, ShaneIreland3,12,18,19
Lyle, SandyScotland1
Matsuyama, HidekiJapan1,13,17,18,19
#* McClean, MatthewNorthern Ireland11
McIlroy, RoryNorthern Ireland12,14,16,17,18,19
# Meronk, AdrianPoland18
Mickelson, PhilUnited States1,4
Mitchell, KeithUnited States19
Mize, LarryUnited States1
Molinari, FrancescoItaly3
# Moore, TaylorUnited States16
Morikawa, CollinUnited States3,4,12,17,18,19
Na, KevinUnited States18
Niemann, JoaquinChile17,18,19
Noren, AlexSweden18,19
Olazabal, Jose MariaSpain1
Oosthuizen, LouisS. Africa18
# Pereira, MitoChile15,18
Pieters, ThomasBelgium18,19
Poston, J.T.United States16,17,19
#* Potgieter, AldrichS. Africa8
Power, SeamusIreland16,18,19
Rahm, JonSpain2,16,17,18,19
Reed, PatrickUnited States1
Rose, JustinEngland16,19
#*^ Sargent, GordonUnited StatesSpecial
Schauffele, XanderUnited States16,17,18,19
Scheffler, ScottieUnited States1,13,16,17,18,19
Schwartzel, CharlS. Africa1,12
Scott, AdamAustralia1,17,18,19
Singh, VijayFiji1
Smith, CameronAustralia3,5,12,17,18,19
Spieth, JordanUnited States1,16,17,18,19
Stallings, ScottUnited States17
Straka, SeppAustria17,18,19
# Svensson, AdamCanada16
# Theegala, SahithUnited States17,18,19
Thomas, JustinUnited States4,5,12,17,18,19
Varner III, HaroldUnited States18
Watson, BubbaUnited States1
Weir, MikeCanada1
Willett, DannyEngland1,12
Wise, AaronUnited States18,19
Woodland, GaryUnited States2
Woods, TigerUnited States1
Young, CameronUnited States14,15,17,18,19
Zalatoris, WillUnited States12,13,15,16,17,18,19
# Denotes first Masters * Denotes Amateur
^ The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified.

PAST CHAMPIONS NOT PLAYING

Tommy Aaron

Jack Burke Jr.

Angel Cabrera

Charles Coody

Ben Crenshaw

Nick Faldo

Raymond Floyd

Trevor Immelman

Jack Nicklaus

Mark O’Meara

Gary Player

Craig Stadler

Tom Watson

Ian Woosnam

Fuzzy Zoeller

QUALIFICATIONS FOR INVITATION

  1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
  2. US Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
  3. The Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
  4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
  5. Winners of The Players Championship (Three years)
  6. Current Olympic Gold Medalist (One year)
  7. Current US Amateur Champion (7-A) (Honorary, non-competing after one year) and the runner-up (7-B) to the current US Amateur Champion
  8. Current The Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year)
  9. Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion (One year)
  10. Current Latin America Amateur Champion (One year)
  11. Current US Mid-Amateur Champion (One year)
  12. The first 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters Tournament
  13. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s US Open
  14. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s The Open Championship
  15. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship
  16. Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters
  17. Those qualifying for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
  18. The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
  19. The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament

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