Masters Invitations

[Jgolf]

One simple question, yet it has stirred up so much discussion - Should Ernie Els receive an invite to Augusta?

 

Personally I'm sentimental, and with his recent play and history at the Masters I think an invite would be well deserved. Nevertheless... I understand the perspective that states, "he just didn't earn it - end of discussion." Where do you guys fall on this debate?

 

Post any and all answers below:

[Will Par]

He's currently playing good enough to win the Masters and Ernie is the one player I always thought would definitely win a Masters. So I vote to issue him an invitation and let him skip Houston.

 

But I'll be surprised if it happens. The only way he's playing is if he wins next week. But even if he wins next week, he may be so burned out he won't play well at Augusta. Next week will be 6 tournaments in 7 weeks for him and he squeezed the Tavistock in there too. I just don't think a Masters victory is in the cards for Ernie this year.

[The Artful Duffer]

He's playing well but I'm going to have to go with the "He just didn't earn it" side of the argument. Just playing well in recent weeks isn't enough to get you down Magnolia Lane. Granted, I'm surprised he doesn't have a green jacket of his own by now but I doubt this is the year he gets one.

[GolfSpy WD]

Who else is on the short list? I'm of the opinion of hall of fame careers deserves respect, so unless there's a great case for someone else, I'd say invite him, especially considering how he's played this week and last.

[Will Par]

If I'm not mistaken, Retief Goosen is not in the Masters and he is a few spots higher on the OWGR than Ernie. Two players with multiple major championships, both from South Africa. How do you invite one and not the other? Goosen ranked #54, Els ranked #58. I say invite them both.

[JMiller]

I guess I look at this completely differently.

 

He hasn't earned the spot and for most golfers it is an honer to get the invite from hard work. If you are just given the tournament invite from a special exemption then other players that have had previous good weeks and maybe better year that are not in already would be asking why him.

 

Ernie went Bogey, Bogey and feel apart to lose the Transitions tournament when he had a 1 stroke lead with 2 holes to play. This past week at Bay Hill he had a closing round of +3 when he needed a solo 2nd place or better to make it into the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings. He has fallen apart both weeks when the pressure was on him to preform to win a tournament or get an invite to the masters. He has one last chance to prove himself as a closer with a win this week in Houston. One of the putts that he missed was a 4 foot birdie putt on 16 during the Transitions, then he needed another 4 foot putt to join the play-off on 18 and missed it as well.

 

It is really himself to blame that he is even in this situation to begin with over the last years worth of play. Since last year's Masters, he has only three finishes in the top 10 (including a playoff loss in South Africa in January) and he has missed the cut six times. He started the year at No. 56 in the world and had three months to crack the top 50.

 

He is a great figure in Golf but he is not that big of a giant in the Masters. He has only one time been closer then 3 strokes to the lead, that was in 2004 when Phil made a birdie putt on 18 green to win the tournament and snag the green jacket without a playoff with Ernie. The last non Asian golfer to get a special invite was Greg Norman in 2002 but he has had more close calls at the masters then any other player in history. About 3 or 4 times he finished runner up to some crazy things that happened. Ernie just isn't that kind of giant at the masters tournament to give the people a lot of excitement.

 

Augusta tends to send special invites to people that have less opportunity to qualify on the American Tour. They want to get TV revenue from the European and espesually the Asian market. A lot of the golf industry sees the Asian market as the next big expansion globally to the game of golf.

[GolfSpy WD]

If I'm not mistaken, Retief Goosen is not in the Masters and he is a few spots higher on the OWGR than Ernie. Two players with multiple major championships, both from South Africa. How do you invite one and not the other? Goosen ranked #54, Els ranked #58. I say invite them both.

 

Goosen screwed my fantasy team pretty well when I thought he had a chance to win at Transitions. Els did a decent job, so I'd vote for Els

 

 

I guess I look at this completely differently.

 

He hasn't earned the spot and for most golfers it is an honer to get the invite from hard work. If you are just given the tournament invite from a special exemption then other players that have had previous good weeks and maybe better year that are not in already would be asking why him.

 

Ernie went Bogey, Bogey and feel apart to lose the Transitions tournament when he had a 1 stroke lead with 2 holes to play. This past week at Bay Hill he had a closing round of +3 when he needed a solo 2nd place or better to make it into the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings. He has fallen apart both weeks when the pressure was on him to preform to win a tournament or get an invite to the masters. He has one last chance to prove himself as a closer with a win this week in Houston. One of the putts that he missed was a 4 foot birdie putt on 16 during the Transitions, then he needed another 4 foot putt to join the play-off on 18 and missed it as well.

 

It is really himself to blame that he is even in this situation to begin with over the last years worth of play. Since last year's Masters, he has only three finishes in the top 10 (including a playoff loss in South Africa in January) and he has missed the cut six times. He started the year at No. 56 in the world and had three months to crack the top 50.

 

He is a great figure in Golf but he is not that big of a giant in the Masters. He has only one time been closer then 3 strokes to the lead, that was in 2004 when Phil made a birdie putt on 18 green to win the tournament and snag the green jacket without a playoff with Ernie. The last non Asian golfer to get a special invite was Greg Norman in 2002 but he has had more close calls at the masters then any other player in history. About 3 or 4 times he finished runner up to some crazy things that happened. Ernie just isn't that kind of giant at the masters tournament to give the people a lot of excitement.

 

Augusta tends to send special invites to people that have less opportunity to qualify on the American Tour. They want to get TV revenue from the European and espesually the Asian market. A lot of the golf industry sees the Asian market as the next big expansion globally to the game of golf.

 

This will be Els's first time missing the Masters and he is on the cusp of playing very well again. I'm not saying he should get special treatment all the time, but a one time thing isn't a big deal when you factor in all he's done over his career. Plus there's buzz around this, so people will want to watch and root for him if he gets a shot.

[SeeRed]

I guess I'm also a sentimentalist, but just the fact that he has played every Masters since 1994 gets him an invite in my view. I might have a different view if he were #158 and not #58, but some would argue a miss is a miss, regardless of the margin. The ball either falls into the cup... or it doesn't. Still, I think having him in the field is good for the game. And it is a safe(ish) bet that he will add to the competition.

[RookieBlue7]

Spots should be earned. If he deserved a lifetime exemption, he'd have earned one in the last 17 times he was there.

[JohnBarry]

I want to see Ernie in, but if I am on that invite board, I am looking at guys like Bud Cauley, surging young players that would make their careers if they play, even more so if they are near the top, and lets not even mention what it could and would do for them if they win.