The field for the 2011 Masters grew to 92 on Monday with the addition of 13 players who finished the year among the top 50 in the world rankings.
The players added include Japanese teen phenom Ryo Ishikawa, Italian brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, Swede Robert Karlsson, South African Charl Schwartzel and talented young Americans Rickie Fowler and Sean O'Hair.
There are various ways to qualify for golf's first major tournament of the year but host Augusta National Golf Club traditionally extends invitations to any player in the top 50 of the world rankings at the end of each calendar year.
The field is the smallest of the majors and tends to get no bigger than 100.
Players can still qualify if they climb into the world top 50 as of the week before the tournament begins, or by winning certain PGA Tour events in the first three months of 2011.
The only Canadian to qualify so far is Mike Weir. Although he's No. 170 in the latest world rankings, released Monday, his victory in the 2003 Masters ensures him an invitation for life.
Stephen Ames is the highest-ranked Canadian, but at No. 116 he needs to move up 66 spots before April to qualify.
Ishikawa, a 19-year-old prodigy, fired the lowest round on a major golf tour, a 58, in the final round to win the Japan Tour's Crowns tournament last May. He has won eight titles in Japan but none outside his homeland since 2007.
Ishikawa jumped to No. 45 from No. 51 in the rankings on Oct. 31 and stood at No. 37 in the year-end rankings released Monday.
Asians joining him at Augusta next April include countrymen Yuta Ikeda (No. 41) and Hiroyuki Fujita (No. 48), plus South Korean Kim Kyung-tae, the highest-ranked Asian player at No. 30.
The Molinari siblings, 15th-ranked Francesco standing three spots ahead of his brother, helped Europe defeat the United States in the Ryder Cup last October in Wales.
Joining them from Europe in reaching the Masters on Monday were Ross Fisher (No. 33) of England, long-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros (No. 49), Karlsson (No. 17) and fellow Swede Peter Hanson (No. 40).
Schwartzel of South Africa is ranked No. 34.
O'Hair, who's coached by Canadian instructor Sean Foley, started the year at No. 15 and did not win a tournament or reach the PGA Tour's Tour Championship. But he ended the year at No. 43. Fowler finished his first full year as a pro at No. 28 on the strength of two runner-up finishes.
Australian Brendan Jones, No. 55, was the highest-ranked player not already on the Masters invitation list who failed to qualify on year-end rankings.
With a report from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse