AUGUSTA, Georgia: Augusta National Golf Club Friday announced a list of invitees expected to compete in the 2013 Masters, the first major of the golf season scheduled for April 11-14

(Players still can earn invitations through US PGA Tour victories or world rankings through the week prior to the Masters):

2013 Masters Invitees as of January 11 ('a' denotes amateur)

Thomas Bjorn (DEN)

Keegan Bradley (USA)

Angel Cabrera (ARG)

KJ Choi (KOR)

Stewart Cink (USA)

Tim Clark (RSA)

Darren Clarke (NIR)

George Coetzee (RSA)

Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL)

Fred Couples (USA)

Ben Crenshaw (USA)

Ben Curtis (USA)

Jason Day (AUS)

Luke Donald (ENG)

Jamie Donaldson (WAL)

Jason Dufner (USA)

a-Alan Dunbar (NIR)

Ernie Els (RSA)

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP)

Rickie Fowler (USA)

a-Steven Fox (USA)

Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN)

Jim Furyk (USA)

Sergio Garcia (ESP)

Robert Garrigus (USA)

Lucas Glover (USA)

Branden Grace (RSA)

a-Guan Tianlang (CHN)

Bill Haas (USA)

Peter Hanson (SWE)

Padraig Harrington (IRL)

John Huh (USA)

Trevor Immelman (RSA)

Ryo Ishikawa (JPN)

Dustin Johnson (USA)

Zach Johnson (USA)

Martin Kaymer (GER)

Matt Kuchar (USA)

Bernhard Langer (GER)

Paul Lawrie (SCO)

Marc Leishman (AUS)

Sandy Lyle (SCO)

David Lynn (ENG)

Hunter Mahan (USA)

Matteo Manassero (ITA)

Graeme McDowell (NIR)

Rory McIlroy (NIR)

Phil Mickelson (USA)

Larry Mize (USA)

Francesco Molinari (ITA)

Ryan Moore (USA)

Kevin Na (USA)

Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP)

Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN)

Mark O'Meara (USA)

Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

John Peterson (USA)

Carl Pettersson (SWE)

Scott Piercy (USA)

Ted Potter (USA)

Ian Poulter (ENG)

Justin Rose (ENG)

Charl Schwartzel (RSA)

Adam Scott (AUS)

John Senden (AUS)

Webb Simpson (USA)

Vijay Singh (FIJ)

a-Nathan Smith (USA))

Brandt Snedeker (USA)

Craig Stadler (USA)

Steve Stricker (USA)

Michael Thompson (USA)

David Toms (USA)

Bo Van Pelt (USA)

a-TJ Vogel (USA)

Nick Watney (USA)

Bubba Watson (USA)

Tom Watson (USA)

a-Michael Weaver (USA)

Mike Weir (CAN)

Lee Westwood (ENG)

Thaworn Wiratchant (THA)

Tiger Woods (USA)

Ian Woosnam (WAL)

YE Yang (KOR)

Ishikawa, Thaworn accept Masters invitations

AUGUSTA, Georgia: Young Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa and Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant have accepted invitations to compete in the 2013 Masters, organizers of the golf's first major of the season said Friday.

Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters, said the field for the April 11-14 tournament so far includes 85 golfers from 21 countries, 16 first-time participants and six amateurs.

"Through our established qualifications, and invitations to select international players not otherwise qualified, we historically bring together a collection of the world's top players, and this year is no different," Payne said.

"The Masters has long established a tradition of supporting the global game, and we were excited to extend invitations to Thaworn Wiratchant and Ryo Ishikawa, who we hope will provide added interest and enthusiasm for golf in Asia through their participation in the tournament."

Wiratchant, 46, won the 2012 Asian Tour Order of Merit. He'll be making his first Masters appearance when he competes at Augusta National in April.

He holds the Asian Tour record for most career victories, having won for the 15th time at the India Open last October, a co-sanctioned European PGA Tour event.

The 21-year-old Ishikawa will be making his fifth straight start at the Masters with his best finish coming in 2011 when he tied for 20th.

In his final five starts of 2012, he closed out the season on the Japan Golf Tour by collecting his 10th career win and recording three additional top-10 finishes.

Golfers have two more chances to qualify for the 2013 Masters by winning a PGA Tour event that awards a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship or by climbing into the top 50 of the world golf rankings published during the week prior to the Masters. - AFP

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• Golf: Johnson triumphs by one stroke at Mobile Bay LPGA
• Results worldwide
• Bradley clings to lead in Texas with surging Korean one stroke adrift
• Classy Williams sweeps Azarenka aside in final
• Kien Keat-Boon Heong may not play in Group C tie against Germany
• Kjaersfeldt ready to continue strong Danish tradition
• Broad salutes Anderson as England hammer Kiwis
• Aussie Griffin an easy winner at fog-bound Korean Open
• Sarawakian Daniel makes a winning return from injury
• Tensions put aside as North Korea beat South for gold