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Wonder kid First Australian amateur to play in U.S. Masters
Posted: Wednesday December 29, 1999 01:59 AM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Teenaged golfer Aaron Baddeley will become the first Australian amateur to play in the U.S. Masters after receiving an invitation from Augusta on Wednesday. The 18-year-old Baddeley won the Australian Open championship at Royal Sydney in late November, beating a field that included Colin Montgomerie, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo. Baddeley became the first amateur Australian Open winner since American Bruce Devlin in 1960. The only other Australian amateur invited to play the Masters was Sydney's Harry Berwick, who won the New Zealand Open in 1956 but turned down the invitation to play at Augusta, Georgia because he couldn't afford the trip. Baddeley will be there in 2000, he said Wednesday, with the praise of South African veteran Gary Player ringing in his ears. "According to Gary Player, it suits my game, Augusta, because of my length," Baddeley said. "I give myself a decent chance if I play as good or better than I did at the Australian Open." Baddeley's father, Ron, said he believed Devlin had informed the Masters committee of the teenager's win in the Australian Open, which led to his invitation.
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