Billy Payne, Masters Chairman
On Thursday, 99 players will tee off in the first round of the 2011 Masters with the largest field at Augusta National since 1966 and the fourth biggest field in the 75-year history of the event. And of the nine largest fields in Masters history, three have come in the last three years.
Masters chairman Billy Payne said Wednesday that tournament officials will evaluate the field size and study the qualifications for entry after this week to determine whether the number of contestants needs to be reduced in the future.
Billy Payne
"We are, of course, happy to have all 100 of them here," Payne said, rounding off the number. "At the same time, looking at the number — freestanding, independent of the individuals who comprise it — it is difficult.
"It is borderline to be able to present the kind of competition that we want to."
There are currently 19 different qualifications to enter the Masters, as the tournament has branched out to extend invitations across the globe.
"We say every year in response to that question that we look and we study the qualifications, which we do. But we are really going to look at it this year because there is a maximum number of competitors for which we can give the experience that we want them to have and do it in a way that’s manageable.
"The hundred pushes that limit quite significantly."
Fred Ridley, chairman of the competition committee, said that the number was pushed up in part because a larger variety of players had won PGA TOUR events, one of the 19 qualifications.
"We have had 10 players this year who qualified … only by virtue of winning a PGA TOUR event, and that compares to four or five in the prior several years. That’s been one of the reasons.
"But the trends vary every year and we do look at that and we’ll have a thorough evaluation after the tournament this year and we’ll make adjustments if we think it’s necessary."
Another qualification involves extending an invitation to the current Asian amateur champion (this year, it’s Hideki Matsuyama). But when asked if the Masters might invite champions from other areas such as Africa or South America, Payne indicated that was doubtful in the near-future.
"We chose Asia as a very fertile ground; so far, the results are very promising," Payne said. "It’s still way too early to decide if the concept … can be transported to another location.
"I think we would all say that that would be great if it could, but we are a long way away from that, I think."
One of the reasons for the Masters wanting a manageable field size is the pace of play. The field does not tee off from both the first and 10th tees, as in larger PGA TOUR events, and so trying to squeeze 99 players off one tee during the first two rounds leaves little margin for slow play or weather delays.
"We have an issue with daylight obviously right now," Ridley said. "Our pace of play is four hours and 38 minutes, but we all know from past observations that it’s longer than that.
"So we don’t have a lot of daylight after that last group finishes. We are pretty close to the maximum."
