European Tour Members Thomas Levet of France, Australia’’s Peter Lonard and England’’s Justin Rose are among 15 first time participants who have been invited by Augusta National Golf Club to compete in the 2003 Masters Tournament from April 10-13.
A total of 24 European Tour Members are among the initial batch of 96 invitees, of which 57 are from the United States and 39 classified as “international” players. The previous record for international representatives was 37 in 2001 and 2002.
All six European winners of the Green Jacket – Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, José Maria Olazábal and Ian Woosnam – are invited to return to Augusta National along with European Tour Member, Vijay Singh, of Fiji, who was Champion in 2000.
Levet, winner of two titles on The European Tour International Schedule, earns his place at Augusta National following his runner-up placing in the 131st Open Golf Championship at Muirfield, where he went down to Ernie Els of South Africa in sudden-death.
Lonard made a dramatic impact on the US PGA Tour in 2002 after several seasons campaigning on The European Tour, starting the season with 22 consecutive cuts and making four top ten finishes during an outstanding year.
Rose captured the dunhill championship in South Africa at the start of 2002 and went on to register another three wins worldwide, including the Victor Chandler British Masters at Woburn Golf and Country Club in June.
Retief Goosen, winner of the 2002 Volvo Order of Merit title and runner-up to Tiger Woods last April, will be back to try to go one better while the man he beat in the race to be Europe’’s Number One, Padraig Harrington, is in the field along with Sergio Garcia of Spain, the only player to finish in the top ten in all four Major Championships last year.
The full list of European Tour Members invited so far are: Seve Ballesteros, Thomas Björn, Angel Cabrera, Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Niclas Fasth, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Bernhard Langer, Paul Lawrie, Thomas Levet, Peter Lonard, Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie, José Maria Olazábal, Eduardo Romero, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Ian Woosnam.
