Sugrue set for Oman Open as Masters countdown begins

James Sugrue in action in the Carey Cup in New Jersey last year. Picture © MGA

Making the cut in the Masters is every amateur’s dream but for James Sugrue the battle to make the cut and land one of his eight golden tickets for Augusta National looks just as testing.

The Amateur champion (23) received his coveted invitation in the post on Friday and while he’s already earmarked most of his tickets, the final cut has yet to be decided.

“It was lovely to get the invitation, even though I was expecting it to come any day,” the Mallow man said yesterday.

“All my post actually goes to Sugrue’s Furniture on Bride St in Mallow but my auntie forgot to bring it home so I didn't actually get it until Saturday morning. It was a special moment to get it and then open it.

“The only downside is that the amateurs in the field only get eight tickets,” he added with a chuckle. “So the tough part now is deciding who gets them.

“Mam and Dad have to get one, and then there’s my sister Michelle and my girlfriend Christina. Then there's a close family friend and the Irish team captain John Carroll.  

James Sugrue’s invitation to the 2020 Masters Tournament

“After that I am not too sure. I may leave it up to my mother to help with that. It's a pity we don't get a few more invitations because I am sure I could find a home for them.”

The destiny of the final two tickets might be a mystery for now but Sugrue is grateful that Conor Dowling, who caddie for him in the Amateur and The Open will get a pass of his own as his official bagman for the opening major of the season from April 9-12.

Sugrue missed the cut by a shot when he made his major debut at Royal Portrush last July. But while Joe Carr remains the only Irish amateur to make the cut at Augusta,  playing all four rounds in 1967 and 1968, Sugrue has high hopes.

“I'll just go and try to enjoy it and hopefully I will be there or thereabouts when the time comes,” he said, admitting that winning the Silver Cup awarded to the leading amateur in the Butler Cabin as an Irishman receives the green jacket would be the dream scenario.

“That would be lovely,” said Sugrue, who is one of eight Irish players heading for the African Amateur (3-6 Feb) at Leopard Creek and the South African Stroke Play (10-13 Feb) at Randpark. “It would be great to go one better than Portrush and the Masters is my favourite tournament of the year.”

Sugrue has plans to turn professional, possibly later this year, but for now he’s looking forward to Masters and then the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village before the US Open at Winged Foot in June.

He is not yet sure if he will receive an invitation for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in the run up to Augusta but he will certainly get to play alongside the professionals before heads down Magnolia Lane as he has secured an invitation for the European Tour’s Oman Open at  Al Mouj Golf in Muscat from February 27 to March 1. 

He’ll also play the reigning US Amateur champion Andy Ogletree in the traditional Georgia Cup match athe Golf Club of Georgia in the run-up to the Masters.