We are now just one week away from the 2026 Masters at Augusta National, and the field is almost set. One competitor could still be added this week by winning the Valero Texas Open (see: Rickie Fowler), and we still don’t know if Tiger Woods will play.

However, on Sunday at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open, five PGA Tour pros not previously qualified for this year’s Masters punched their tickets to Augusta National.

While Gary Woodland did it in emphatic fashion, four other top pros earned their spots a more precarious way: via the final Official World Golf Ranking update ahead of the tournament.

Here’s what you need to know.

5 players who qualified for 2026 Masters on Sunday

Gary Woodland

Woodland is easily the best feel-good story of the 2026 season. Recently, Woodland opened up about his struggles with PTSD following brain surgery that derailed his career a few years back.

He said he hoped the public admission would help him progress in recovery. And did it ever. The 2019 U.S. Open champion dominated the Texas Children’s Houston Open to win his first title since that U.S. Open.

The victory also earned him a spot in the 2026 Masters, where he’ll make his first start since 2024.

Nicolai Hojgaard

Hojgaard made a name for himself by starring on the 2023 European Ryder Cup team, before letting his twin brother Rasmus take his spot in 2025.

Heading into the Houston Open without a spot in the Masters, Hojgaard was hoping to chase down Woodland and earn his invite that way.

But he had one other avenue to make it to Augusta: the Official World Golf Ranking. All players ranked within the Top 50 of the OWGR after this year’s Texas Children’s Houston Open earn spots in the 2026 Masters.

At No. 47 to start the week, Hojgaard was at risk of getting knocked out. Though a Sunday 71 left him five shots behind Woodland, Hojgaard finished runner-up, which improved his OWGR ranking to 36th.

As a result, he safely earned his spot in the Masters, where he’ll be making his third-career start. He joins his brother Rasmus in the Masters field. In 2025, they became the first pair of twins to compete in the Masters.

Daniel Berger

Berger is a four-time PGA Tour champion who has played in six Masters. His best finish was a T10 in his Masters debut in 2016. Though he missed the 2023 and 2024 events, he returned to the Masters in 2025 and finished T21.

That wasn’t good enough to qualify him for 2026, but after finishing the Texas Children’s Houston Open at 38th in the OWGR, he earned his tee times at Augusta National in a week’s time.

Jake Knapp

Knapp, 31, has only played in one Masters, doing so after winning the 2024 Mexico Open for his only PGA Tour victory. He made the cut and finished T55.

Knapp didn’t qualify last year, but when he woke up on Monday, his OWGR ranking of 42 officially stamped his place in the 2026 Masters field.

Matt McCarty

The youngest player on the list at 28 years old, McCarty made his Masters debut last year following his maiden Tour victory at the 2024 Black Desert Championship.

He played great as a Masters rookie, eventually finishing an impressive T14. But that wasn’t quite good enough to punch his ticket to the 2026 Masters. No matter. He played his way into the Top 50 in the OWGR with a solid start to the season, finishing last week at 46th. That means he’ll make his second Masters start next week.

Moses Itauma could be set to challenge for a world title in his next fight.

Itauma proved yet again on Saturday why he is one of the most exciting stars in boxing after he recorded a destructive fifth round knockout win over Jermaine Franklin at Co-Op Live in Manchester.

Franklin had never been stopped before heading into the bout, including in fights with Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, but a vicious uppercut followed by a right hook sent the American face first onto the canvas and gave Itauma a dominant victory.

Speculation has already begun over who the 21-year-old could face in his next outing, with some fans suggesting he already has the skills to test himself against unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Instead, it is a battle against WBA Regular heavyweight champion Murat Gassiev that may be next, after Gassiev’s promoter Al Siesta posted on social media confirming they are ready for the fight.

“Amazing performance by Moses. Remember we are READY to host Itauma against our WBA Champion Murat Gassiev NEXT. London, Moscow, Dubai, ANYWHERE.”

Gassiev became WBA Regular champion thanks to a stoppage win over Kubrat Pulev in December, and as Itauma is currently ranked as the number one contender with the WBA, a clash against Gassiev has been touted for some time.

Itauma is also number one with the WBO, so he could also have one eye on the WBO heavyweight title fight between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois in May, though the youngster recently explained why he may not want to face the possible winner of that bout.

Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz believes the struggles he encountered after making the move to Anfield have made him stronger.

The 22-year-old Germany international arrived in a £116m deal from Bayer Leverkusen as one of Europe’s hottest young talents but bedding into a team which underwent a £450m summer overhaul proved difficult.

Wirtz struggled with the physicality but a tailored strength and conditioning programme designed to make him more robust for the Premier League helped get him through.

