Greg Chalmers contemplates a possible selection for the Masters next year
Greg Chalmers, winner of the Australian Open at The Lakes Sydney and the Australian PGA Championship at the scenic Hyatt Regency Resort, is weighing his option to play at the coveted Masters at Augusta, next year. The 38-year-old Aussie is now contemplating
to lift one of the most celebrated Australasia titles, the Australian Masters at Victoria Golf Club starting on December 15, thereby qualifying for the legendary Masters field next year.
For the moment, he has done everything right to deserve the same. "I will still spend time with the family in Perth after the tournament but it was more important to have a crack at the Triple Crown and try and sneak into the top 50 in the world by the end
of the year, which will be huge," he said.
Chalmers is currently poised at Number 63 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and hopes to break into the top-50, as then he will automatically qualify for the event. He started off the year, from 156 on the OWGR but has now soared to his current
position with his back-to-back victories in a matter of one month. Had there been more points allotted to the Australian Tour, Chalmers would have comfortably made it into the top-50.
He is more than complacent with his current position and hopes to continue with his recent strong performance and win the Australian Masters. He admits that the victories on the Australian turf may not have sufficient points to enable him to surge higher
on the OWGR, but these wins definitely come with much needed financial capital.
"There are lots of reasons for playing, it is the right thing to do and there are a lot of bonuses that come with winning the money list in Australia.”
Chalmers started off his professional career in 1995 when he turned professional after his blistering amateur career and pulled in several stellar victories on the Australian Tour to be ranked as the top Aussie player of the sport. He carded four wins through
1995 and 1998 including the Australian Open.
He remained part of the PGA Tour’s subsidiary, the Nationwide Tour and the European Tour’s Challenge Tour, winning several titles in the course of time. He won the 1997 Challenge Tour Championship and soared to the 25th on European Tour Order
of Merit in 1998.
Chalmers defeated the raging Robert Allenby and Marcus Fraser on the first Playoff hole, after all three finished for an impressive 12-under, 276 on the aggregate. While Allenby and Fraser failed to even-par the 18th, Chalmers comfortably clinched
the title with an even-par.
He said, "I was surprised to see that a par was good enough, but that's how it goes sometime in a playoff," Chalmers said after the tournament.
Chalmers took over a field which included high-profile players including Tiger Woods, countrymen, Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley and 2009 PGA Championship winner, Y. E Yang.
In his four appearances in any major event since 1998, Chalmers was able to post only one strong finish, a joint fourth at the PGA Championship in 2000. He was able to qualify for the Masters in 2001 but failed to make the halfway cut.
The Australian Masters also known as JBWere Masters is scheduled to start from December 15. Australian Stuart Appleby is the defending champion of the title he won at the Victoria Golf Club last year.
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