The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
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.
Until 2008, the Australian Masters was always held at the Huntingdale Golf Club in South Oakleigh. From 2009, a rotation system was be introduced and the event was be staged at different courses in the Melbourne area.
Home golfers have dominated the event, with former world number one Greg Norman having the most success, winning the Gold Jacket on six occasions. Two other Australians have also won three times â€" Craig Parry and Peter Senior. Overseas players to have taken the title include European Ryder Cup stars, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie.
Since 2007, the Official World Golf Ranking awarded at least 20 points to Australian Masters winners. Some editions have had top American and European players, which increased the points to 32 in 2011, 30 in 2010 and 28 in 2009.
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.
Winners
- PGA Tour of Australasia event (2010â€"2015)
- PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour event (2006â€"2009)
- PGA Tour of Australasia event (1979â€"2005)
Note: all editions until 2009 were played at Huntingdale Golf Club.
References
External links
- Official website
- Coverage on the PGA Tour of Australasia's official site
- Coverage on the European Tour's official site
