How many players make the cut at The Masters? Cut rules are in world of their own

One of the most storied golf tournaments is finally here. Masters week is upon us and the world’s greatest golfers are vying for the top spot of the leaderboard to don the coveted, exclusive, one-of-a-kind Green Jacket. 

The first round teed off Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club, the 89th Masters Tournament. All eyes will be on Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler can do something only three other golfers have accomplished at Augusta National Golf Club and win a second-straight Masters Tournament. 

He already has two, but won his first in 2022 and his most recent in 2024. Along with Scheffler’s continued dominance on the PGA Tour, Rory McIlroy will always warrant a headline around this time as the Masters is the only major keeping him from the career grand slam. 

McIlroy’s best finish in the Masters came in 2022 when he finished second to Scheffler, falling just short of the career grand slam achievement. This has been the one tournament that’s been the blemish on McIlroy’s career. 

But the big talk of the week isn’t just the green jacket or even the extremely affordable Masters Menu. The other topic of conversation is making the cut into the weekend. As exclusive as the Masters is, you’d be surprised at how many players actually get to make the cut. 

Here’s how many players make the cut at The Masters and the absurdity behind the rules. 

The Masters cut rules: How many players make the cut at Augusta?

Despite the golf tournament being as prestigious as it is, it’s quite generous when it comes to how many players make the cut for the final 36 holes of the weekend. Last year’s Masters Tournament was the fourth year with just the top 50 on the leaderboard, plus anyone tied in 50th, after Friday’s round. 

Before the rule change in 2020, the top 50 and ties rule was still in place, but the cut also extended to players who were within 10 strokes of the leader to make the weekend as well. Talk about leniency.

It was good that Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley decided to change that rule. According to Golf Digest, he said that it was very rare for a player that qualified for the weekend because of the 10-stroke rule actually contended by Sunday. 

That makes sense. Cutting 10-plus strokes on one of golf’s most challenging — mentally and physically — courses on the Tour and doing it in 36 holes against the world’s best golfers is simply a tall task. 

How many players made the cut at The Masters the last 5 years?

Here's how many players made it below the cut line at The Masters in the last five tournaments.

On average over the past five years at The Masters, 56 players have made the cut, though the outliers of the November Masters in 2020 and last year's win for Scheffler getting 60 players into the weekend causes that number to rise. What we'll typically see is a number of players in the mid-to-low 50s get into the weekend after 36 holes. The cut line has also largely been between +3 and +6 with 12 of the last 15 tournaments seeing that number be the one to chase for the weekend.