Australia has produced a host of great golfers down the years, from Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle through to Greg Norman, Adam Scott and current World Number One Jason Day.
Amateur Curtis Luck will tee it up this week on home soil at the ISPS HANDA Super 6 Perth as he begins his journey to try to join that illustrious list in his hometown.
With a stunning career outside of the paid ranks and two impressive performances in the Desert Swing this season, the hugely talented 20 year old is already getting plenty of attention.
Here, we tell you all you need to know about Curtis Luck.
1. He qualified for the 2017 Masters twice over (sort of)
In a stellar 2016 campaign, Luck won both the US Amateur Championship and the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, both of which come with a place in the field at Augusta National. He won eight straight holes in the championship match against Brad Dalke at the fabled Oakland Hills to become the third Australian winner after Walter Travis (1903) and Nick Flanagan (2003) and joins the likes of Matthew Fitzpatrick, Peter Uihlein and Byeong-hun An as recent winners. He came from seven shots back to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur, which was also won by a certain Hideki Matsuyama in 2010 and 2011. Not bad company to be in.
2. He was part of the Australian team that won the Eisenhower Trophy last year
Keeping him in rarefied air, he won the respected biennial world amateur team golf championship, held every two years since 1958. Former winners include Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Alexander Levy, Romain Wattel, Joost Luiten, Luke Donald and Tiger Woods.
3. He’s the second top ranked amateur in the world
…after Stanford standout Maverick McNealy and he was named the 2016 ‘Emerging Athlete of the Year’ in the Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards at the tail-end of last year. He will lose that ranking when he turns professional after the Masters.
4. He already has a professional victory to his name
He may not be a pro yet but he's already taking them on, and beating them. He won the Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia last May by two shots, just down the road from Lake Karrinyup at the Western Australian Golf Club. "It means the world to me to win my State Open and as an amateur it's even better,” he said at the time. “To get on top of a professional field as an amateur, this would definitely be my best win."
I'm pretty comfortable in saying that I feel like I can compete at this level - Curtis Luck
5. He has a higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking than Tiger Woods
425 to Tiger’s 674. Started 2016 ranked just inside the top 1,000 but he'll have to go some way to match Woods' 683 weeks as Number One.
6. While Tiger is one of his golfing heroes, he's a huge fan of two winners of the Harry Vardon Trophy
"I've got two players that I look up to at the moment," he said. "Justin Rose, I really like his technical attributes, I think he's a great ball-striker and probably I would like to think that he's got a perfect swing almost. I really like the way Henrik Stenson has performed over the last couple of years and that cool factor that he brings to golf is pretty awesome as well."
7. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of his countrymen
“Adam Scott is another guy that I was fortunate enough to play with a few months ago,” he said. “Both him and Jason Day have had brilliant careers but are also really well known for being great guys out on Tour and that’s a big thing. To watch Adam win the Masters a few years ago and to see how Jason dominated in 2015 and 2016 is really inspiring for any Australian junior or amateur coming up through the ranks.”
8. He's a proud Aussie, and cites his upbringing here in Perth as key to his game
"I had grandparents that played and my dad played a bit when he was younger but wasn't playing too much," he said. "I guess I got a little bit of a taste for it and when I was about ten I fell in love with it, started doing some junior clinics and never looked back. I absolutely love coming back to Perth and living here. There's no place like home, perfect weather all year round. In particular for golf, I think it teaches you to play in all sorts of conditions. We play in the wind all year round which I think has been good for my development as a player."
9. He’s not overawed by much
“I guess it's pretty cool to float around the range and see some big names out there doing their thing but ultimately we've earned our spot in this field, so there's no reason why we should be intimidated," he added. "I'm pretty comfortable in saying that I feel like I can compete at this level.”
10. Golf was not his first sporting love
"I love my basketball," he said. "My family background was basketball. I still stay pretty involved in the NBA but I don't get to watch as many games as I'm travelling a lot. My family is quite injury prone so it's probably not a good combination with golf when you're trying to do it on the elite level but I will go and shoot a few hoops with my mates when I get the chance."
#FearTheBeard @CurtisLuck6 #lucky pic.twitter.com/wrsNPgmnxG
— Anthony Taranto (@TarantoAnthony) January 12, 2017
11. He has #FearTheBeard stamped on his wedges
It's his favourite hashtag and after shaving ahead of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, he said: “Fortunately I've got some good beard-growing genes, and it doesn't take long to come back.” Watch out Beef, you've got some competition
12. He has struck up a friendship with Ian Poulter
“I was fortunate enough to meet Terry, his caddie, at the US Amateur last year because he was caddying for one of my best mates in the US," he said. "Then three months down the track, I ended up playing with Ian in Macau and we set ourselves up for dinner and seemed to get along really well. Since then when we see each other, it's great to catch up. In between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, we spent pretty much the entire week playing with each other and practising. We went down to the Yas Marina circuit and drove Formula 3s, which was good fun, as well. He's a great role model. He's known for certain attributes. He does what he wants and he says what he feels. But I think he's a perfect guy to look at in the sense that he probably wasn't considered at a young age to be an absolute extraordinary golfer. He’s just dug deep and worked hard and it's paid off for him."
