Who are the amateurs at the 2018 Masters?

Here’s a look at the amateurs competing at the 2018 edition of The Masters.

While The Masters isn’t the only major championship to include amateur players — only the PGA Championship is solely for professionals — there is a certain sense of pride that comes with an amateur playing at Augusta National. After all, it was Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur player the sport of golf has ever known, that helped design Augusta and get this tournament going back in 1934.

It’s highly unlikely that an amateur will ever win The Masters — there have been three runner-up finishes, none since 1961 — but it’s always great to see these guys walking the grounds and competing. For some, it will be the only time they’ll ever play in this event. For others, this is the final chapter of an amateur career before turning pro, as it is with some of the guys in the field this week. Whatever the case may be, amateurs have a rich history at Augusta National and six players will look to continue that tradition this week.

Let’s take a look at the list of amateurs competing at The Masters in 2018.

Harry Ellis

The story of Harry Ellis is quite the emotional one. He was one of the hottest things in amateur golf in 2012 after winning the English Amateur at the age of 16, breaking Nick Faldo’s record of as the youngest to do so, but tragedy struck two years later when he lost his mother to cancer. After contemplating giving up the game, Ellis kept his scholarship at Florida State. As a junior, he now finds himself playing The Masters for the first time after winning The Amateur Championship last year, becoming just the third player to win both the English Amateur and The Amateur Championship. That title also gained him entry into The Open Championship last year but he missed the cut with rounds of 77 and 75. He’s currently ranked 31st in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He’s a long shot to make the cut but just him being here is a victory.

Doug Ghim

After securing a spot at The Masters by making the finals at last year’s U.S. Amateur, Doug Ghim seemed to have the title locked up until Doc Redman got hot and came back from two down with two holes to play to secure the championship. Ghim is still the better player and with two wins since then, he’s jumped to fourth in the amateur rankings and should make a run at making the cut this week at Augusta. Ghim is currently a senior at the University of Texas and was the Big 12 Player of the Year as a junior. He soaked up some knowledge from former Longhorn Jordan Spieth in a practice round recently and will be one of four players from UT in the field of 87.

Yuxin Lin

The youngest player in The Masters field at just 17, Yuxin Lin found his way to The Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur last fall at Royal Wellington Golf Club in New Zealand with a final-round 6-under 65. With a number of professional events to his credit, including an impressive tie for seventh at the Hainan Open last year on the European Challenge Tour, Lin is looking to become just the second Asian to win low amateur at Augusta. 14-year-old Guan Tianlang took that honor back in 2014.

Joaquin Niemann

This is the guy to watch. Currently ranked the number one amateur in the world, a spot he’s held since last May after six early wins in 2017, 19-year-old Joaquin Niemann earned his spot at Augusta by winning the Latin America Amateur Championship in his hometown of Santiago, Chile. He had actually planned to turn pro after the event but his five-stroke victory earned him the invite to The Masters and he wasn’t turning that down. He does plan to turn pro immediately following the tournament, which will eliminate his exemptions to the final stages of qualifying for the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, but he’s ready to make some money. He likely would earn a nice check this week as I think he’s going to do quite well and be the low amateur. He’s got a ton of game and he’ll get to showcase that alongside 1992 Masters champ Fred Couples and Haotong Li over the first two days.

Matt Parziale

This is a phenomenal story. While the rest of the field focuses mainly on golf, 30-year-old Matt Parziale spends a lot of his time worrying about saving lives as a firefighter in Massachusetts. As the 224th-ranked amateur in the world, Parziale won the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year and will look to regain the form that made him a three-time All-American and national champion at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. He’s unlikely to make the cut but it makes for a great Masters story.

Doc Redman

Finally, we have U.S. Amateur champion Doc Redman, the Clemson sophomore who came from two holes down with two holes to go at Riviera and then won the first playoff hole to claim the title. Redman is currently ranked 34th in the amateur rankings and is coming off of a made cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Sure, he finished 71st but making the cut with that strong field is quite the accomplishment. He still comes in below Niemann and Ghim as a pick for low amateur but he’s already proven that he can overcome the odds and perform. He’ll tee it up with reigning Masters champ Sergio Garcia and world No. 2 Justin Thomas on Thursday and Friday. How’s that for pressure?

Next: Top 10 shots in Masters history

Who do you have taking low amateur at The Masters? Can any of them actually win? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.

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