DP World Tour pro asks for Masters spot after seeing trio land shock invites

DP World Tour winner takes to social media to ask for Masters invite.

21 Feb 2024

DP World Tour pro asks for Masters spot after seeing trio land invites

Nine-time DP World Tour winner Pablo Larrazabal has taken to Twitter to ask Augusta National for a spot in The Masters after learning three players earned special invites into the year's first major.

LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann and DP World Tour stars Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune today each received an invite to compete in the 2024 Masters Tournament from 11-14 April.

Chile's Niemann clinched the first LIV Golf event of the season in Mayakoba earlier this month, while Denmark's Olesen and Japan's Hisatsune earned full PGA Tour cards for this season via last year's DP World Tour Standings.

Niemann had been emotional about not having qualified for the majors this season after his latest win in Mexico.

That was due to his dwindling world ranking position as a result of LIV Golf remaining shut out of receiving OWGR points.

But now at least he does not have to worry about The Masters.

‘I want to win Majors, but I gotta get in first!’ @joaconiemann reacts to his huge putt in the DARK to win on the 4th playoff hole in Mayakoba #LIVGolf @TorqueGC_ pic.twitter.com/q6BWDer4IU
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) February 5, 2024

Olesen also won his last tournament on the DP World Tour in Ras Al Khaimah, while Hisatsune won last year's Open de France at famed Le Golf National.

Niemann will now make his fifth appearance at The Masters, while Olesen is making his fourth and Hisatsune will make his debut.

The reason for their invites was made clearer by the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters, Fred Ridley:

"The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified. Today’s announcement represents the Tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world. We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring."

Niemann is currently ranked well outside the world's top 50 at 81st on the ladder, while Olesen is 59th and Hisatsune 78th.

After learning the trio earned special invites into The Masters, nine-time DP World Tour winner Larrazabal, who is ranked 103rd in the world, took to Twitter.

Dear, Augusta National , I don’t know if you guys have my email but still waiting for my invite to compete at this year @TheMasters … at the moment there are only Spanish past champions playing, if you want a 4th, just send me a DM and I will start looking for some flights. https://t.co/SHw13Cdlok
— Pablo Larrazabal (@plarrazabal) February 21, 2024

While difficult to exactly know whether Larrazabal was venting frustration at Augusta National's latest decision or whether he was just having some harmless fun, the Spaniard who won twice on the DP World Tour last year, tweeted:

"Dear, Augusta National, I don’t know if you guys have my email but still waiting for my invite to compete at this year's Masters... at the moment there are only Spanish past champions playing, if you want a 4th, just send me a DM and I will start looking for some flights."

Larrazabal has played in the US Open, The Open and US PGA Championship down the years, but never at The Masters.

As Larrazabal mentions, there are only three Spaniards in The Masters field this April as it stands in former winners Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Related: The Masters field 2024

We await to see whether Augusta National responds to Larrazabal, but we have a strong fancy he could be waiting a while for an invite to land on his door mat.

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