Masters adds 14 players to field based on their world ranking at end of 2013

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National added 14 players to the field for the Masters when the final world ranking of 2013 was published Dec. 15.

That brings the field to 90 players who are expected to compete April 10-13, and again raises the possibility of the Masters exceeding 100 players for the first time in nearly 50 years. Augusta National has the smallest field of the four majors and prefers to keep it under 100 to enhance the overall experience at its tournament.

This is the third time in the last four years that the field was at least 90 players going into a new calendar year. There were 99 players for the 2011 Masters, the most since 103 players competed in 1966.

Those who qualified by being in the top 50 of the final ranking were Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten and Branden Grace.

Players can still qualify by winning a PGA Tour event (except for the Puerto Rico Open) or being in the top 50 on March 30, a full week before the Masters.

Matsuyama qualified at No. 23. It will be his third appearance at the Masters, and his first as a pro. Matsuyama was a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, which awards an exemption to the Masters. He made the cut both times as an amateur.

''I'm ecstatic I qualified for the Masters through my play for this year,'' Matsuyama said through an interpreter in October, when it was clear he would be in the top 50. He won four times this year on the Japan Golf Tour and had a pair of top-10s in the majors.

Fowler was the only American of the 14 from the world ranking, though two other players (Peter Hanson, David Lynn) were PGA Tour members, who have more options available to them during the year.

The Masters changed the criteria for the 2014 tournament, though that appears to have little bearing on the number of qualified players. Because the PGA Tour went to a wraparound season (October through September), the Masters awarded spots to the winners of tournaments held in the fall. Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore and Chris Kirk qualified by winning those events. The other winners of fall events – Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson and Harris English – already were eligible for the Masters.

Augusta National eliminated the category for top 30 on the money list, though that didn't keep out any player who qualified.

The club now takes the top 12 and ties from the previous Masters (instead of the top 16) and the top four and ties from the U.S. Open (instead of the top eight). That eliminated only one player – David Toms – who would have been eligible under the previous category. The others would have made it through other criteria.

When the FedExCup was created in 2007, Augusta National returned to its practice of inviting PGA Tour winners (at events that offered full FedEx Cup points). Since then, the largest increase in the field from January until the Masters was the addition of 11 players for this year's tournament.

Here are the 90 players who have qualified and are expected to compete in the 2014 Masters, listed in only first category for which they are eligible:

MASTERS CHAMPIONS: Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Tiger Woods, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson.

U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONS (five years): Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Lucas Glover.

BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONS (five years): Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen, Stewart Cink.

PGA CHAMPIONS (five years): Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPS CHAMPIONS (three years): Matt Kuchar, K.J. Choi.

U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPION AND RUNNER-UP: a-Matt Fitzpatrick, a-Oliver Goss.

BRITISH AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Garrick Porteous.

U.S. AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS CHAMPION: a-Jordan Niebrugge.

U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Michael McCoy.

ASIAN AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Lee Chang-woo.

TOP 12 AND TIES-2013 MASTERS: Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Thorbjorn Olesen, Brandt Snedeker, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Tim Clark, John Huh.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2013 U.S. OPEN: Billy Horschel, Hunter Mahan.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2013 BRITISH OPEN: Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2013 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: Jim Furyk, Jonas Blixt.

PGA TOUR EVENT WINNERS SINCE 2013 MASTERS (FULL FEDEX CUP POINTS AWARDED): Derek Ernst, Sang-Moon Bae, Boo Weekley, Harris English, Ken Duke, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore, Chris Kirk.

FIELD FROM THE 2013 TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP: Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Roberto Castro, Nick Watney, Brendon de Jonge, Luke Donald, Gary Woodland, Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points, Graham DeLaet.

TOP 50 FROM FINAL WORLD RANKING IN 2013: Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten, Branden Grace.

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Dufner barely misses birdie attempt

For a man who never smiles, Jason Dufner sure does turn a lot of frowns upside down. During a year in which he became a verb, this probably doesn't rank too high on his greatest hits of 2013, but it's not every day you see a professional golfer miss a putt like this. 

While paired with Dustin Johnson in this week's Franklin Templeton Shootout, Dufner was lining up a birdie putt on the ninth hole in the final round, when he just kind of lost the grip on his putter, accidently knocking his ball a couple feet to the right, and in the process knocking the serious faces off of his playing partners. Words don't do it justice so do youself a favor and watch the clip below. Don't worry, Dufner doesn't mind being the butt of a joke.

