;1. Masters champions
Tommy Aaron,
George Archer (8),
Seve Ballesteros (3),
Gay Brewer (8),
Billy Casper,
Charles Coody,
Raymond Floyd (8,11,12),
Doug Ford,
Bob Goalby,
Herman Keiser,
Jack Nicklaus (2,3,4,8,9,10,12),
Arnold Palmer,
Gary Player (8),
Sam Snead,
Art Wall Jr.,
Tom Watson (3,8,11,12),
Fuzzy Zoeller (10,11) •
Jack Burke Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, and Gene Sarazen did not play. ;The following categories only apply to Americans ;2.
U.S. Open champions (last five years)
Hubert Green (8,11),
Hale Irwin (11,12),
Andy North ;3.
The Open champions (last five years)
Bill Rogers (9,11,12) ;4.
PGA champions (last five years)
John Mahaffey (8,11),
Larry Nelson (10,12),
Lanny Wadkins (8,9,11) ;5. 1981
U.S. Amateur semi-finalists
Nathaniel Crosby (6, a),
Bob Lewis (7, a),
Brian Lindley (a),
Willie Wood (a) ;6. Previous two
U.S. Amateur and
Amateur champions •
Hal Sutton (7) forfeited his exemption by turning professional. ;7. Members of the 1981 U.S.
Walker Cup team
Frank Fuhrer III (a),
Jim Holtgrieve (a),
Jodie Mudd (a),
Corey Pavin (a),
Jay Sigel (a) •
Ron Commans, Joey Rassett, and Dick von Tacky forfeited their exemptions by turning professional. ;8. Top 24 players and ties from the
1981 Masters Tournament John Cook (9),
Ben Crenshaw (9,12),
Bob Gilder (10),
Peter Jacobsen,
Tom Kite (10,11,12),
Bruce Lietzke (10,11,12),
Johnny Miller (11,12),
Gil Morgan,
Jerry Pate (11,12),
Calvin Peete (9),
Don Pooley,
Jim Simons (11),
Curtis Strange ;9. Top 16 players and ties from the
1981 U.S. Open George Burns,
Frank Conner,
Mark Hayes,
Lon Hinkle,
Chi-Chi Rodríguez,
John Schroeder,
Jim Thorpe •
Sammy Rachels did not play ;10. Top eight players and ties from
1981 PGA Championship Keith Fergus (11),
Dan Pohl ;11. Winners of
PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Andy Bean,
Danny Edwards,
Dave Eichelberger,
Ed Fiori,
Jay Haas,
Morris Hatalsky,
Wayne Levi,
Jack Renner,
J. C. Snead,
Craig Stadler,
Ron Streck,
Lee Trevino (12),
Tom Weiskopf ;12. Members of the U.S.
1981 Ryder Cup team ;13. Foreign invitations
Isao Aoki (9,10),
Dave Barr (11),
David Graham (2,4,8,9),
Yutaka Hagawa,
Bernhard Langer,
Greg Norman (8,10),
Peter Oosterhuis (11),
Philippe Ploujoux (6, a) •
Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American. ==Round summaries==