Prodigy ... Adam Scott was always tipped for big things.Source:AAP
For a then 21-year-old Adam Scott, the thought of becoming the first Australian to win the Masters seemed almost inconceivable.
When Scott sat down for a chat with Fox Sports prior to his first Masters appearance 11 years ago, the level-headed youngster knew that learning to conquer the perilous greens of Augusta could take time.
"It would be great to happen, but I don't mind if it's this year or next year or in ten years - I'd just love to win it," Scott said.
Asked what it would mean to become the first Aussie to win the coveted green jacket, Scott replied: "I can't even imagine what it would be like right now and I probably couldn't even for weeks after I won it."
The now 32-year-old Queenslander will have plenty of time to evaluate exactly what it means to him after snapping Australia's Masters hoodoo on Monday.
One of the defining moments in Scott's final round was a seven-metre birdie putt on the 18th to eventually send the tournament to a playoff with 2009 champion Angel Cabrera.
It was a clutch right-to-left breaking putt Scott had seen made many times before, even back then at 21.
"You see it all the time so you can see some breaks. [Mark] O'Meara's putt I can see clearly in my mind when he won (in 1998), even Tiger's putt last year (2001) when he rolled that in, even though he didn't need to but he did.
"I don't know if I'm going to get out there and just remember the break off TV. It's probably a bit different when you've got the green jacket riding on the line."
Watch the full interview with Adam Scott ahead of his Masters debut in 2002.
Triumph ... Adam Scott ends Australia's Masters hoodoo.Source: Darron Cummings / AP
Thanks Cadel. Well played Adam. You have done us proud but your brilliance has left one question hanging in the air: Where to now?
Adam Scott's Masters win triggers the end of our yearly obsession with not winning it.
We won't miss those knotted stomachs on crisp Monday mornings but there is that delicate question of what should be the next object of our desire.
We have become the Coyote who caught the Road Runner, then wondered what to do with the rest of his life.
With Scott's win and Evans' Tour de France triumph, Australia's last big sporting curses have been cracked.
Life without a sporting hoodoo suddenly seems like chasing a stick without a carrot or a hook without a bait.
Or so we thought.
With the Masters in the bag it's time for Australia to go on a serious mountain climbing expedition searching for distant peaks without an Aussie flag at the summit.
What major sporting events should Australian athletes tackle? Tell us by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
Men's Olympic 100m: Don't hold your breath waiting for this one. Australia has had one man, Patrick Johnson, sneak under the 10 second barrier and he did it once.
Patrick Johnson's PB was 9.93secSource: AP
Jamaica's Asafa Powell has done it 88 times yet he still needs binoculars to keep Usain Bolt in focus when they race in that event.
Australia's only two medallists were bronze-winning Stanley Rowley in 1900 and Hec Hogan in 1956, but neither got as close as John Treloar in 1952. Treloar finished sixth but was only 0.1sec from the winner.
Runners of East African descent now dominate and it also helps that in countries like Jamaica, athletics is seen as a glamorous calling.
Unlike Australia, many rival nations are not beating off talent scouts from up to four football codes who can be seen at the Australian national athletics trials.
Gerard Daffy from TattsBet says: "I don't expect it to happen in my lifetime. Times in all events are improving but in events like this they are improving overseas much more than in Australia."
Men's and women's Olympic marathons: Don't give up on this one. At least we have some form. Robert de Castella was favourite for the 1984 Olympic marathon but ran fifth and four years later Lisa Ondieki snatched an Olympic silver in Seoul only 13sec behind Portuguese star Rosa Mota.
Only on Tuesday, Jeffrey Hunt ran eighth in the Boston Marathon.
But we don't run 10km to school like some Kenyans and our youngsters are not driven by the knowledge that marathon running can deliver them and their families from poverty to a comfortable life.
"We are a better chance here than the 100m but it's not going to be easy," Daffy said. "Our youngsters just don't run the same long distances that kids do in many African countries."
World Cup football: If Australia ever wins the World Cup, the celebrations would make Scott's Masters win seem like a monthly medal at his local club.
Iker Casillas hoists the FIFA World Cup trophy.Source: AP
The winners' honour roll is stocked with superpowers Brazil, Italy, France and Germany but Uruguay won it in 1950 and we did beat them on penalties 55 years later.
Australia has only made the main draw three times. Winning the entire thing seems fanciful, but that's what dreams are made of.
"I don't think it will ever happen," Daffy said.
"Logistically we are just so far away from where it is all happening.
"Just getting a team to gel when many are playing on the other side of the world makes it so hard and we don't have enough players with just one name like Fred or whose names end with 'vic'.
The Prix De l'Arc de Triomphe: "Not so much a race as a monument" is the slogan of the world's third-richest horse race in France, which has held a quirky fascination for Australians since Strawberry Road ran a tigerish fifth in 1984.
So You Think ran fourth as favourite two years ago but the problem with this race is that it clashes with Australia's own weight-for-age gem, the Cox Plate, in October.
"I don't think this race has really been on Australia's radar since Strawberry Road because there is too much happening over here," Daffy said. "I hadn't heard it mentioned for 10 years until it was floated for Its A Dundeel last week. He's a Kiwi but maybe we can claim him like we claimed Phar Lap."
World heavyweight boxing champion: We are talking true champions here rather than winners of titles you might pluck out of your breakfast cereal pack.
Australia almost hit the big time a century ago when Richmond Aussie rules player Bill Lang decked Canadian world champ Tommy Burns. A volcanic straight left in round two of their 1908 fight in a South Melbourne stadium dropped Burns but he rose to beat Lang into submission four rounds later.
"Australia has a lot of heavyweights, myself included, so the odds are not as big as you would think, particularly when they have a million different belts in boxing," Daffy said.
"But Australia's best boxers tend to be in lighter divisions."
Chance for glory ... who will master Augusta National this year?Source: FOX SPORTS
With three Australians within striking distance of the lead and debate raging over Tiger Woods's illegal drop, the 2013 Masters looks set to be one of the most memorable Augusta tournaments in recent memory.
After the action is done and dusted on Monday, Fox Sports golf expert Brett Ogle will answer all your questions in an exclusive live chat from 4pm (EST).
From the surprise performance of Marc Leishman to the incredible effort of 14-year-old Guan Tianlang, all the topics will be covered by Ogle, who made two appearances at the Masters in the 1990s.
So bookmark this page and return to chat Masters golf with one of Australia's foremost golfing experts - early birds can fire in questions for Brett by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
Great effort ... Guan was the only amateur in the field to make the cut.Source:AFP
Guan Tianlang's historic debut at the Masters ended on Sunday with a rousing reception from fans gathered around Augusta National's famous 18th hole.
Playing his final round in the company of 55-year-old Scot Sandy Lyle, the 1988 Masters champion, the 14-year-old Chinese schoolboy carded a three-over 75 which left him at 12-over 300 for the tournament.
At that stage, he was third from bottom of the 61-strong field that survived the cut, but Guan had already left an indelible mark on the tournament as the youngest player to compete in the Masters and the second youngest in any of the major tournaments.
Bogeys at the first, fifth and sixth had him reaching the turn in 39 and he dropped a further shot at the 11th before finally bagging a birdie at the par-5 13th, his first since sinking a putt from the edge of the 18th green in the first round.
Another birdie followed at the par-3 16th before he bogeyed 17 and parred 18, where he doffed his cap to the fans already clustered around the green in anticipation of the tournament climax still hours away.
"It's not easy to play here and make the cut and be the low amateur and I think I did a pretty good job,'' said Guan, who completed the tournament without a double bogey on his card and without a three-putt.
"I'm a little bit tired today - still a lot of things to improve. Short game is good, but could still get better and my driving has to get a little bit longer. Yes, everything needs to improve."
With the leaders yet to go out at that stage, the finale to Guan's first Masters largely went unnoticed, but he had already attracted the crowds and the plaudits by making the cut against all the odds with rounds of 72 and 73.
