Unlike the previous year, Selby won his 2nd Masters title by defeating O'Sullivan 10–9 in the final after trailing 4–1, 5–3 and 9–6.

Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, Rory McLeod (ranked 39), and wild-card selection Jimmy White (ranked 56).

[4] Rory McLeod was making his debut in the Masters following his win in the qualifying tournament;[5] this to date is the last Masters to feature such qualifying tournament and the wildcard round in general.

In the preliminary round the wild-card players played the 15th and 16th seeds:[8] [9][10][11] The 2009 Masters Qualifying Event was held between 26 and 29 October 2009 at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales.

[12][13] Rory McLeod earned a wild-card to the 2010 Masters, beating Andrew Higginson 6–1 in the final.