Ian Gilligan, a one-shot winner of the men’s championship at the 2025 Australian Master of the Amateurs.
AMERICAN Ian Gilligan and Hyojin Yang of South Korea have held off the challenge of the Australian contingent to win the men’s and women’s Master of the Amateurs titles.
Played at the Southern Golf Club on the Melbourne sandbelt, Gilligan birdied the final hole to beat local hope Kai Komulainen, while Yang shot a final round of even par 73 to jump 54-hole leader Ella Scaysbrook and win the women’s championship.
The tournament boasts past winners in the male division including Phoenix Campbell, Harrison Crowe, David Micheluzzi, US tour stars Sahith Theegala and Aaron Wise, as well as Jason Day who was the event champion in 2006.
Rianne Malixi from the Philippines, third behind Yang this year, went on to win the US Women’s Junior and US Women’s Amateur titles after her Master of the Amateurs victory in 2024.
The 2025 Master of the Amateurs attracted 168 elite amateur competitors from 20 countries from all over the world, including golfers from the US, Japan, Korea, China, the UK and South Africa.
Young Korean Hyojin Yang was steady down the stretch in claiming women’s title at the Master of the Amateurs.
Gilligan recorded rounds of 68-64-70-72 for a 14-under par winning total, one ahead of the Gold Coast’s Komulainen who birdied the 16th and 17th holes to tie for the lead, before the 21-year-old Gilligan, a senior at the University of Florida, made a long birdie putt on the par-four 18th.
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” the American said of his 72nd hole heroics. “Under that pressure to make a putt like that, it’s great.”
Harry Takis finished in solo third place at 12-under, Jye Halls was fourth at eight-under, with Billy Dowling and Coby Carruthers tied fifth at seven-under.
Komulainen in round one and Gilligan the following day, tied the Southern course record with eight-under par scores of 64.
As for the 17-year-old Yang, a member of the South Korean national team in 2024, who was set to remain in the country to compete in the adidas Australian Amateur the following week, it was her first significant tournament victory.
Yang made seven consecutive pars in the run home on the last day in shooting rounds of 72-70-71-73 for a six-under total, two shots ahead of Scaysbrook, the Newcastle golfer closing with a 77 in Monday’s final round. Defending champion Malixi finished third, three shots from the winner.
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