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.[1]
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.[1]
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."[2]
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 1Tiger Woods would play in the 2009 event at its new venue, Kingston Heath.[3] 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.[4]
The event is owned by IMG.[5] The event was not played in 2016 and its future is reported to be in doubt.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
The following venues have been used since the founding of the Australian Masters in 1979.
