‘It’s going to be amazing’: McClean embraces Masters after amateur win

I t started in an Airbnb in rural Wisconsin. Matt McClean’s journey will continue with a Thursday tee time at Augusta National. At the age of 29 McClean is determined to relish rubbing shoulders with the world’s best at the 87th Masters.

McClean’s victory at the US Mid-Amateur Championship last September earned him a Masters spot. The Belfast player – McClean is attached to Malone Golf Club – travelled to Erin Hills with his fellow Irishman Hugh Foley. The pair ended up meeting in the final for the highest of stakes; McClean is also now eligible for June’s US Open.

“Throughout that week I was trying to think about it as little as possible,” says McClean of the Mid-Amateur’s bigger prize. “You try to push what you are playing for to the back of your mind. I birdied the 12th to go five up in the final and thought to myself, ‘You’ve only got one hole here and it can be finished.’ Hugh duly went birdie, birdie, birdie.

“As soon as he conceded my putt on 17 I knew I was playing in the Masters but it didn’t really sink in. It’s strange, you know you are going to play but until the invitation dropped just before Christmas it was all a bit surreal.”

The Mid-Amateur had been flagged to McClean and Foley early last year, on the basis that the lower age limit is 25 as opposed to 30 as it is in Ireland. “There was definitely an element of the unknown,” McClean recalls. “The main reason really was what you get for winning it.

“I had never played in America before. But on the [amateur] world rankings I was fifth in the field and Hugh was seventh or eighth. So I felt that gave us a chance, I never thought I would go there and be miles off the pace. We both wanted to and thought we could compete but getting to the final probably