Masters field has only a few open spots left

The final week for players to try to get into the Masters through the world ranking has rarely held so few possibilities.

Byeong Hun An is a lock to stay in the top 50. He was No. 60 at the end of 2023, then started the year finishing fourth at Kapalua and tied for second at the Sony Open to get inside the top 50. He secured his position in the top 50 with a tie for eighth at Bay Hill.

Everyone else in the top 50 — all the way to No. 54 — already is in the Masters through various other criteria, including four who won on the PGA Tour this year.

The Masters currently has 86 players — and that includes Tiger Woods, who has not played since February at Riviera. He is expected to play, though Woods has not formally revealed his plans. He only has to register before teeing off.

It does not include Angel Cabrera, who spent two years in prison for gender violence before being released on probation. His manager said in an email that the former Masters champion is still two months away from getting a visa to travel from Argentina.

The Masters field could reach as high as 90 players. An will get in through the world ranking, and a few players — no more than one will get in — have a chance to play their way into the top 50. The Houston Open and Texas Open winners also get invitations.

TGL mulligan launch

The indoor TGL league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will try again in 2025, this time with a new steel-supported structure replacing the inflated dome that collapsed in November, just two months before the league’s planned 2024 launch. The league of six four-player teams uses a combination of simulators for the long shots and a hightech, rotating green complex that allows for actual shots during the matches.

Teams are set for Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Woods leads the Jupiter, Florida, team but still needs three players, while four players are needed for both San Francisco and New York.

So long, Yeon

Yeon Ryu, the 33-year-old South Korean who spent 19 weeks at No. 1 in the world, wrote on Instagram last week that the Chevron Championship — the first LPGA major of the year — will be her last before retiring.

“I am so grateful that I could do what I loved to do, day in and day out, and even make a career out of it,” Ryu said. Ryu, the LPGA rookie of the year in 2012 and co-player of the year in 2017, has 18 career victories worldwide, six of them on the LPGA.

Divots

McIlroy and Shane Lowry are playing the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, the only official team event on the PGA Tour schedule. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele have played it the past three years, winning in 2022. ... This is the sixth time Nelly Korda has reached No. 1 in the women’s world ranking, all within the past three years.

Final word

“It’s just always been my dream to never get a real job.”

— Peter Malnati, in his 10th year on the PGA Tour, after winning the Valspar Championship