Augusta, Georgia, United States: Singapore history-maker Hiroshi Tai will set off on his Masters Tournament debut alongside former champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and American Denny McCarthy.

With the conspicuous absence of reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner Ding Wenyi, 23-year-old Tai will fly the flag for the region’s elite amateur in the year’s first Major championship.

While China’s Ding passed up his opportunity to tread the hallowed fairways of Augusta National by relinquishing his amateur status after his success in Japan last October, Tai, a Georgia Tech junior, secured his starting spot at Augusta National by winning the 2024 NCAA Men’s Individual Championship.

Born in Hong Kong to a Singaporean father and a Japanese mother, Tai was introduced to golf in Singapore when he was four.

Twice he’s represented Singapore in the World Amateur Team Championships for the Eisenhower Trophy, while his sole AAC appearance came at Shanghai’s Sheshan International in 2019 when he tied for 14th ahead of Japan’s Keita Nakajima among others.

In January this year, Tai was part of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s triumphant team in the Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy against a European Golf Association side that included Spaniard Jose Luis Ballester, winner of last year’s US Amateur Open and one of the five amateurs in the field this week.

Although Tai was below his best in the United Arab Emirates, failing to contribute a single point, his presence and experience provided a lift to his team-mates.

That experience includes a debut in the US Open at Pinehurst last year.

This week, Tai becomes the first Singaporean to play in the Masters. “It means a lot to me because I’m obviously proud of where I’m from and have a lot of friends and family that live there. My parents still live there,” said Tai, who says playing top-level college golf at Georgia Tech has accelerated his progress.

In an interview with Agence France Presse, Tai said: “I think playing college golf, especially at the Division I level, you’re playing with some of the best amateurs in the world.

“A lot of them have had success on PGA Tour events as amateurs and as college players, so I think you’re really playing against some of the best players you can find at that level, and it has really helped me grow as a person and as a player in the past couple of years.”