US Masters Amateurs have featured on the leaderboard in the past but how do the class of 2017 stack up? We take a look at the 2017 US Masters amateurs to see who is most likely to feature
The Five 2017 US Masters Amateurs In The Field
The 2017 US Masters is set to feature five amateurs in the field. No amateurs have ever won The Masters but they have come close – Frank Stranahan in 1947, Ken Venturi in 1956 and Charlie Coe in 1961 all finished as runner up. This year’s group of non-professionals are more professional than ever, qualifying through impressive performances on the world amateur circuit.
Read our US Masters Betting Tips 2017
At the 2015 Open Championship amateur Paul Dunne lead after 54 holes, and last year’s world number one ranked amateur Jon Rahm has already won on the PGA Tour and is up to a mind-boggling 14th in the world less than a year after turning pro. So whilst they come into the Masters with long odds, don’t count the following players out just yet, there is talent in abundance.
The story of the 2016 Masters:
Curtis Luck
WAGR (World Amateur Golf Ranking): 2
How he qualified: Winning 2016 US Amateur Championship and 2016 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
Curtis Luck with the Havemeyer Trophy after winning the US Amateur Championship on the South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club on August 21, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
The Australian features in our 10 players to watch in 2017. Impressively, Luck has qualified from two different avenues, having won both the US Amateur and Asian Pacific Amateur in 2016.
He has qualified for The Masters, The US Open and The Open, although he has hinted that he may turn pro after Augusta. The 20-year-old reached the summit of the World Amateur Golf Ranking in March 2017, before being overtaken by Maverick McNealy.
Luck already has a pro victory – winning the 2016 Western Australian Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia. He has had a busy start to 2017, playing in a number of pro events including the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the Maybank Championship, the ISPS Handa World Super 6 and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he was DQ’d after signing for a wrong score in the second round.
Related: BBC announce 2017 Masters coverage
Scott Gregory
WAGR: 8
How he qualified: Winning the 2016 Amateur Championship
Scott Gregory with the trophy after winning the 2016 Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl, Wales. (Photo by Matthew Horwood)
22-year-old Gregory, from Waterlooville near Portsmouth, Hampshire won the 2016 Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl to qualify for The Masters, The US Open and The Open. The +4 handicapper beat Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre 2&1 in the final. The Englishman is the only European amateur in the field for The Masters.
Brad Dalke
WAGR: 96
How he qualified: Runner-up at the 2016 US Amateur Championship
Dalke in action during the 2016 US Amateur Championship. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
Dalke, from Oklahoma, currently plays his golf at the University of Oklahoma, following in the footsteps of 2004 Open Champion Todd Hamilton and Ryder Cupper Anthony Kim. The American played in the 2016 Valero Texas Open on the PGA Tour, missing the cut. He lost out 6&4 to Curtis Luck in the final of the 2016 US Amateur Championship.
Related: David Cannon: My best Masters pictures
Toto Gana
WAGR: 161
How he qualified: Winning the 2017 Latin America Amateur Championship.
Toto Gana wins Latin America Amateur Championship
The youngest amateur in the field for the 2017 Masters, 19-year-old Toto Gana from Chile won the third Latin America Amateur Championship by birdieing the second playoff hole to beat his countryman and close friend Joaquin Niemann and Mexico’s Alvaro Ortiz at Club de Golf de Panama.
Stewart Hagestad
WAGR: 686
How he qualified: Winning the 2016 US Mid-Amateur Championship
The American was four down with five holes to play in the championship match of the US Mid-Amateur against the higher-ranked Scott Harvey before winning on the first extra hole at Stonewall Links in Pennsylvania.
25-year-old Hagestad became the second youngest US Mid-Amateur champion in the history of the event.
From Southern California, Hagestad moved to New York to work in finance and has no plans to turn pro “I loved golf, I loved competitive golf but it became pretty clear after my sophomore year that I was going to do something else with my career professionally. What I found out in college was just how good these kids are.”
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