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus had all expressed their admiration for his stroke-making skills and composure in the line of fire, especially when he was handed a penalty stroke for slow play near the end of his second round.
Words of praise apart, there was silverware substance also for Guan in the form of the Silver Cup that goes to the top amateur, as long as he completes all 72 holes.
That was already a given since Friday evening as Guan's five amateur rivals all failed to make the cut.
That leaves the Guangzhou prodigy in illustrious company as past winners of the trophy include Ben Crenshaw, Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
Guan will return home to China to continue his studies and work on his game but he has already said he will try to qualify for the US and British Opens.
As to when he would turn professional, he said that that could wait.
"Haven't decided yet, but it won't be too early as a lot of things need to improve - nothing to rush."
Your putter, sir ... Wozniacki steals the show as McIlroy's caddy.Source: Matt Slocum / AP
Ted Potter set the stage for the 77th Masters by winning the traditional eve-of-tournament Par-3 Contest, while tennis star Caroline Wozniacki provided comic relief.
The 29-year-old American debutant carded a five-under 22 on the nine-hole par-three layout, which lies adjacent to the famed Augusta National course.
That left him in a five-way tie for the lead along with Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney and Ernie Els.
Potter then sealed a solo win on the second hole of the ensuing play-off against just Kuchar and Mickelson, the two others having opted out.
By winning, Potter invited the curse of the Par-3 contest to fall upon his head as, since 1960 when the family and friends knockabout was first held, no winner has gone on to win the green jacket four days later.
The glamour team of the day, however, was undoubtedly Rory McIlroy with his tennis-playing girlfriend Wozniacki on the bag, which produced the unlikely scenario of autograph hunters surrounding both player and caddie.
McIlroy and Wozniacki have been dating for the last 18 months and the Ulsterman has already tried his hand at his girlfriend's sport, playing a point against Maria Sharapova, opposing Wozniacki in an exhibition match in New York.
The Dane, a former world number one, has often been seen at McIlroy's side at tournaments when her own playing schedule allows, but this time she actually tried her hand at hitting a shot competitively.
As it turned out her swing was not up to the standard of her serve as her feeble effort off the tee at the ninth barely covered 10 yards before plopping into the water.
That still produced a consolation high-five from the watching McIlroy.
"Excited to be @mcilroyrory's first ever female caddie today," tweeted Wozniacki, who is not the first women's professional tennis star to caddie in this event. Chris Evert was on her then-husband Greg Norman's bag in 2009.
Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang was also in action ahead of his date with history on Thursday when, at just 14, he becomes the youngest-ever player at the Masters.
At the other extreme of the age span was the grouping of three former legends of the game - Arnold Palmer (83), Gary Player (77) and Jack Nicklaus (73).
"The Big Three" will be back at the course early Thursday as honorary starters when the tournament proper begins. It will be the second straight year all three have served together as starters.
The biggest cheer of the day went to two-time winner Ben Crenshaw (1984 and 1995) when he aced the 115-yard seventh hole.
Who's No.1? Tiger Woods takes the mantle once again.Source: Rob Carr / News Limited
Australia's greatest golfer, Greg Norman is best remembered for finishing second.
The Shark is arguably the most famous loser in The Masters history and once again he has been pipped at the post, except this time by a modern-day great.
Our users have voted Greg Norman's 1996 capitulation to Nick Faldo as the second-most memorable moment at Augusta behind Tiger Woods's miracle chip on the 16th hole in the 2005 version.
Norman never managed to win at Augusta and his bad luck could be traced back to 1986 when he was tied for second behind jack Nicklaus and 12 months later when Larry Mize beat him with an incredible shot on the second sudden-death playoff hole.
Woods's chip received 299 votes to edge the Norman-Faldo thriller on 245, with Tiger's first-ever green jacket in 1997 polling 135 votes.
Bubba Watson's win in 2012 finished fifth in the poll but perhaps if he ever gets his golf hovercraft on the Augusta fairways then there will be a change at the top.
