[SWFlaGolfer]

Ames gets Masters invite; will play at Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Stephen Ames, who won The Players Championship on Sunday, got his official invitation to The Masters on Monday.

Ames, Arron Oberholser and Rory Sabbatini all received Masters invitations by virtue of being among the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings and Top 10 on the PGA Tour money list the week prior to The Masters.

Ames said Monday he will play at Augusta National after hedging on Sunday following his six-shot win at The Players Championship. The winner there gets an automatic three-year invitation to The Masters.

"It was something I had to talk to my family about before I made that decision," Ames said Monday morning on The Fan 590, an all-sports radio station in Canada. "It was something we had to collaborate, both with the kids and my wife. We are going to go."

There are 103 players who have been invited to the tournament, which begins on April 6. A total of 92 are expected to play.

Ames and Oberholser will be among 16 first-time players at The Masters. They are joined by professionals Jason Bohn, Bart Bryant, Ben Crane, Lucas Glover, Thongchai Jaidee, Geoff Ogilvy, Sean O'Hair, Carl Pettersson, Henrik Stenson and Vaughn Taylor.

Also in their first Masters are amateurs Dillon Dougherty (the U.S. Amateur runner-up), Kevin Marsh (the U.S. Mid-Amateur champ), Brian McElhinney (the British Amateur champ), Edoardo Molinari (the U.S. Amateur champ) and Clay Ogden (the U.S. Amateur Public Links champ).

Jaidee earned a special invitation from The Masters committee. He was the first golfer from Thailand to win a PGA European Tour event.

Among those who didn't get a Masters invitation was Greg Owen of England, who failed to redeem himself from his three-putt from 3 feet on the 71st hole at the Bay Hill Invitational. He needed to finish in the top 20 at The Players Championship to move into the top 50, but wound up in a tie for 22nd after closing with a 70.

Owen was No. 52 in the world rankings published Monday.

Also not invited were Camilo Villegas, a PGA Tour rookie from Colombia who fell one birdie short at Sawgrass of getting into the top 10 on the money list, and J.B. Holmes, another PGA Tour rookie who won the FBR Open.

There are 58 American players and 45 international players on the invitation list.

Tiger Woods is the defending champion when the Masters starts April 6 on an Augusta National course now stretched to 7,445 yards.