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Why Tiger Woods' hug with his son was so memorable

We were sitting on the desk of Golf Central the Sunday night of Tiger Woods' seven-stroke victory in this year's WGC - Bridgestone Invitational, getting ready to sum up the 79th victory in Woods' career, when something unpredictable happened. Walking off the green, following a machine-like performance that was reminiscent of his greatest years, Tiger found himself being upstaged.

This has been a year for memorable hugs, starting with Miguel Angel Cabrera at the Masters when the Argentine threw his burly arms around his son after staking a 7-iron on the 72nd hole at Augusta, and then Adam Scott after the Aussie sank the winning putt.

Phil Mickelson had an emotional group hug behind the 18th green at Muirfield after winning the British Open, which included his wife, his children, his caddie Bones Mackay, his college coach and longtime manager Steve Loy and his coach Butch Harmon. And then there was what Jason Dufner called the "bro hug," when Keegan Bradley pulled a U-turn heading to the airport in Rochester, returning to Oak Hill in time to throw his arms around the PGA champion.

But there was something about the moment when Charlie Axel Woods broke free behind Firestone's 18th green, ran to his dad, jumped into his arms, and wrapped his arm around his neck, that made it unique.

Moments like this aren't created. They just happen. And more than just Charlie's being there for the first time at one of his dad's wins, this moment became an opportunity for Tiger to reveal a side not often seen in his news conferences.

"Sam was there when I won the U.S. Open in '08, and she loves to look at the YouTube videos," Woods said of his 6-year-old daughter. "She loves looking at that, and Charlie has never had that, never felt what it's like to be with the trophy."

The Woods kids have seen the trophies in Tiger's home on Jupiter Island, all 105 he has collected since turning pro in 1996, and some before that when father Earl was following Tiger around as an amateur. Don't think they didn't notice as Daddy went winless from 2010 through most of 2011.

"They always say, 'Daddy, when are you going to win the tournament?" Woods explained. "It was a few years there, or a couple years, I hadn't won anything in a while. Last couple years have been a little bit better, and they always want to know, 'Are you leading or not?' That's always a stock question. 'Not leading? Well, are you going to start leading?' Well, I'm trying."

Whether he's trying too hard in the majors is a question for the psychologists and golf analysts. But with his 38th birthday coming up, Woods can't help but see the competitive window closing as the circle of life closes in around him. Career-wise, he lost some prime years due to his own indiscretions and his body breaking down, but in 2013 he made up for lost time with five victories, two layer of the ear awards (PGA Tour and PGA of America), another Vardon Trophy and regaining the No. 1 ranking.

If he goes on to break Jack Nicklaus' record, don't be surprised for Tiger to one day share that his children were his two greatest motivators.

As he said at the end of the year, "It's exciting for me to have my two kids now starting to understand what Daddy does."

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Adam Scott set to tackle monster field in US Masters title defence

ADAM Scott could be the first Masters champion in almost 50 years to face a title defence against a field of more than 100 players.

Augusta National added 14 players to the field for the Masters after the release of the final world ranking of the year.

That brings the field to 90 players who are expected to compete April 10-13, and again raises the possibility of the Masters exceeding 100 players for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Augusta National has the smallest field of the four majors and prefers to keep it under 100 to enhance the overall experience at its tournament.

This is the third time in the last four years that the field was at least 90 players going into a new calendar year. There were 99 players for the 2011 Masters, the most since 103 players competed in 1966.

Those who qualified by being in the top 50 of the final ranking were Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten and Branden Grace.

Players can still qualify by winning a PGA Tour event (except for the Puerto Rico Open) or being in the top 50 on March 30, a full week before the Masters.

Matsuyama qualified at No.23. It will be his third appearance at the Masters, and his first as a pro. Matsuyama was a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, which awards an exemption to the Masters. He made the cut both times as an amateur.

"I'm ecstatic I qualified for the Masters through my play for this year," Matsuyama said through an interpreter in October, when it was clear he would be in the top 50.

He won four times this year on the Japan Golf Tour and had a pair of top 10s in the majors.

Fowler was the only American of the 14 from the world ranking, though two other players (Peter Hanson, David Lynn) were PGA Tour members, who have more options available to them during the year.

The Masters changed the criteria for the 2014 tournament, though that appears to have little bearing on the number of qualified players. Because the PGA Tour went to a wraparound season (October through September), the Masters awarded spots to the winners of tournaments held in the fall. Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore and Chris Kirk qualified by winning those events. The other winners of fall events - Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson and Harris English - previously were eligible for the Masters.

