Around the European Tour: British Masters Returns This Fall Supported by Sky Sports

By Matt Hooper | Mar 11, 2015

Mar 2, 2015; Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA; Ian Poulter tees off on the 18th hole during the final round of the Honda Classic at PGA National GC Champion Course. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

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Editor’s Introduction: ProGolfNow is most pleased to introduce our newest contributor, Matt Hooper. Matt is the founding co-editor of St Andrews Golf Magazine and will be providing a monthly column to ProGolfNow highlighting the European Tour. I know you’ll enjoy his sweeping command of all things related to golf and if once a month isn’t enough you can get additional golf commentary and news from Matt and his other contributors at St Andrews Golf Magazine. Welcome to ProGolfNow, Matt! Elizabeth Bethel

After an absence of 7 years it was confirmed this week that the British Masters will return to the European Tour schedule.

The tournament was one of the longest running and most prestigious in European golf after The Open, and has a history to rival any tournament outside the majors. First played in 1946, the tournament was the first to use the ‘Masters’ moniker after the Augusta National Invitational became The Masters in 1935. Bobby Locke, 4-time Open champion, tied for the first title with Jimmy Adams in 1946 and the tournament has continued with iconic winners throughout the years.

British Masters lookback

Norman Von Nida, Harry Bradshaw, Dai Rees, Max Faulkner, Christy O’Connor Junior, Bernard Hunt and 5-time Open Champion Peter Thomson were among the winners in the first 20 years of the event.

Then in 1967 future Open and US Open champion Tony Jacklin was victorious at Royal St George’s and recorded the first televised hole-in-one on British television at the 165-yard par three 16th hole en route to the title.

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It was during the 1980’s that the tournament went to the next level with Bernhard Langer, Greg Norman, Ian Woosnam, Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo winning the title, combining for 8 wins in 9 editions.

In the 1990’s newcomers like Robert Allenby, Peter Baker and Bob May were crowned the British Master, along with the European Tour’s dominant figure of the decade, Colin Montgomerie. The highlight of the first decade of the new century came in 2002 when Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, in their early years on the tour, dueled at Woburn for the title. Rose won by a single shot at Poulter’s home course.

Lee Westwood. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

The tournament’s final three years were staged at The Belfry and Lee Westwood won in 2007 before losing out in a playoff against Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in 2008. ISM took up management of the event from 2003 until the landscape of professional golf changed with the PGA Tour introducing the FedEx Cup, and the event struggled to attract the once stellar field it had regularly drawn during the 1980’s.

Now, with the help of four star British golfers and the leading golf broadcaster in the UK, the British Masters is set to return this October.

Sky put their money where their mouth is

Justin Rose. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Fresh off signing an historic deal to broadcast The Open from 2017, Sky Sports have stepped up their investment in the British game by becoming presenting sponsor and supporting partner of the British Masters. Sky Sports will work with The European Tour and its leading players to engage and excite new and existing golf fans through its on-air coverage, promotion and staging of the event.

Luke Donald. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Ryder Cup players Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood will each take it in turn to host the prestigious tournament and will help to select the venue each year. This is the second prestigious event from yester-year to return to the European Tour, after the announcement the European Open will be played in Germany this September.

"Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: “As the home of televised golf, we are proud to take our commitment to the next level by bringing back the British Masters. We hope that the support and investment of Sky Sports will make the tournament popular with new and existing golf fans both at Woburn and at home.”"

Three-time European Tour winner Nick Dougherty has agreed to become an Ambassador for Sky Academy, and will help engage young golfers across a range of different activities, including working with Sky Sports Living For Sport.

The support of Sky Sports for the British Masters is another landmark for the broadcaster, becoming the first US or UK broadcaster to sponsor a leading event on either the European or PGA Tours.

Autumn on the European Tour

This adds another event to an already strong autumn on the European Tour, starting at the European Open in Germany this September. The European Open also has a strong history on the Tour, and is followed by a second visit of 2015 to the home of golf, with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The British Masters is the final event on British soil before the tour heads to Portugal and Hong Kong ahead of the Final Series.

With Poulter, Rose, Donald and Westwood almost guaranteed to be in action at Woburn it does remain to be seen just how many other stars of the game touch down just north of London this autumn. With The Presidents Cup being played in Korea in the same week, almost all of the leading American, South African and Australian players will be unavailable, but other stars could be enticed to return to the UK.

Rory McIlroy will likely play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which follows the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs, so may not play. The likes of Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera and Retief Goosen are currently outside the qualifying mark for the International team and Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney, Brooks Koepka and Keegan Bradley are all outside the top ten for the US team too.

I for one cannot wait for this iconic British event to return and with the help of Britain’s stars (maybe even recruiting the likes of Darren Clarke, Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher to host future editions across the entire United Kingdom) and the money and influence of Sky, the British Masters can become one of the great events in golf once again.

Visit me at St Andrews Golf Magazine for more news and commentary on the European Tour.

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