As Tyrrell Hatton rattled off bird after bird after bird after bird late Sunday at the Augusta Nationalhe suddenly put himself in position to win the Masters.
But no, he hadn’t even considered that. He was thinking about next year’s Par-3 Contest with his family.
“To be honest, most of the last nine I just wanted to bird because my wife is due in six weeks and I thought it would be great to be back next year and our little girl will be almost 11 months. It would be amazing to see her in a boiler suit“said Hatton. “Obviously you see all the other dads and their families and the little ones in boiler suits is pretty cool. Yes, I wanted to experience it. Definitely a motivation for me to try to make some birds and happily I managed to do so. Yeah, it was good.”
What Hatton was referring to was staying in that top 12. Sure, he would have liked to win, but at the Masters, the top 12 (and ties) are all invited next year. While that’s not important to guys like Rory McIlroy or Scheffler (who are invited back for life) or Collin Morikawa or Xander Schauffele (who are barred from other major wins), it’s essential safety for others.
Seventeen players sat under the cut on Sunday – six players tied for 12th at five under, increasing the number of takers – and Hatton was the only one playing at LIV Golf. And while LIV Golf now takes a few world ranking points and Hatton is ranked 23rd in the world, it’s still good to have a place in the biggest squad of the year locked up for next year.
His four straight birdies from Nos. 13-16 on Sunday helped him shoot a 66 and move to 10 under, good for the clubhouse lead by about an hour. He finished two shots behind McIlroy, and Hatton’s tie for third was the best major finish of his career.
“This is my 10th Masters so I’ve been lucky to be here a lot and my results in the last three years have definitely improved which is good,” Hatton said. “Maybe I’m a little more comfortable on the golf course in some shots. Over the years you know where you can and can’t lose some spots. Obviously I tried to do the best I could and, yeah, I mean, the last three days ended up being great. I feel like I played really well Thursday afternoon. I feel like the course played really hard at the end of the week.”
Max Homa, who did not qualify for the Open or the US Open last season, finished T12 at the 2025 Masters to earn entry into this year’s tournament – and now after his T9 Sunday he has secured a spot for next year. He has finished T12 or better in each of the last three Masters.
Here’s the list of the top-12 winners (and ties) who will receive invitations to the 2027 Masters. Some, you may notice, already have Tuesday night dinner plans every Masters week, so they didn’t necessarily need this exception. But for some — like Hatton, Homa and a few others — it’s nice to be able to renew your Augusta rental for next year in advance.
1 – Rory McIlroy
2 – Scottie Scheffler
T3 – Tyrrell Hatton
T3 – Russell Henley
T3 – Justin Rose
T3 – Cameron Young
T7 – Collin Morikawa
T7 – Sam Burns
T9 – Max Homa
T9 – Xander Schauffele
11 – Jake Knapp
T12 – Jordan Spieth
T12 – Hideki Matsuyama
T12 – Brooks Koepka
T12 – Patrick Reed
T12 – Patrick Cantlay
T12 – Jason Day
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