Hong Kong-born Hiroshi Tai makes history as first Singaporean to play in Masters
The 23-year-old won his place by winning NCAA collegiate championship with Georgia Tech – also the alma mater of US golf great Bobby Jones
Hong Kong-born Hiroshi Tai will make history as the first Singaporean golfer to play in the Masters this week, but the 23-year-old can count on a strong Georgia connection to buoy his bid for low amateur honours at Augusta National.
Tai secured his place in the field for the year’s first major almost a year ago, when he won the NCAA collegiate championship representing Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech is also the alma mater of United States golf great and Augusta National co-founder Bobby Jones – and creates a link to this day between the club and Georgia Tech’s Yellow Jackets teams.
But Tai said on Monday that the drive down Magnolia Lane felt “a little different” when he was arriving to prepare for his first Masters.
“Obviously being at Georgia Tech, there’s a lot of history involved with the Masters with Bobby Jones being a founder and obviously he played at Georgia Tech, graduated from there,” Tai said.
“So there’s a lot of history at Georgia Tech and connected with the Masters. It has been a really cool experience. And driving down Magnolia Lane, not even today, just any other day, would be amazing. Definitely enjoying it a lot.”