Chance for glory ... who will master Augusta National this year?Source: FOX SPORTS
Will an Australian golfer finally win the Masters? Will Tiger Woods return the majors winners' list and win for a fifth time at Augusta? Will Bubba Watson be a back-to-back winner for the first time since Woods himself in 2002?
Re-live Fox Sports golf expert Brett Ogle's preview as he answered all your questions on the famous tournament held at Augusta National.
And once the Masters is done and dusted, Brett will return for another live chat at 4pm (EST) on Monday, April 15 to discuss where the 2013 edition was won and lost.
So bookmark this page and return to chat Masters golf with one of Australia's foremost golfing experts - early birds can fire in questions for Brett by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
Hunted ... Tigers Woods is wary of Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang.Source: Robyn Beck / AAP
Tiger Woods fears almost nothing in golf, but having 14-year-old Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang set to become the youngest starter in US Masters history has sent a shiver down his spine.
Guan had not been born when Woods won his first major title at the 1997 Masters, but the Asian schoolboy has been inspired by Woods and has spent the past month in Augusta preparing for his historic debut on Thursday.
"It's frightening to think that he was born after I won my first Masters," Woods said. "I mean, that's just frightening."
Woods, 37, played in his first Masters at age 19 and Italy's Matteo Manassero, at age 16 in 2010, had been the youngest player in Masters history until now.
Guan qualified for his historic moment at Augusta National Golf Club by winning last year's Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand.
"I'm so excited," Guan said. "I'm really happy to become the youngest player at the Masters."
Guan, a native of Guangzhou, was born on October 25, 1998 and has intently studied Woods, who has served as an inspiration for young talent globally in collecting 14 major wins, four shy of Jack Nicklaus' career record.
"It's exciting that I have inspired kids to play and not just here in the States but obviously in China and around the world," Woods said.
"The game has become global. There are more countries represented on the PGA Tour than ever.
"It's only going to increase, and we're going to have a lot of players from countries that traditionally haven't been into golf that are going to start to play this game at a high level."
Helping that cause has been golf's inclusion in the list of Olympic sports starting with the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.
"With the Olympics being involved, government funding is going to be involved trying to get these kids to that type of level, and that's only going to make it better for the game of golf."
That could put Woods and Guan, rivals this week for the green jacket symbolic of a Masters champion, on a collision course once again in three years for another epic prize - Olympic gold.
"It is every athlete's dream to represent their home country to compete at the Olympics," Guan told AFP last month.
"It will be the greatest honor to me if I can represent China at the 2016 Olympics, and I will definitely keep working hard on it."
Guan began playing at age four and won the world junior title by 11 shots in 2011 in San Diego. Last year, he became the youngest player in a European Tour event when he played the Volvo China Open at the age of 13 years and 177 days.
Facing the undulating greens of Augusta National and the intense spotlight of a major championship, Guan said making the 36-hole cut will be an achievement this week.
"It's an honour for me to be able to play with the best golfers in the world," Guan said.
"To me, the only goal is to enjoy the event and give my best and, of course, if I can make the cut that would be even better."
But Guan already hungers for the ultimate prize of every elite golfer around the world.
"I have a dream since I was a little boy," Guan said.
Chance for glory ... who will master Augusta National this year?Source: FOX SPORTS
Will an Australian golfer finally win the Masters? Will Tiger Woods return the majors winners' list and win for a fifth time at Augusta? Will Bubba Watson be a back-to-back winner for the first time since Woods himself in 2002?
Fox Sports golf expert Brett Ogle will be on hand for a live chat at 1pm (EST) on Thursday to answer all your questions on the famous tournament held at Augusta National.
And once the Masters is done and dusted, Brett will return for another live chat at 4pm (EST) on Monday, April 15 to discuss where the 2013 edition was won and lost.
So bookmark this page and return to chat Masters golf with one of Australia's foremost golfing experts - early birds can fire in questions for Brett by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
