During his press conference on the eve of the 90th Masters, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley provided perhaps his most full-throated support of the R&A and USGA’s decision to roll back golf ball distance.
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said a surge in the percentage of international players competing in the Masters in recent years was the inspiration to award the winners of the Australian Open and five other national opens a spot into the April major in the future.
The Australian Open has been given an enormous boost by being named as one of a handful of national championships that will award the champion an invitation to the Masters, after a bombshell announcement by Augusta National and the R&A.
There was plenty of big news from Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley’s press conference on the eve of the 89th Masters, many of which he brought up before any questions were asked by those packed into the media interview room.
While the CBS’ final-round ratings followed the trend in 2024 of being down from the previous year, some interactions and observations from being at this year’s Masters eased this writer’s mind.
Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland has encouraged golf’s powerbrokers to consider the idea to award the Australian Open winner an exemption into all four majors, saying it would “elevate our event and our tour”.
Ridley noted the club has the ability to offer special invitation to international players that allows it to account for LIV players who deserved attention, albeit in a subjective way.
The less-than-casual angle to it is that this visit probably provides a good indication that Woods is feeling healthy enough to compete in the 88th Masters when it begins on April 11.
Augusta National Golf Club has extended a special invitation to LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann, as well as Ryo Hisatsune and Thorbjorn Olesen, to the 2024 Masters tournament.
Australian Golf Digest
