2026 Masters: Six Amateurs Tee It Up at Augusta
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- Ethan Fang, 20, enters the 2026 Masters as the highest-ranked amateur in the field at world No. 7, fresh off a 2025 that included winning the Amateur Championship at Royal St George's and starring on winning NCAA Championship and Walker Cup teams.
- Mason Howell, 18, is the third-youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur after a dominant 7&6 final, and had previously shot 63-63 to qualify for the U.S. Open at Oakmont; he also posted rounds of 73-66 at the PGA Tour's Houston Open, missing the cut by one.
- Brandon Holtz, 39, arrives as the oldest amateur in the group via his U.S. Mid-Amateur victory at Troon Country Club — a former college basketball player and former professional golfer who now works as a Remax real estate agent.
- Fifa Laopakdee, 21, becomes the first amateur to represent Thailand at the Masters after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur with three straight playoff birdies, and is the 23rd-ranked amateur in the world.
- Jackson Herrington, 19, is the lone left-handed amateur in the field, a distinction Augusta has historically rewarded — lefties including Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson have won four green jackets.
- The Silver Cup has been a predictor of major success: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson all won it before combining for 14 green jackets, and the 2026 Masters marks the 25th anniversary of Mickelson's 1991 low-amateur win.
- Neal Shipley was the most recent Silver Cup winner in 2024, going viral for his Butler Cabin facial expression while seated alongside Tiger Woods.
Why it matters: The Silver Cup has been a reliable precursor to professional stardom — Nicklaus, Woods, and Mickelson all claimed it first — making this six-man amateur field a scout's preview of the game's next decade. Three of the last five Masters awarded no Silver Cup at all, so the depth of this year's class (world No. 7 Fang, U.S. Amateur champion Howell, a first-ever Thai entrant) raises the odds of a competitive low-amateur race.
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