After failing to score in his first 22 appearances, he enjoyed a run of six in 10 matches from Boxing Day, although he has since gone eight games without scoring.

But his overall success is not entirely in his own hands as he has created over 70 chances in the Premier League and Champions League this season but the under-performing team has failed to capitalise.

“It wasn’t an easy phase,” Wirtz, speaking about his first few months in England, told German television show Sportschau.

“It’s sometimes good that things don’t always go upwards and that you experience a dip and grow stronger because of it.

“That’s how I see it now as well – it has made me a bit stronger. I had to overcome resistance and adapt. I had to learn to become stronger and hold onto the ball.”

While his domestic form may have dipped again, he showed his quality in Germany’s 4-3 win over Switzerland on Friday – with two goals and two assists – and he credited national team boss Julian Nagelsmann with helping him during his tough transitional phase.

“The coach always supported me during the difficult phase after my move to Liverpool and always had an open ear for me,” he added.

“He gave me tips and reassured me. That has brought us closer together.”

Gary Woodland’s Cobra OPTM Max LS-K driver isn’t just a weapon off the tee, it’s also a fully armored tank!

Woodland got his long-awaited fifth PGA Tour victory Sunday, seven years after his marquee U.S. Open win, and the driver was a big reason why.

The 41-year-old, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance and clubhead speed, was dialed at Memorial Park Sunday, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in the final round on his way to a five-shot victory.

Woodland plays one of the coolest driver setups on the PGA Tour, opting for Cobra’s prototype OPTM Max LS-K driver, something Cobra Tour Rep Ben Schomin described as a “working prototype” earlier this season. It’s essentially a lower-spin, fade-biased version of Cobra’s retail Max K driver that was specifically built with Woodland in mind when he started playing Cobra’s DS-ADAPT Max-K driver last season.

“This is my 18th year on Tour and the drivers that I’ve played when I’ve driven the golf ball well have been back-weighted,” Woodland told GOLF in February, referring to the deeper CG of drivers designed for game-improvement players. “Everyone wants front weight to get the spin down and distance. But for some reason, I’ve been back with it, and I started struggling with spin last year. I went through all the drivers, and I got to their Max K driver last year, and it was low spin for me for some reason.”

With that deep CG, Woodland prefers a lower lofted head, which is why his driver measures in at just 6.4 degrees of loft. He also pairs it with a telephone pole-like Ventus Black 8-X shaft.

When Max Homa breifly switched into the prototype earlier this year, Schomin explained that because the LS-K is not a production model like the regular OPTM LS, X and Max-K, they can still make changes to it. The goal is to test design and performance concepts to potentially utilize in future production models.

Compared to the production Max-K, the LSK has a similar shape, but a lower and deeper CG to lower spin and produce a neutral-to-fade bias, Schomin said.

As opposed to the retail OPTM line of drivers, which have glossy crowns, the LS-K has a matte finish because it’s easier for the company to get it out on Tour. Woodland has been using the prototype since the PNC Championship in December.

He also pairs the prototype head with a lead pipe-esque Fujikura Ventus Black 8-X with VeloCore+, a shaft many players have in their 5/7-woods, but Woodland loves a heavy driver shaft at a shorter length to pair with his smoother tempo.

Gary Woodland’s winning driver at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open

Dmitry Bivol has finally had his long-awaited return to the ring confirmed.

The 35-year-old was last in action over 12 months ago when he went up against countryman Artur Beterbiev in their undisputed light heavyweight showdown back in February 2025.

It was a rematch of their clash the past October which Beterbiev had won by majority decision, but Bivol was able to gain revenge in the second meeting to dethrone his rival by the exact same outcome and become undisputed champion.

Since then, Bivol had to relinquish his WBC title which is now held by David Benavidez, but the Russian still remains in possession of the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, and is now set to compete against his mandatory challenger Michael Eifert.

Bivol had to undergo back surgery which delayed his return, and after several extensions for purse bid negotiations were granted for the bout against Eifert, a date and location has been revealed.

It was initially expected that the fight would be part of the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven card in Egypt on May 23, but that won’t be the case, after it was announced that Bivol will face Eifert in Yekaterinburg, Russia on May 30.

Eifert has won 13 of his 14 professional contests, with his most notable win coming against Jean Pascal in March 2023. He has fought only once since then, a victory over Carlos Jiminez in August 2024, meaning the German has been more inactive than Bivol.

Unified champion Bivol will be a big favourite in the bout, and if successful against Eifert, he has recently stated his desire to face Beterbiev in a trilogy contest next, before a potential fight against former rival Canelo Alvarez, or even a move up to cruiserweight.