Day The Contender

In 2013. Now the race is on for a second Augusta triumph...

t was always a dream of yours to be the first Australian to win The Masters. That’s now gone, but I’d imagine the hunger hasn’t?

Regardless of whether it comes this year, or ten years from now, I’ll be thrilled. Winning any of the four Majors is a huge accomplishment, but the Masters I hold a little closer to my heart. Watching Tiger win it in 1997 changed my life; it really inspired me to aim for a Green Jacket in my own career. Being so close myself in 2011 and 2013 has made me hungrier than ever. Masters can change in a heartbeat. In 2016, I started Sunday on the same score as Danny Willett. Danny played some tremendous golf that day. There have been so many Masters final rounds – like Greg Norman or Rory Mcilroy – where someone’s had a big lead but something goes wrong. You’re never really out of the fight at Augusta, even though you feel like you are.

Donning a Green Jacket would put you in elite company as a multiple Major Champion. How much is that a career goal you focus on?

It would be truly amazing. But I don’t want to be done with just two Majors. It’s a huge goal, obviously, but I want to win the [career] Grand Slam. There have only been five guys who have done it, so it would be a special place in history to share.

CThe Butler Cabin Directly after winning the tournament, the champion will be swiftly directed to the Butler Cabin, where he’s presented with his Green Jacket for the first time by the previous year’s winner. For the rest of the year, it can be used as a place to stay for members and their guests.

GThe Par 3 Course and Ike’s Pond

After a suggestion from Augusta National member Dwight D Eisenhower, a fishing lake was created in 1949 and stocked with bass and bream. It is known as Ike’s Pond and is now an integral part of the Par 3 Course, which hosts the annual curtain raiser on the Wednesday of Masters week.