Augusta National eliminated the category for top 30 on the money list, though that didn't keep out any player who qualified.

The club now takes the top 12 and ties from the previous Masters (instead of the top 16) and the top four and ties from the U.S. Open (instead of the top eight). That eliminated only one player - David Toms - who would have been eligible under the previous category. The others would have made it through other criteria.

When the FedEx Cup was created in 2007, Augusta National returned to its practice of inviting PGA Tour winners (at events that offered full FedEx Cup points). Since then, the largest increase in the field from January until the Masters was the addition of 11 players for this year's tournament.

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Golfer Adam Scott loses $2.5 million in sale of his Jade apartment on the Gold Coast's beachfront

GOLFER Adam Scott, great bunker player that he is, has had an extremely costly sand "shot" on the Surfers Paradise beachfront.

Adam's dropped nearly $2.5 million on a ground-floor apartment in the very select Jade tower.

It's one of two he bought off the plan for $4.4 million each in 2004.

He unloaded the first three years later at $5.9 million, a deal that apparently involved a trade.

In his latest sale, Adam's suffered what, in golfing terms, could be called a shank.

The values have gone in the wrong direction and his $4.4 million property has sold for $1.94 million - b y far the lowest price paid for a Jade apartment.

The deal was done before he embarked on a highly successful, and profitable, four weeks of golf in Australia that included winning the Australian PGA event at the Gold Coast's RACV Royal Pines.

Adam, who owns a Sanctuary Cove house, had been trying to sell his remaining Jade apartment since 2010, initially asking $4.9 million.

Later that year it was available for rent at $1300 a week.

The buyer is a somewhat colourful Melbourne character called Bill Lewski, a former accountant who founded the Prime Retirement and Aged Care Property Trust.

Prime collapsed in 2010, with investors reportedly out of pocket to the tune of $550 million.

Bill, who's been in the sights of corporate watchdog ASIC, already had a $4.62 million stake in Jade.

Last year he bought one of the troubled project's two beachhouses.

It abuts the split-level ex-Scott apartment and he perhaps has visions of connecting the two properties.

His new buy, unlike other apartments in the tower, does not have a balcony pool but instead has a courtyard spa.

Jade was built by Sydney developer Michael 'Mick' Bezzina on a $17.5 million Northcliffe Terrace site bought in 2003.

The global financial crisis sent Mick's world crashing and since-failed funder LM Investment was left holding a raft of unsold apartments, which subsequently have been cleared.

Residents in the tower include Harbour Town developer Bernie Lewis's widow and daughter, Toni and Marnie; rich-lister and Kirra Hotel owner Brian Flannery's wife Peggy; and Brisbane developer Kim Pradella.

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Bernard and Lesley Gallacher launch heart awareness campaign

Bernard Gallacher has launched a campaign to have defibrillators available at every golf club in the country following his brush with death earlier this year.

The former Ryder Cup captain suffered a cardiac arrest during a function at the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen in August.

The 64-year-old insists he owes his life to the quick treatment he received after collapsing, which included the use of a defibrillator that had been installed at the hotel.

Gallacher and his wife Lesley have now launched a major campaign to raise awareness of the need to have defibrillators close to hand in a bid to increase the percentage of survivors of cardiac arrest.

He also compared his life-threatening incident to that of former Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba, who was fortunate to survive a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup clash with Tottenham at White Hart Lane in March 2012.

"The problem with cardiac arrest is that you always feel fine - that's the danger," said Gallacher, whose campaign has been backed by the Arrhythmia Alliance and the British Heart Foundation.

"If you have a heart attack, there's usually pain associated with it and the warning signs are there.

"But there are no warning signs with a cardiac arrest. There were no warning signs when Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the football field. He, like me, was very lucky there were people around that saved his life and my life.

"My wife Lesley has been the driving force behind this campaign. She was told what happened at the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen, where a defibrillator was quickly in evidence and I was given treatment, just like Fabrice Muamba.

"That's why we're anxious to get defibrillators into golf courses. A golf club is a good place because you have young, middle-aged and older people playing golf and it can attack at any age."

Education

Lesley Gallacher added that more should be done to educate people on how to treat victims of cardiac arrest and heart attacks as she reflected on almost losing her husband.

"We're on a mission," she said. "There's no excuse for not having a defibrillator. They're not terribly expensive and it would make such a difference to save somebody's life as we've seen.

"What I have learned is the lack of knowledge there is out there, as well as learning the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest.

