Sacramento’s Champ earns berth for 2023
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Scottie Scheffler can play in the Masters forever now. That’s a perk that comes with winning at Augusta National.
Cameron Champ can play at Augusta National in 2023. For him, that was a win as well.
The Sacramento native finished tied for 10th at the Masters, and that means he’ll be invited back next season. Augusta National has plenty of ways for players to qualify — wins, world ranking, performance in other majors — plus rewards for those who do especially well at the Masters. Anyone in the top 12 one year can come back the following year.
“It’s huge,” said Champ. “This year has been just a whirlwind really for me, with my injury to trying to play through the first four, five events to now feeling pretty decent the last few months. My game is going in the right direction.”
Champ shut down his season last fall while dealing with a left wrist injury. He came into the weekend ranked No. 133 in the world. He hadn’t had so much as a top-40 finish in 2022. A Masters return, barring a victory somewhere in the next 12 months, wasn’t a certainty.
“Everything I’m dealing with off the course is finally going right, so first and foremost, that’s the most important,” Champ said. “It’s just life, man. I’m learning as I go. Right now, I’m just in a great spot.”
Tiger watch: Tiger Woods said he will go to St. Andrews in mid-July to play the British Open.
It’s unclear whether he’ll play before then — including the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May and the U.S. Open at Brookline in June.
“I am looking forward to St. Andrews,” Woods said in his post-Masters interview with Sky Sports. “That is something that is near and dear to my heart. I’ve won two Opens there. It’s the home of golf. It’s my favorite golf course in the world. So, I will be there for that one. But anything in between that, I don’t know. I will try.”
Woods won British Opens at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005. He played when the Open was last there in 2015 but missed the cut by eight strokes.
Briefly: It might be an ideal weekend for sports fans: see a Premier League soccer match one day, attend the Masters the next. Harry Kane did it one better. Kane played in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday — and he attended the Masters on Sunday . ... The next Masters takes place April 6-9, 2023. … There was no silver cup presented to the low amateur this year because none of the six who were in the field to start the week made the cut.