Augusta National hands out the most coveted jacket in sports every April. Without an invitation, you miss your chance. These five players will watch the Masters 2026 from home, as they are not in this year’s field.
1. Tiger Woods
Woods won’t be at the 2026 Masters because he got into a car crash in late March and then left to focus on getting better and getting treatment. This happened right when he was supposed to come back after missing the whole 2025 season to recover from an injury.
Woods hadn’t played in any official PGA Tour events in 2025, which made it much harder for him to get ready. He played in TGL S2 finals, but he didn’t have any real tournament experience, so Augusta would have been his first big test before he was completely out of the picture.
2. Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler has consistently been one of Augusta’s close contenders. He finished second in 2018; he was always in the top 10 during his prime. He was always a threat at Augusta, even if he didn’t win a Green Jacket.
Fowler didn’t qualify for the 2026 Masters because he is currently not in the top 50 golfers. His 2026 season reflects that inconsistency. The 37-year-old made $578,000 by posting a T9 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he also missed cuts at Houston and Valero. Other finishes include T18 at Phoenix and T42 at THE PLAYERS, where they showed flashes of speed but couldn’t keep it up.
3. Will Zalatoris
Will Zalatoris had a great start to his Masters career, finishing second in his first tournament in 2021 and adding several top-ten finishes. He was on his way to becoming a champion before injuries got in the way. He was ranked first in strokes gained, approach, and tee-to-green, which are all skills that are needed for the tough second-shot requirements at Augusta.
He won’t be there in 2026 because he is still having injuries, including a left ankle injury on top of the back surgery he had before. The golfer also fell out of the top 50 in the world rankings because he didn’t start enough games and had to deal with setbacks in his recovery. These setbacks took away his chance to automatically qualify.
His 2026 results show that his comeback has been slow and steady. He started well with a T18 at The American Express, but he missed cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Houston Open. He finished T67 at Valero, which indicates that he was rusty and inconsistent, even though he had some good moments, like his 67 at the same event earlier.
4. Billy Horschel
Horschel’s best Masters finish is a T17, which came in 2016. After that, T50 in 2021, 43rd in 2022, 52nd in 2023, and a missed cut in 2025, shooting 77-72. But then hip surgery in May 2025 changed everything.
He entered 2026 ranked around 87th, needing a Valero Texas Open win just to get an invitation. He finished T36, shooting 71-68-73-70. Missed cuts at Farmers Insurance and Texas Children’s Houston Open beforehand left him no margin for error going into that final week.
The one bright spot was a T13 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shooting 69-74-72-68 for 5-under and earning $373,200. That result proved the surgery had not broken him. But one good week surrounded by missed cuts and midfield finishes does not move back into Masters territory.
He sits 89th in the FedEx Cup standings with 19,000 points. Horschel won WGC events and spent years inside the top 50. Now he is scrambling just to qualify for the majors. That is what one surgery and one lost season can do to a career that had genuine momentum not long ago.
5. Tony Finau
Tony Finau has been one of Augusta’s most consistent players recently. He finished in the top 10 three times, including T5 in 2019, when he played in the last group with Woods. His long shots and high ball flight have always made him a good fit for the course.
Finau didn’t qualify because he was outside the top 50 in the world rankings and didn’t win before the cutoff. The Valero Texas Open was his last chance, but he didn’t make it because his form was inconsistent in 2025 and early 2026.
His 2026 results show an even greater dip. He made $292,000 for T18 at Pebble Beach and $193,028 for T11 at Farmers, but he also missed many cuts, like Sony, Phoenix, and American Express. A T49 at Valero ended his chances of winning the Masters.
Who will you miss the most?
