Augusta, Georgia, United States: Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama spearheads an eight-strong contingent of Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) alumni at this week’s Masters Tournament, the first Major of 2023.
Matsuyama, the first Asian winner at Augusta National in 2021, is joined in the starting line-up for the 87th edition of the Georgia showpiece by compatriot Kazuki Higa.
Like Matsuyama and Higa, Koreans Kim Si-woo and Lee Kyoung-hoon, Australians Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox all took part in the AAC during their amateur days.
Also flying the flag for the region this week will be Australian Harrison Crowe, courtesy of his victory in the 2022 AAC at Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand.
Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), said: “It’s fantastic that we have such a strong presence of players from our region who have developed their games in our elite amateur events, such as the AAC.”
The AAC was created in February 2009 as a joint initiative to grow the game by the APGC, The Masters Tournament and The R&A. The champion receives an invitation to compete in the Masters Tournament and The Open, while the runner(s)-up gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
Matsuyama won the AAC in 2010 and 2011, while KH Lee (2010), Smith (2011) and Min Woo Lee (2017) all posted top-four finishes and Higa placed 10th in 2016.
From three AAC appearances, Fox had a best of tied 17th in 2011 while Kim tied for 46th that same year in what was the only occasion he played in the region’s premier male amateur tournament.
In becoming the third Australian AAC champion after Antonio Murdaca and Curtis Luck, 21-year-old Crowe earned invitations to both the Masters and The Open in 2023.
As well as his AAC victory, Crowe represented his country in the Eisenhower Trophy in France last year and became the first player to win both the New South Wales Amateur and Open in the same year since 1950 Masters runner-up Jim Ferrier accomplished the feat in 1938.