"People can make a difference, you can't do any harm by using a defibrillator. Also, CPR is something we should all know how to do."

Bernard added: "Around 100,000 people die of cardiac arrest every year, only one in 10 survive an attack and I'm one of the one in 10. If we can get more defibrillators out there and an awareness campaign then we can definitely save lives. That's what it's all about - saving lives.

"I actually owe my life to a man called Colin Laden, who is here at Wentworth for the launch. He quickly realised what was happening to me and started CPR on my chest. He asked for a defibrillator to be brought in, and he kept me going until the ambulance arrived.

"The more awareness we can raise, the more lives we can save. Hopefully we can get that percentage up from one in 10. It would be nice to get it up to 50 percent.

"We're trying to link the campaign to competitions within the clubs, with the entrance fee going towards a fund to buy a defibrillator.

"We're also linking it in with some Ryder Cup tickets and other prizes as well, so there's a big incentive to join this campaign and try and get these defibrillators into the clubs."

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France's Victor Dubuisson secures Masters place for first time in career

Victor Dubuisson's superb end to the season sees him rewarded with a place in The Masters at Augusta for the first time.

The Frenchman is one of 14 non-qualified players to secure a place in the year's first major championship after the final Official World Golf Rankings of the season were published.

Dubuisson hit form with a vengeance at the end of the 2013 season which included his first European Tour title at the Turkish Airlines Open in November.

He went on to finish third behind Henrik Stenson in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and his results were enough to finish the year 32nd in the world, more than enough for one of the places at Augusta guaranteed for players in the top 50.

Dubuisson has only qualified for one major in his career so far, the 2010 Open Championship which he played in as an amateur just before turning professional.

As well as Dubuisson, Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten and Branden Grace also secured their invites.

The field for The Masters already sits at 90 players, raising the possibility of more than 100 players participating for the first time in nearly 50 years - 103 took part in 1966.

Players who are not already qualified can do so by winning one of the early season PGA Tour events (not the Puerto Rico Open) or being in the top 50 at the end of March, a week before the event takes place.

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Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose leading candidates for European Tour award

The European Tour will announce their Golfer of the Year for 2013 on Tuesday, with Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose the clear front-runners for the award.

Stenson capped a memorable comeback year by winning the season-ending DP World Tour Championship to clinch the Race to Dubai title having already banked a $10m bonus with victory in the FedExCup.

Rose lifted only one trophy this year, but that was the US Open title at Merion where he became the first Englishman to win the tournament since Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Stenson's achievements were remarkable considering he was ranked only 230th in the world at the start of 2012.

The Swede made encouraging progress last year before igniting a surge up the world rankings with victory at the South African Open, breaking a five-year title drought on the European Tour.

The 37-year-old was a model of consistency over the first half of 2013, posting three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour while finishing 18th at the Masters and 21st in the US Open.

But he was the hottest player in the world from July onwards, starting a sparkling run of form with a third place finish at the Scottish Open.

He was runner up to Phil Mickelson at the Open Championship and was also second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational before finishing third in the PGA Championship.

Stenson then won twice during the FedExCup play-offs, including a dominant victory in the Tour Championship which secured the overall title.

Returning to the European Tour, he struggled with a wrist problem over the first two events of the inaugural Finals Series before cementing his place at the top of the Race to Dubai with a seventh place in Turkey.

He was in a class of his own during the season finale in Dubai, closing with his second 64 of the week to cruise to a six-shot victory and become the first player to win the FedExCup and the Race to Dubai in the same season.

Stenson's exploits lifted him to third in the world rankings, one ahead of Rose.

The Englishman finally fulfilled the huge potential he had shown as an amateur, winning his first major championship in some style over a brutally tough Merion layout.

He jostled for the lead with Mickelson over the closing stages of the final round, and the Englishman arrived on the 18th tee armed with a one-shot lead.

The challenge ahead was a daunting 511-yard uphill par four with an elevated green, but Rose displayed commendable composure as he split the fairway with his drive before drilling a stunning four-iron approach which grazed the cup and nestled in the rear fringe.

Rose calmly lagged to inches and tapped in for one of the best pars of his career, and he was crowned champion moments later when Mickelson failed to become the first player to birdie 18 over the entire weekend.

The 33-year-old remained in contention for the Race to Dubai title after top-five finishes in China and Turkey, but he missed out on a second Order of Merit crown after trailing home 12 shots behind Stenson in Dubai.

Rose had to settle for third in the Race to Dubai, but his magnificent performance at Merion earned him a place in the history of English golf.

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