Masters to take winners of six national opens and eliminate invitations to PGA Tour fall winners

The Masters is moving away from inviting PGA Tour fall winners and now will invite the winners of six national opens around the world. Augusta National and the R&A have collaborated to identify the national opens that will create a path to the Masters and the British Open. The R&A has been using such a model for several years.

But it's a big change for the Masters, which has invited winners of weaker fall events since the PGA Tour went to a wraparound season in 2013. The PGA Tour is back to a calendar year. Last year, four of the seven fall winners were outside the top 100 in the world ranking.

This decision was more about recognizing the global nature of golf. Starting this year, Masters invitations will go to the winners of the Spanish Open, Japan Open, Hong Kong Open, Australian Open, South African Open and Scottish Open.

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