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Three Englishmen secure Masters invites

Ian Poulter will be back at Augusta National in 2012 © Getty Images

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Englishmen Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Simon Dyson have all booked their places at next year's Masters at Augusta National, after finishing the year inside the top 50 in the world rankings.

Poulter's victory at the Australian Masters made sure of his invitation to the first major of 2012, as he ended the season at 16th in the rankings. Casey remains 20th despite a poor season on the PGA Tour, while Dyson has risen to 28th after a year that saw him claim victory at both the Irish Open and KLM Open.

The top 50 in the world rankings at the end of the year automatically get invites to the event, unless they have already qualified by other means.

Alvaro Quiros, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Rickie Fowler were among eight other players who also saw their invitation assured with the publication of the final rankings, with experienced American Jim Furyk cutting things fine as he finished exactly 50th.

The unfortunate player to miss out this year was Japanese starlet Ryo Ishikawa, who ended 2011 ranked 51st after a disappointing performance at the Thailand Golf Championship - won by Lee Westwood. Ishikawa can feel doubly unlucky as he finished a single shot outside the top 16 at the 2011 Masters - the top 16 are always invited back the next year.

Matteo Manassero, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas are among some other notable names who will need to earn an invitation by other means - either by winning a PGA Tour event at the start of the year, or by moving into the top 50 of the world rankings by the conclusion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.

South African duo Retief Goosen and Ernie Els are also still to qualify for the tournament, after slipping to 53rd and 56th respectively in the rankings over the course of the season. Els, a three-time major champion, has played in 18 consecutive Masters but is yet to win the event.

The field for the prestigious event, which is set to take place between April 5-8, is already at 91 players - depending on the number of past champions who choose to attend. The last time the number of entries for the event was over 100 was in 1996, the year Sir Nick Faldo overhauled Greg Norman to take his third green jacket.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.