Thorbjorn Olesen's inactivity was enough for him to crack the top 50 in the year's final Official World Golf Ranking and earn his first Masters bid.
Olesen, who last played in the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in November, finished 50th in the year's final edition of the world ranking, which was calculated Sunday. No more professional events offering ranking points remain in 2012, allowing the year's final ranking to be calculated early.
Geoff Ogilvy had jumped temporarily from 56th to 50th in the ranking after a fourth-place finish in the Australian PGA Championship on Sunday. But Olesen then moved up from 51st in the final calculation.
Ogilvy will be 51st in the year's final ranking; the 2006 US Open champion is not yet exempt for the 2013 Masters.
How did Olesen pass Ogilvy? Players are ranked based on average points earned per tournament in the past two years. Points earned for a specific finish decrease as time passes from that tournament; that loss in points is the reason for Ogilvy's fall in the ranking.
George Coetzee, who shot a final-round 65 Sunday to finish 10th in the Alfred Dunhill Championship on the European Tour, finished 49th in the final ranking to earn a Masters bid.
Among others earning Masters invitations through the year-end world ranking are Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Branden Grace, Bill Haas, Nicolas Colsaerts, Jason Day and Matteo Manassero.
