The Masters 2025: Who are the rookies making their first appearance at Augusta National?

Meet this year's batch of Masters rookies.

Thomas Detry, Maverick McNealy, and Rasmus Hojgaard feature among a lengthy list of Masters rookies…

The Masters is the toughest Major to get into, with its limited field of past champions, PGA Tour winners, and the world’s top 50.

This year, 96 players will be teeing it up at Augusta National, of which 21 have ambitions of breaking the rookie curse and becoming the first debutant since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 to wear the Green Jacket on Sunday. It was a case of ‘close, but no cigar’ last time around for the man below, who returns to Georgia this year as one of the favorites.

So, let’s meet the 2025 Masters rookies looking to go one step further…

Masters Rookies 2025

Jose Luis Ballester (A)

Age 21
Nationality Spain
Pro wins N/A
How he qualified: Winner of the 2024 US Amateur.

Anyone who saw Ballester hit a driver 315 yards off the deck to 15ft at the US Amateur knows he has talent. He’s been coached by Sergio Garcia’s father for the last eight years and has grown close with El Nino because of it.

His parents were three-time Olympians, so clearly he is blessed with good genes and great mentors. Now ranked sixth in the World Amateur Rankings, he already has invites to play the US Open and Open Championship this summer as a result of winning the 2024 US Amateur final.

Evan Beck (A)

Age 34
Nationality United States
Pro wins N/A
How he qualified: Winner of 2024 US Mid-Amateur.

A financial analyst by trade, Beck turned pro straight out of college and was playing sporadically on the Korn Ferry Tour when a back injury forced him to end his career early at the age of 27.

After taking 18 months off, he returned to golf in 2021 with his amateur status reinstated and a handicap of +6.1. A runner-up finish at the US Mid-Amateur Championship in 2023 continued his hard luck story until he returned 12 months later and thrashed Bobby Massa 9&8 in the final, the second-largest margin of victory ever.

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Brian Campbell

Age 24
Nationality United States
Pro wins 1
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

In perhaps the biggest fairytale story of the year so far, Campbell ended a 10-year wait for a professional victory at the Mexico Open after beating rookie Aldrich Potgieter in a play-off.

Before that, Campbell had appeared in 159 events on the Korn Ferry Tour and another 27 on the PGA Tour, without notching a top 10. He’s now got a two-year exemption in his back pocket, plus invitations to all the signature events and the Masters this week.

Rafael Campos

Age 36
Nationality Puerto Rico
Pro wins 2
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

Heading into November, Campos was coming off five missed cuts and in serious danger of losing his PGA Tour card when his wife had her labour induced in order for him to play the Bermuda Championship.

They got home from the hospital with their baby girl at 5pm on Wednesday, and he was out of the door 20 minutes later. He returned home five days later as a PGA Tour winner for the first time.

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Laurie Canter

Age 35
Nationality England
Pro wins 3
How he qualified: Top 50 in the OWGR one week prior to the Masters.

Eddie Pepperell’s best mate has become a frequent topic of conversation on The Chipping Forecast – Podcast this year following his DP World Tour victory in Bahrain and runner-up finish in the South African Open.

The World No.50 had been plying his trade on LIV Golf, but lost his wild-card status to Anthony Kim which brought him back to the DP World Tour last year. He’s added two victories to his CV since then and currently leads the Race to Dubai after winning the International Swing.

Thomas Detry

Age 32
Nationality Belgium
Pro wins 3
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

“Freakishly talented” is how Justin Thomas described Detry after their first meeting 15 years ago. We wrote something similar after a 12-shot victory during his rookie Challenge Tour season, so you can imagine our surprise that it’s taken him nine years to join the winner’s circle again.

Being a forward thinker has, by his own estimations, held him back, which is one of the reasons he was encouraged by his wife to incorporate breathing exercises into his everyday routine.

He’s now a calmer, better player because of it, with a realistic shot of making the Ryder Cup team following his sensational seven-stroke victory at the Phoenix Open.

