The Masters Tournament, one of golf’s most iconic and storied events, it captures the imagination of golf enthusiasts around the world, held annually during spring time at Augusta National Golf Club, it is considered one of the best events on the golf schedule each year.
Beyond the competitive spectacle and the scenery fairways of Augusta, this iconic tournament also serves as a showcase case of global talents, in its 88th edition held this week, players from 23 countries are competing, all of them dreaming of the green jacket given to the winner.
Players from all continents are represented, dominated by players from North America with 56% of this year’s field, Europe having 20% (the lowest in over a decade), Asia is well presented with various players from Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The continent with the lowest representation is Africa with three players only, one of them is an Amateur.
The global reach of the sport doesn’t seem equally represented in this year’s field, with 5 Amateur getting invitations and two special invitations, the golf rankings seems to be exclusively serving the players on the PGA Tour.
The question that keeps getting asked: Are we ever going to see an Arab Competing at Augusta?
With the huge investments directed towards golf in the Middle East and North Africa, the question is becoming more obvious, why there is no talent capable of competing at the highest stages of golf around the world.
The reasons we didn’t see an Arab at the highest level are multifaceted, one significant factor could be the development stage of golf in Arab countries, countries like UAE, Saudi and Morocco are investing huge amounts on the sport especially for the touristic side of it. The most important factor is the limited access to training facilities, golf tends to be very expensive in the region and most of the population cannot afford to play golf, limited high-level training centers and golf academies might also hinder the emergence of arab golf talent.
World class investments from Saudi on LIV Golf was a sign that we will face a significant shift in the sport’s popularity in the region, hosting world class events and the beauty players in the world will also accelerate the adoption of the sport regionally. But without masses access to the game facilities, it will be a while until we see someone at Augusta.
The dream of having an Arab player teeing it up at Augusta seems far away at the moment, but without dreams nothing can be achieved, let’s dream of seeing the iconic 12th hole at Augusta played by an Arab champion.
