THE Masters, the world’s most famous golf championship that all players dream of winning, starts on Thursday (Friday, Manila) at Augusta National.
Since 1991, no Filipino — male or female — has played a competitive round at this iconic venue praised by media for its magnificent layout and for being one of the toughest tests in golf.
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That year, Frankie Miñoza — riding on the heels of a terrific season in Asia the year before, during which he won on the Asian Tour three times and topped its Order of Merit— was invited.
Frankie got to play two rounds. He was cut after shooting 78 in the first round, followed by a 75. His underwhelming rounds were attributed to the side effects of an eye-allergy medication. The winner that year was the Welshman Ian Woosnam.
Before Frankie, two other Filipinos received invitations to play at the Masters. Ben Arda played in 1962; Luis “Golem” Silverio, an amateur, also played the Augusta National in 1966. Both failed to make the weekend.
Our top women’s amateur, Rianne Malixi, got the chance to play the course three times. She qualified for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) in 2024, 2025, and 2026. But on all three occasions, she failed to test the course.
In the first instance, she was cut after 36 holes; in the second, she withdrew after a back injury; and in the third, which was only two weeks ago, she once again failed to make the cut.
At the ANWA, the first two rounds are played in a different course and only those who make the cut move forward to play Augusta National.
Why no Filipino has cracked the Masters ceiling since 1991, which is 35 years ago, could be attributed to the clearly high qualifying standards that Masters officials demand of participants.
Seldom does the field surpass 100. In this year’s Masters, only 91 players qualified, six of them amateurs selected after winning non-professional events designated by the organizers. Normally, in a full-field PGA Tour event, no less than 156 players compete.
Meeting strict qualifying standards is one thing, but perhaps another factor contributing to our Masters failure can be traced to our golf program, of which we have little or none at all.
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Thirty-five years without a Masters entry is a sad commentary on the state of the game in a country of more than 100 million people and with over 100 courses nationwide.
The failure is contrasted with the dramatic surge in the game locally, with more courses being built and opening up, and with many folk taking up the game like they are taking a trip to the supermarket.
Maybe these courses, new and old alike, are not really there to develop and grow the game, but to swell the pockets of organizers, course developers, and entrepreneurs out to ride on the golf addiction sweeping the country.
The attraction of the game has captured the attention of top-level executives, middle-class folk, and — surprise! — young ladies, where once the female players were mainly older women of leisure and village-bred homebodies.
Proving golf’s popularity, prices of club membership have ballooned, equipment costs have risen, and fees for greens, caddies, and practice facilities have become steeper, a reality that has already dawned on regular hackers.
One might think that the current boom would translate into discovering new talent or get the usual local stars shining on the international scene, a major step toward a Masters invitation.
None of that has happened.
With the increasing cost of playing the game, where fees even at public courses are already too high for many to afford, there is little chance for grassroots golf to grow.
Green fees at military courses, which are public — such as Villamor, Aguinaldo, Navy, and Veterans — cost a minimum of P1,500. This amount does not include caddies, carts, food, and tips. You may need to buy gloves and balls. A round may cost between P4,000-P5,000. Conservatively, if you play twice a week, that is P8-10K.
With these numbers, what we’re probably creating are not future champions, but simply a new breed of leisure-seekers and, maybe, a new breed of dilletantes who, chancing on a bandwagon, just jumped into it.
There are shining moments, though: Miguel Tabuena, the country’s top golfer, won the International Series Philippines held October 2025 at Sta. Elena.
Tabuena did join LIV Golf after that and its promise of a professional upgrade, but all he really managed to do was improve his financial situation. Happy for him, but professionally not the best news, because he has always finished near the bottom of the 57-player field.
The Masters, thus, remains elusive for our top golfer, who must, among the many criteria, get into the Top 50 in the world to get invited. If such is the case with Tabuena, who is ranked No. 265, imagine how somber things look for Filipino players below him.
And so, us fans, we again settle for simply rooting for our favorite foreign golfers when the Masters begins on Friday. To be redundant — it would have added real excitement if a Filipino were in the field!
Then it’s worth waking up past midnight to follow that one Filipino’s journey. Our hope is that this happens soon.
But with or without a Filipino there, hey, the Masters is worth watching.
Wake up, everyone.
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