Bridgeman Opens Play in First Masters on Thursday
CLEMSON, S.C. — Former Clemson All-American Jacob Bridgeman, the number-one ranked player on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup rankings, will begin play Thursday, April 9 at the 2026 Masters. It will be Bridgeman’s first Masters and his third appearance in a major championship.
Bridgeman will tee off at 12:27 p.m. on Thursday and 9:02 a.m. on Friday and will be paired with former Masters Champion Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Aaron Rai (England).
Bridgeman is the 14th former or current Clemson golfer to play in The Masters dating to 1977 when Parker Moore played. The list of golfers with ties to Clemson who have played in the Masters includes Parker Moore, Chris Patton, Dillard Pruitt, Danny Ellis, Clarence Rose, D.J. Trahan, Michael Hoey, Jonathan Byrd, Lucas Glover, Ben Martin, Kyle Stanley, Corbin Mills and Doc Redman. The 13 previous Clemson golfers have combined to play in 33 Masters Tournaments. Glover has the most appearances with 11 and the most made cuts with six.
The top finish for a former Clemson golfer at the Masters is eighth by Jonathan Byrd in 2003. That was his first of five appearances at the Masters. He shot even par 288 for the 72 holes that year. The record low score by a former Tiger is six-under-par 282 by Dillard Pruitt in 1992. He finished 13th that year, the second best Masters finish by a former Clemson golfer.
Bridgeman is off to a sensational start to his 2026 season. In eight tournaments he has eight top 20 finishes, including his first career victory at The Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles. He also finished fourth at the season opening Sony Open in Hawaii and fifth at the Players Championship.
For the year, Bridgeman has already won $6,564,485, best on the PGA Tour so far this year, and already the most any Clemson golfer has won in a PGA Tour season. Statistically, he is first in strokes gained putting, first in three-putt avoidance, first in birdies/round and fourth in fewest putts/round. His 68.44 stroke average is second best on the PGA Tour and his par four scoring average (3.89) is also first.
Bridgeman played at Clemson from 2018-22 and was a three-time All-American. He was the ACC Golf Scholar Athlete of the Year as a junior and senior, one of just two golfers in ACC history to win that award twice. As a senior in 2021-22, he won the ACC Championship, was the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year, one of just two golfers in ACC history to win all three in the same year.
