Allenby joins Masters contingent
ROBERT Allenby has become the sixth Australian golfer to qualify for the 2007 US Masters.
Allenby will contest the 71st Masters at Augusta National from April 5-8 after squeezing into the top 50 spot in the end-of-year world rankings.
US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, world No.4 Adam Scott, Rod Pampling, Nick O’Hern, and Stuart Appleby had already qualified for the first Major of 2007 through other categories.
The Masters qualification criteria range from Major champions over the past five years to top finishes in the other three Majors, although the bulk of players in the field are drawn from the US PGA Tour money list (top 40) and the world rankings (top 50).
The list of invitees for 2007 presently includes 17 Masters debutants, including Ryder Cup players J.J. Henry and Brett Wetterich, from the US, and Robert Karlsson, from Sweden.
Jeev Milkha Singh, who won the European PGA Tour season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama to end the year ranked the world No.37, meanwhile is the first player from India to secure a Masters invitation.
Augusta National is waiting to hear from past champions, who are exempt for life, whether they will compete again in 2007.
Charles Coody said last year that he would not play again, and three-time winner Nick Faldo said this year that he would not play because of his new job as a television analyst on the tournament for an American network.
AAP