The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.

History The tournament is the brainchild of schoolteacher David Inglis. The Australian Masters was intended to be, in the words of Inglis, "an unashamed copy" of the Masters Tournament, the famous tournament in the United States. The event would be played at the same course every year and a ceremonial jacket would placed on the champion. In this case, the course would be Huntingdale Golf Club.

Inglis had no experience running a golf tournament and recruited Ian Stanley, a leading Australian touring professional, to give him advice. Stanley was able to secure commitments from top golfers like Graham Marsh, Lee Trevino, Bob Shearer, and Greg Norman. Prize money was originally supposed to be $50,000 but, due to an inability to find enough sponsors, a decision was made to reduce the purse to $30,000. Multiple players threatened to withdraw and a decision was made to cancel the tournament. However, at the last minute David Haines, a member at Huntingdale, was able to secure an additional $10,000 and the tournament could go on. New Zealand golfer Barry Vivian won the event by one over Shearer. The tournament lost $50,000 but managed to be profitable thereafter.

In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament.

Though the Australian Masters usually was part of the PGA Tour of Australasia's calendar, the event was not on the Order of Merit in 1992. The PGA Tour of Australasia requested that the field expand from 100 players to a full-field of 120 players. International Management Group (IMG), which ran the event, rejected the request. Frank Williams, an employee of IMG, justified the decision by stating, "The sponsors expect the Masters to be different from other Australian tournaments and it was sold to them as a limited-field special event."

The tournament was co-sanctioned by the European Tour from 2006 to 2009, with a significant 20% increase in the prize fund. Because the tournament is played late in the calendar year, in November or December, it formed part of the following year's European Tour schedule from 2006 through 2008. With the European Tour's decision to realign its schedule with the calendar year for 2010, the 2009 event was the first to be part of the current calendar year's tour schedule. The co-sanctioning with the European Tour was dropped after the 2009 event.

On 18 March 2009 the Victorian State Government announced a major coup, confirming that then World Number 1 Tiger Woods would play in the 2009 event at its new venue, Kingston Heath. The announcement caused a minor public backlash due to 50% of Woods' A$3 million appearance fee being paid by taxpayer funds. Woods' appearance was tipped to generate close to A$20 million for the Victorian economy via tourism and other related areas.

The event is owned by IMG. The event was not played in 2016 and its future is reported to be in doubt.

The tournament's iconic broadcast theme music used during the 1980s and 1990s was "Send Them Victorious" by Graham De Wilde, with tournament's tagline "The Tradition Continues" in use for the duration of its existence. Greg Norman won the Masters a record six times. The final event featured 56-year-old Peter Senior as the champion. It was his third win in this event and became the first player to win the Australian Open, the Australian PGA Championship and the Australian Masters all in his fifties. Future major winner who was an amateur at the time Bryson DeChambeau finished tied in second place.

Venues Until 2008, the Australian Masters was always held at the Huntingdale Golf Club in South Oakleigh. From 2009, a rotation system was introduced and the event was staged at different courses in the Melbourne area.

The following venues have been used since the founding of the Australian Masters in 1979. Venue Location First Last Times Huntingdale Golf Club Victoria 1979 2015 31 Kingston Heath Golf Club Victoria 2009 2012 2 Victoria Golf Club Victoria 2010 2011 2 Royal Melbourne Golf Club Victoria 2013 2013 1 Metropolitan Golf Club Victoria 2014 2014 1