Also worth noting that he has top-15 finishes in each of his last three major starts, including T-4 in the PGA Championship at Valhalla and T-14 in the US Open at Pinehurst last year.

Nico Echavarria

Age 30
Nationality Columbia
Pro wins 6
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

Last year was something of a breakout season for Echavarria. He represented Colombia in the Olympics in Paris, earned his second career PGA Tour win at the Zozo Championship, and was tied for second at the RSM Classic to end his 2024 season.

He picked up where he left off with a solo second at the Sony Open in January and currently stands out as the best putter on the PGA Tour right now. As for the rest of his game, he’s losing strokes across every other metric.

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Max Greyserman

Age 29
Nationality United States
Pro wins 1
How he qualified: Top 50 in the OWGR at the end of 2024.

Part of a large cohort of players who will be making the eight-hour trek from Palm Beach to Augusta. The World No.45 is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory, but he did impress in his rookie season last year with three second-place finishes, including two in consecutive weeks at the 3M Open and Wyndham Championship. He’s yet to catch fire so far this term, but he does have the short game to tame Augusta’s speedy greens.

Justin Hastings (A)

Age 21
Nationality Cayman Islands
Pro wins N/A
How he qualified: Winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship.

No amateur has had a better start to 2025 than Hastings. He skipped two exams to play in the Mexico Open, where he finished T13 on only his second-ever PGA Tour start.

The opportunities will keep coming as a result of winning the Latin American Amateur, which gained him entry into this week’s Masters, plus the US Open, Open Championship, and US and British Amateurs.

He’s also on track to graduate with the best scoring average on record at San Diego State, edging out Xander Schauffele.

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Joe Highsmith

Age 24
Nationality United States
Pro wins 1
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

If you don’t know him by name, you’ll almost certainly recognise him by the bucket hat, which has become something of a trademark. In March, he won the Cognizant Classic with the lowest final 36-hole score in the tournament’s history.

He counts Fred Couples among his mentors, so he should benefit from a couple of practice rounds with the 1992 Masters champion.

Rasmus Hojgaard

Age 24
Nationality Denmark
Pro wins 5
How he qualified: Top 50 in the OWGR at the end of 2024.

For the first time in history, twins will be playing in the same Masters. Nicolai is probably the better known of the two after debuting at the Ryder Cup in 2023, but Rasmus got his PGA Tour card after winning the Irish Open and finishing second in the Race to Dubai last term. He’s a terrific iron player and a seriously long hitter – two assets which should serve him well at Augusta.

Noah Kent (A)

Age 20
Nationality United States
Pro wins N/A
How he qualified: Runner-up at the 2024 US Amateur.

Rory McIlroy is a big reason why Kent is even teeing it up at Augusta. It was a meeting between the two ahead of the US Open at Erin Hills (a course co-designed by Kent’s stepdad, Dana Fry) that convinced him to quit hockey and dedicate his life to golf.

He’s made a good go of it so far and reached last year’s US Amateur final as a rookie ranked 560th in the world. Though his fairytale run ended in a 2&1 defeat to Ballester at Hazeltine, he still earned an exemption to play the Masters and US Open – a hell of a consolation prize, don’t you think?

Thriston Lawrence

Age 27
Nationality South Africa
Pro wins 9
How he qualified: Top 4 in the 2024 Open Championship.

A terrific ball striker with an apathy for long range sessions, Lawrence plays the game entirely by feel and was statistically the best putter on the DP World Tour last season, gaining 1.02 strokes per round, despite never doing any drills.

He now owns a PGA Tour card after tying for fourth at The Open at Royal Troon and finishing second five times across 26 starts last season.

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Matt McCarty

Age 27
Nationality United States
Pro wins 4
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

If the Masters had taken place back in November, plenty more people would be talking about the left-hander as an outside bet. He’s made huge gains since winning three times during a golden four-week stretch on the Korn Ferry Tour last summer, which earned him Player of the Year honors, as well as an automatic promotion to the big time.

