The Masters is an invitational event, which helps explain why its field is smaller than those of the other golf majors.
Unlike the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, the Masters is organized by Augusta National Golf Club, a private club that controls invitations. Players qualify mainly through published exemption categories, including past Masters victories, recent major wins, high finishes in major championships, strong PGA Tour results, world ranking positions and leading amateur performances.
The tournament began in 1934 as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament and was officially renamed the Masters Tournament in 1939. Its invitation-based structure remains central to its identity, even though many invitations are earned automatically by meeting objective criteria.
The Masters typically has the smallest major-championship field, allowing competitors to play in three-man groups during the first two rounds. “Open” is a particularly tempting wrong answer because other majors use that word, but an open championship generally emphasizes broad qualifying access rather than a club-controlled invitation list.