Winners YearTour(s)WinnerScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upVenueRef.Uniqlo Masters 2015 ANZ Peter Senior (3) 276 −8 2 strokes Bryson DeChambeau (a) Andrew Evans John Senden Huntingdale BetEasy Masters 2014 ANZ Nick Cullen 279 −9 1 stroke James Nitties Adam Scott Josh Younger Metropolitan Talisker Masters 2013 ANZ Adam Scott (2) 270 −14 2 strokes Matt Kuchar Royal Melbourne 2012 ANZ Adam Scott 271 −17 4 strokes Ian Poulter Kingston Heath JBWere Masters 2011 ANZ Ian Poulter 269 −15 3 strokes Marcus Fraser Victoria 2010 ANZ Stuart Appleby 274 −10 1 stroke Adam Bland Victoria 2009 ANZ, EUR Tiger Woods 274 −14 2 strokes Greg Chalmers Kingston Heath Sportsbet Australian Masters 2008 ANZ, EUR Rod Pampling 276 −12 Playoff Marcus Fraser Huntingdale Mastercard Masters 2007 ANZ, EUR Aaron Baddeley 275 −13 Playoff Daniel Chopra Huntingdale 2006 ANZ, EUR Justin Rose 276 −12 2 strokes Greg Chalmers Richard Green Huntingdale 2005 ANZ Robert Allenby (2) 271 −17 Playoff Bubba Watson Huntingdale 2004 ANZ Richard Green 271 −17 Playoff Greg Chalmers David McKenzie Huntingdale 2003 ANZ Robert Allenby 277 −11 Playoff Jarrod Moseley Craig Parry Adam Scott Huntingdale 2002 ANZ Peter Lonard (2) 279 −9 Playoff Gavin Coles Adam Scott Huntingdale Ericsson Masters 2001 ANZ Colin Montgomerie 278 −10 1 stroke Nathan Green Huntingdale 2000 ANZ Michael Campbell 282 −10 4 strokes Brett Rumford Huntingdale 1999 ANZ Craig Spence 276 −16 1 stroke Greg Norman Huntingdale 1998 ANZ Bradley Hughes (2) 268 −24 5 strokes Mathew Goggin Huntingdale 1997 ANZ Peter Lonard 276 −16 Playoff Peter O'Malley Huntingdale 1996 ANZ Craig Parry (3) 279 −13 2 strokes Bradley Hughes Huntingdale Australian Masters 1995 ANZ Peter Senior (2) 280 −12 1 stroke Wayne Grady Lucas Parsons Tom Watson Huntingdale Microsoft Australian Masters 1994 ANZ Craig Parry (2) 282 −10 3 strokes Ernie Els Huntingdale 1993 ANZ Bradley Hughes 281 −11 Playoff Peter Senior Huntingdale Pyramid Australian Masters 1992 Craig Parry 283 −9 3 strokes Greg Norman Huntingdale 1991 ANZ Peter Senior 278 −14 1 stroke Greg Norman Huntingdale Australian Masters 1990 ANZ Greg Norman (6) 273 −19 2 strokes Mike Clayton Nick Faldo John Morse Huntingdale 1989 ANZ Greg Norman (5) 280 −12 5 strokes Russell Claydon (a) Huntingdale 1988 ANZ Ian Baker-Finch 283 −9 Playoff Roger Mackay Craig Parry Huntingdale 1987 ANZ Greg Norman (4) 273 −19 9 strokes Peter Senior Huntingdale 1986 ANZ Mark O'Meara 284 −8 1 stroke David Graham Huntingdale 1985 ANZ Bernhard Langer 281 −11 3 strokes Nick Faldo Greg Norman Huntingdale 1984 ANZ Greg Norman (3) 285 −7 3 strokes David Graham Bernhard Langer Huntingdale 1983 ANZ Greg Norman (2) 285 −7 4 strokes Bernhard Langer Huntingdale 1982 ANZ Graham Marsh 289 −3 1 stroke Stewart Ginn Huntingdale 1981 ANZ Greg Norman 289 −3 7 strokes Terry Gale Norio Suzuki Huntingdale 1980 ANZ Gene Littler 288 −4 Playoff Rodger Davis Huntingdale 1979 ANZ Barry Vivian 289 −3 1 stroke Bob Shearer Huntingdale Sources:

Notes

References

External links

Coverage on the PGA Tour of Australasia's official site Coverage on the European Tour's official site