Min Woo Lee’s end of year ranking locks in Masters spot for 2025

Finishing inside the top 50 in the world at the end of the year might not mean much to some but will secure a special bonus for one lucky Aussie.

The end of the year will bring delightful rankings news for Min Woo Lee, with the Aussie star set to finish inside the top 50 and gain qualification for the 2025 Masters.

With tournament play for the year coming to an end, Lee will finish 2024 ranked 49 after missing out on the top 10 at both the Australian Open and PGA, where he failed to defend his title at Royal Queensland.

The 26-year-old didn’t do enough in his rookie season on the PGA Tour to secure starts in the eight signature events worth more than $250m.

But he will return to the Masters for the fourth year in a row and join 2013 Masters champ Adam Scott, 2022 British Open winner Cam Smith, Cameron Davis and Jason Day as the Aussies locked in for the first major of the year at Augusta.

Smith’s LIV teammates Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman missed their chance to earn a possible invite with victory at the Australian Open, but Leishman did secure his first major start since 2022 by finishing in the top three at Kingston Heath and booking his spot at the British Open.

Davis, who will start 2025 as just one of five Australians with a PGA Tour playing card after a Q-school wipe-out earlier this week for Aussie hopefuls, finished tied for 12th at the Masters in 2024 to ensure his return in April next year.

🚨BREAKING

This is the final end-of-year Top 50 #OWGR projection!
These 9 players (not currently exempt) should qualify for @TheMasters!@joohyungkim0621@NickDunlap62@maxgreyserman@rashoejgaard@JDayGolf@coreconn@_dennymccarthy@Minwoo27Lee
Lucas Glover

Congrats to all! pic.twitter.com/6zmdgQ788A

— Nosferatu (@VC606) December 15, 2024

Former child prodigy turned US collegiate star Karl Vilips is the only new name on the list of Australians with playing status on the PGA Tour having only turned professional in June.

Vilips, who graduated from Stanford, the same college as Tiger Woods, posted top-15 finishes in each of his first four events on the secondary Korn Ferry Tour before winning the Utah Championship to help secure his passage.

Having travelled back to Australia to play his first national open as a professional, Vilips, 23, said he was undeterred by changes going into his rookie season that will reduce the number of players who retain full playing status from 125 to 100.

“I think I just keep doing what I’m doing,” Vilips said.

“I’m just looking to play really good golf out there, and whatever happens, happens. And I believe my game is good enough to continue to keep my card and notch up a couple wins, if possible, and everything clicks for a week.

“But you know, just got to get top 100, I think, for keeping your card, so not looking to set the sights beyond that.”

Originally published as Min Woo Lee’s end of year ranking locks in Masters spot for 2025