Ponte Vedre, FL …
Scotland’s top-ranked Robert MacIntyre along with his PGA Tour based Tartan compatriots Russell Knox and Martin Laird will not get to qualify for any planned rescheduled Masters later this year.
The decision by Augusta National to postpone the 84th hosting came mid-morning Friday (US time) as Knox and Laird joined their PGA Tour colleagues in cleaning-out their TPC Sawgrass lockers following the cancellation of the Players Championship.
Also cancelled is the next four events on the PGA Tour including the Corasles Puntacana Open to have been held the week of the WGC – Dell Match-Play Championship.
The postponement of the April’s staging of the Masters means that if there is a rescheuling later in 2020 then qualifying for the Masters ended at the start of this week with the March 30th ‘Top-50 in the World’ cut-off date now irrelevant.
This was confirmed today by an Augusta National official.
It means disappointed particularly for MacIntyre at 67th in the world along with Knox at 121st and 327th ranked Laird as they would not qualify.
Past Masters winner Sandy Scott is now the only Scot to contest any rescheduled 2020 Masters
Laird had entered next week’s Valspar Championship and also the April 2nd starting Valero Texas Open and a victory in either would have earned him a Masters invitation.
That’s what Laird did in 2013 by denying Rory McIlroy winning in San Antonio to secure the very last invitation into the following week’s Mastesr.
“I had a great ru of tournaments leading up to the Masters and, as you saw yesterday, I am playing really well,” said Laird
“I won the Arnold Palmer back in 2011 to qualify for the Masters and then managed two years later to win in San Antonio and get that last spot that year into Augusta.
“But I’m not bitter at all not for one second and this is not a time to be selfish when in the bigger worldwide picture people are dying from this virus.”
Set to also join Laird teeing-up next week in Tampa was Knox.