He then won on just his third start at the Black Desert Championship in October, becoming the first player to triumph three times on the Korn Ferry Tour and then on the PGA Tour in the same season since Jason Gore in 2005.

Unsurprisingly, he’s slowed down a little since then, though he did contend on his Players Championship debut before falling back into a tie for 20th alongside Scottie Scheffler. Don’t write him off.

Maverick McNealy

Age 29
Nationality United States
Pro wins 1
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

The man with the best name in golf is finally showing the kind of form that saw him spend 47 weeks atop the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He earned his first PGA Tour win at his 142nd attempt in November, and then almost repeated the feat with a runner-up finish at Torrey Pines in February.

Another top-three finish on his last start at the Texas Open has just pushed him inside the world’s top 10 for the first time in his career, so it’s probably about time we consider him the real deal. He’s certainly better than his odds of 100-1 to end the rookie curse.

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Taylor Pendrith

Age 33
Nationality Canada
Pro wins 3
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

One of three Canadians who starred in last year’s Presidents Cup on home soil, Pendrith booked his ticket to Augusta 11 months ago after winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas.

He’s quietly gone about his business since then, recording eight top 10s and just three missed cuts to firmly establish himself as a top-50 player.

His short game can occasionally let him down, but off the tee he ranks second behind Rory McIlroy for strokes gained. He also leads the way for par-5 scoring average, which should stand him in good stead at Augusta.

Aaron Rai

Age 30
Nationality England
Pro wins 7
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

Outside of Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton, Rai represents England’s best hope of doing something special at Augusta. He’s coming off the best season of his career on the PGA Tour with the sixth-best scoring average and a first win of his career at the Wyndham Championship in August.

He’s already on Luke Donald’s radar for a place in the European Ryder Cup team and had been riding a wave of three top-15 finishes before missing the cut in Houston on Friday. Having the weekend off may yet count in his favour.

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Davis Riley

Age 28
Nationality United States
Pro wins 4
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

Not many players have got the better of Scottie Scheffler coming down the stretch, yet Riley managed to do just that when he trounced him by five shots to win the Charles Schwab Challenge.

In truth, he hasn’t come close to reaching the same heights in the 11 months since, but a couple of top 10s in March were a big improvement on the four missed cuts and one withdrawal that overshadowed his start to the season.

Hiroshi Tai (A)

Age 23
Nationality Singapore
Pro wins N/A
How he qualified: Won the 2024 NCAA individual championship.

Born in Hong Kong to a Japanese mother and a Singaporean father, Tai lived in America for most of his teenage years before doing two years of mandatory National Service in 2020-21.

He enrolled at Georgia Tech in early 2022 and has made the two-hour drive to play a round at Augusta every January since. This week he’ll do it under tournament conditions as a result of winning the NCAA Men’s Championship last May.

He made his major debut at the US Open back in June, but tied for 109th and missed the cut. The experience should serve him well.

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Davis Thompson

Age 25
Nationality United States
Pro wins 2
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

With two top 10 in his last 17 starts, it’s hard to make a case for Thompson battling for anything other than a tee time at the weekend.

Yes, he tied for ninth on his US Open debut last year before winning the John Deere Classic two weeks later, but his game was in a far stronger place than it is right now. His putting and iron play have been two of his biggest weaknesses so far this season and we all know how important those attributes are at Augusta.

Kevin Yu

Age 26
Nationality Chinese Taipei
Pro wins 1
How he qualified: Winner of a PGA Tour event.

If you’ve made it this far down the list, I salute you. Kevin Yu is the 21st and final member of the rookie class of 2025, having booked his place with a playoff victory over Beau Hossler at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

He has four top 20 finishes in his last six starts, so he’s probably better placed than most debutants to threaten the first page of the leaderboard. Sky Bet also have him at 500-1, which has piqued our interest for an each-way bet…

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