Brandt Jobe chips up to No. 9 green during the final round of the Masters on Sunday at Augusta National. Jobe finished among the top 16, netting him an invitation to next year's tournament. (Brant Sanderlin/Augusta Chronicle)
Masters has its own Sweet 16
Web posted 04/12/99
Effective with Sunday's final round, only the top 16 finishers and ties earn invitations to the next Masters.
Since 1936, the third year of the Masters, anyone finishing in the top 24 knew he would be back.
The biggest surprise among the top 16 finishers Sunday was PGA Tour and Masters Tournament rookie Brandt Jobe.
Jobe, 33, fired rounds of 72-71-74-71 -- 288 to tie for 14th place. While Jobe earned a return invitation, his former teammate at UCLA, Scott McCarron, who was tied for the first-round lead with a 3-under-par 69, didn't.
McCarron, who finished tied for 18th place, shot a pair of 76s in the final two rounds for a 289 total.
The members of the 1999 ``sweet 16 club'' are headed by Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who has a lifetime invitation by virtue of winning the 1994 Masters.
Five golfers -- David Duval, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Nick Price and Carlos Franco -- tied for sixth place at 285.
Tied for 11th, at 287, were two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, Steve Elkington and Colin Montgomery.
Rounding out the top 16, the golfers tied for 14th place at 288 were Jobe, 1991 Masters champion Ian Woosnam, Jim Furyk and Lee Janzen.
Under the old qualification, nine more players would have been back next year.
Tied for 18th place at 288 were Brandel Chamblee, Justin Leonard, Bill Glasson, 1997 champion Tigers Woods and McCarron. Larry Mize, who won in 1987, tied for 23rd position at 290. Three golfers tied for 24th at 291 -- Vijay Singh, Per-Ulrik Johansson and Brad Faxon.
Most of the golfers surveyed after their final rounds Sunday had no problem with the Augusta National's new return policy.
``I think they're trying to make it all that much more difficult to qualify,'' said Olin Browne, who tied for 52nd place. ``There has been a lot of talk the last 10 years that the Masters doesn't have the strongest field in golf.
``I think they're tired of hearing that, so they're setting it straight,'' Browne said. ``It's like if someone comes off the golf course and says that pin on such-and-such a hole is too easy, you can bet the next day it's not easy anymore.''
To Browne, the change to the top 16 is no big deal, a feeling shared by Andrew Magee, who finished tied for 36th place.
``I think 16 is fairer,'' Magee said. ``With 24, you used to get a lot of guys. You have to earn your way into playing here. You should do that by having a good year instead of having one good week.''
Starting with the 2000 Masters, it also will be harder to get into the Masters via a high finish in the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship, but it will be easier to make it through the British Open.
In the U.S. Open, the top eight and ties will be invited instead of the top 16. The PGA Championship is being cut down from the top eight to the top four. Until the 2000 Masters, only the British Open champion qualified (on a five-year exemption). Now, the second, third and fourth-place finisher will be invited.
``They're removing the overlaps and making sure the best players get in every year,'' Browne said.
