There are only two weeks left and only two ways to qualify for an invitation to golf’s first major championship of the season.
PGA Tour players will be scrambling in two Texas tournaments to make the field for the Masters Tournament, April 9-12 at the Augusta National Golf Club: the Texas Children’s Houston Open, March 26-29, and next week at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio April 2-5.
The only way players have left to make a date for Augusta is to win in Houston or San Antonio, or be among the top 50 on the World Golf Rankings after the final putt drops this week at Memorial Park.
Six players in this week’s field at Houston have yet to qualify for the Masters and are between Nos. 40 and 65 on the World Golf Rankings entering the tournament: Jake Knapp (42), Nicolai Höjgaard (47), Pierceson Coody (51), Michael Thorbjornsen (56), Rickie Fowler (61) and Jordan Smith (65). There are 100 other players in the field who are not in the Masters and likely would have to win this week or next to get in.
Two players on the outside of the top 50 are worth monitoring this week. Coody, if he gets in the field, will be the first grandson of a Masters champion to play in the tournament. His grandfather, Charles Coody, won the Masters in 1971. Pierceson Coody started the season 96th in the world but has four top-20 finishes and two top 10s.
And Thorbjornsen, who was in the final twosome on Sunday at The Players Championship before fading to a tie for 22nd, has made five of six cuts with three top 25 finishes. He began the season 68th in the world.
Paul Tesori, Chad James win JAGA Spring Four-Ball
Paul Tesori of Ponte Vedra Beach is the winner of a golf tournament on the First Coast, this time hitting shots.
The veteran PGA Tour caddie and former St. Augustine High and University of Florida player combined with high school buddy Chad James of St. Augustine to win the Jacksonville Area Golf Association Spring Four Ball on March 23 at the Stillwater Golf and Country Club.
Tesori and James shot a 9-under 63 on the area’s newest golf course to beat Tom Price and Chadrick Smith by two shots. Rick Root and David French (67) finished third.
Kevin Devine and Brad Swanson shot a net 63 to win that division by three over Billy Lodise and Bart Abstein 66. Robert Goettlicher and Michael Anderson (68) were third.
Tesori was just days removed from caddying for Adam Schenk in The Players Championship. Tesori has been working for Webb Simpson this year, but Simpson wasn’t eligible for the 2026 Players.
Simpson won the 2018 Players with Tesori on the bag, the last of the seven Tour victories in which the two were a team. That includes the 2012 U.S. Open.
Tesori has also worked for World Golf Hall of Fame member Vijay Singh, Players champion Cameron Young, Tom Kim, Jerry Kelly and Chris Couch.
Tesori has found the time during off weeks from the Tour to play local and statewide events in recent years. He has won eight FSGA Winter Series tournaments since 2017, with 18 finishes of fourth or higher. But the closest of those to the First Coast was in 2019 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach.
James has also caddied on the Tour in the past and is a JSO officer.
Korn Ferry Tour Re-Set
The Korn Ferry Tour returns to action after two weeks off with the first domestic U.S. Tournament of the year.
For the ninth season in a row, Savannah will host a Korn Ferry event with the Club Car Championship, March 26-29 at The Landings Golf and Athletic Club Deer Creek Course. Three of the event’s winners during that span have gone on to win on the PGA Tour, Sam Burns, Adam Svensson and Steven Fisk.
Doc Redman of Ponte Vedra Beach won the last K-F event, in Chile on March 8 when a closing 67 capped four consecutive rounds in the 60s at the Prince of Wales Golf Club in Santiago. He won by five shots at 19-under 265.
Here’s a glance at the Korn Ferry Tour points list after six events in The Bahamas, Panama, Colombia, Mexico and Chile (the top 20 earn PGA Tour cards for 2027):
PGA Tour
Event: Texas Children’s Houston Open, March 26-29, Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston.
Purse: $9.9 million ($1,728,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Min Woo Lee.
TV: Golf Channel (March 26-27, 3-7 p.m,; March 28-29, 1-3 p.m.); NBC (March 28-29, 3-6 p.m.).
Area players: Chandler Blanchet, Michael Brennan, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Nico Echavarria, Harris English, Steven Fisk, Billy Horschel, Patton Kizzire, Keith Mitchell, J.T. Poston, Davis Thompson, Michael Thorbjornsen, Alejandro Tosti, Karl Vilips, Danny Walker.
LPGA
Event: Ford Championship.
Purse: $2.25 million ($337,500 to the winner).
Defending champion: Hyo Joo Kim.
Area players: Chella Choi, Auston Kim.
TV: Golf Channel (March 26-29, 7-9 p.m.).
PGA Tour Champions
Event: Hoag Classic, March 27-29, Newport Beach (Calif.) Country Club.
Purse: $2.2 million ($330,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Area players: David Duval, Fred Funk, Zach Johnson, Vijay Singh.
TV: Golf Channel (March 27, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.; March 28-29, 5-7 p.m.).
Korn Ferry Tour
Event: Club Car Championship, March 26-29, The Landings Golf and Athletic Club Deer Creek Course, Savannah, Ga.
Purse: $1 million ($180,000 to the winner).
2025 champion: Jeremy Gandon.
Area players: Tyson Alexander, Samuel Anderson, Sebastian Cappelen, Nick Gabrelcik, Will Gordon, Lanto Griffin, Nick Infanti, Russell Knox, Ben Kohles, Rick Lamb, Paul Peterson, Doc Redman, Greyson Sigg, Julian Suri.
TV: Golf Channel (March 26-27, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; March 28-29, 3-5 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players contender Michael Thorbjornsen scrambling for Masters spot
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
