Min Woo Lee’s scintillating performance — resulting in his first career PGA Tour win at the 2025 Houston Open — was the story of the week in golf, especially given how Lee battled Scottie Scheffler and others down the stretch. However, a secondary storyline at Memorial Park was the race for Masters invites, as it was the last chance for players who did not already have a spot at Augusta National locked up to earn the coveted invitation by making their way into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
A handful of players in the field fit that description with Michael Kim and Ben Griffin being two golfers in the most precarious spots as they entered the week (ranked 52nd and 53rd in the world, respectively). Kim had leapfrogged Griffin the week before at the Valspar Championship as he continued his meteoric rise through the rankings in 2025.
When the dust settled on Sunday night, Kim had succeeded in his quest for a Masters tee time on Thursday, April 10, but Griffin fell agonizingly short of joining him.
Kim finished T32 at 8 under for the week, which was just enough to move up two spots to 50th in the world. The two players he leaped were Austin Eckroat and Mathieu Pavon, both of whom already had spots in the Masters field secured and were not playing. Griffin also moved ahead of those two, but with Lee winning and jumping from 55th to 22nd in the rankings (even though he already had an invite), Griffin needed to pass three players to reach the top 50.
His T18 finish at 10 under was not quite enough to do that as Griffin excruciatingly finished 51st — fractions behind Kim. That was particularly gutting because pre-tournament projections pointed to a top 28 finish being enough for Griffin, but Lee’s win to vault over him changed the math.
Griffin will now head to the Texas Open with one last gasp to make the Masters field. Only the winner in San Antonio will earn his way into Augusta National if they haven’t qualified already.
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For Kim, the Houston Open was the culmination of an incredible journey this season. He began the year 155th in the OWGR and played every tournament, making eight cuts in 11 events with three top 10 finishes (including a runner-up at the Phoenix Open) and a pair of T13s.
After playing eight consecutive weeks with an eye on making the Masters field, Kim admitted he was exhausted coming into Houston but did what he had to to climb into the top 50. Now, gets a well-deserved week off before heading to Augusta, Georgia.
Joining Kim in earning a Masters invite thanks to finishing this week in the top 50 are four other players:
- J.J. Spaun
- Daniel Berger
- Stephan Jaegar
- Laurie Canter
The field for the Masters now sits at 96 players once those five get added, leaving the potential for one more spot if someone who still doesn’t have an invite wins this week in San Antonio.
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