Buckinghamshire’s John Gough has made history by becoming the first Englishman to win the prestigious Australian Master of the Amateurs title.
The 2021 English Amateur Champion produced a stellar performance across the four days at Southern Golf Club in south-east Melbourne to finish four shots clear of the field on 15 under par.
The competition has previously featured future stars such as Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler and Gough will now proudly wear the tournament’s famous green jacket following his outstanding success.
Still conditions on the first day in the Melbourne sandbelt helped Gough to make the dream start as he shot a course record score of 64 (-8) in a round which included nine birdies. An afternoon start in gale-force winds on day two proved tricky as The Berkshire GC golfer dropped back following a two over par round of 74, but that wasn’t to be the end of the story. An impressive third round of 67 pushed Gough back to the top of the leaderboard as the heat intensified on and off the course and he held his nerve in the final round to shoot 68 and finish four shots clear of Scotland’s Gregor Tait.
The commitment to make the journey to Melbourne was a big one for Gough, but he was thrilled to get his rewards at the end of such a long trip. “It was obviously great to come to the other side of the world and get the win,” he said. “It was a challenge not only to travel as far as I did, but to play in the conditions I did so I’m delighted to get the win over here.
“Before coming over here my dad said that you do see all four seasons in Melbourne and I can completely agree with that now! I managed to get sunburnt and windburnt and we’ve seen some rain as well but obviously to have a completely still day on the first day and to shoot the course record, I was delighted with that.
“Day two was a completely different day, I teed off at 1.30pm and with all the wind we had, it was absolutely brutal. I managed to battle the elements though and it turned out well. I’m most proud that I’ve managed to battle the golf courses and some outstanding players in the field in tough conditions – the only things we didn’t see were snow and kangaroos!”
Australian Master of the Amateurs leaderboard