Westwood leads international assault on Augusta

It could have been 100, but twice champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Australian Michael Sim are out injured and Augusta-born Vaughn Taylor lost to Anthony Kim – already exempt – in a play-off for the Shell Houston Open on Sunday night.

The record field was 109 in 1962, followed by 103 in 1966 and 101 in 1957.

There are 25 Europeans taking part – eight English, two Northern Irish, one Irish, one Scot, one Welsh, three Spanish, two German, three Danish, one Swede and three Italians – brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari and 16-year-old British amateur champion Matteo Manassero, the youngest player in Masters history.

US Ryder Cup star Kim hailed his third win on the US PGA Tour as the hardest of his career and credited his new-found patience for helping him land the Houston Open title in Texas.

The 24-year-old from Los Angeles needed a first play-off hole success over Taylor to claim victory, having held a three-shot lead over the field heading into the back nine of his final round at Redstone Golf Club.

South African Charl Schwartzel fired a closing 67 to leapfrog into a tie for third place at 11 under with Canada's Graham DeLaet (68), a shot behind Kim and Taylor, while 2003 US PGA champion Shaun Micheel claimed fifth place with a 65.

England's Lee Westwood rallied over his closing holes to engineer a tie for eighth.

The European No 1 and world No 4 had followed rounds of 69 and 68 with a level-par 72 on Saturday, and he undid a birdie at the first with back-to-back bogeys at the third and fourth holes. Birdies at the 12th, 14th and 15th got him to nine under and, in spite of a bogey at the 16th, Westwood hung on for his second Stateside top-10 placing of the year following a tie for ninth at the Honda Classic.

Justin Rose was the next best European following his third round of 70, leaving the Englishman at six under for the tournament and in a tie for 14th with Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson.