Northwestern University Athletics
Dillon Dougherty and Luke Donald in Masters This Week
4/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 5, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern senior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) will not be with his Wildcat teammates this week as they prepare for and play in the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind.
While the Wildcats make the short drive from Evanston down I-65, Dougherty is almost 600 miles away in Augusta, Ga., preparing for the biggest golf tournament of his young career -- the Masters. Dougherty joins former Wildcat and 1999 NCAA individual champion, Luke Donald, in this year's field. Donald is currently a member of the PGA Tour, and NU head coach Pat Goss is still his swing coach.
The 23-year-old Dougherty finished as the 2005 US Amateur runner-up, falling 4 and 3 to Italy's Edoardo Molinari. As a result of their finish, both players received and accepted honorary one-year invitations to play in the 70th Masters, which is hosted at Augusta National, one of the most famed courses in the world.
The five amateurs in the field are competing for more than just the Masters title and a green jacket (no amateur has ever won the Masters). They are playing for the Silver Cup which has been awarded to the low amateur since 1952. In order to qualify for the award, an amateur must make the 36-hole cut.
"The only expectation I have is to enjoy it as much as I can," Dougherty said. "I'd love to make the cut, I'd love to be there Sunday, and I'd love to be the low amateur and be in the ceremony Sunday night, but I want to enjoy it. That's the main thing."
Dougherty has known where he would be this week since late August of last year. The final details were set on Tuesday when pairings and tee times for the first two rounds were announced.
The Masters traditionally has paired amateur players with a former champion. Dougherty will play alongside Gary Player. Player is more than simply a former champion--he is one of golf's all-time greats. The South African has won 163 professional tournaments worldwide spanning five decades and is a three-time Masters Champion. He is one of only five golfers to have won Golf's Grand Slam (all four majors). Rounding out the threesome is Rory Sabbatini. Player is making his 49th Masters appearance while Sabbatini is playing in his fourth.
Dougherty is scheduled to tee off in the opening round at 7:55 a.m. CT on Thursday. Donald should take the first tee a little over an hour later at 9:01 a.m.
Donald, a four-time All-American while at NU, made his Masters debut a year ago. He fired three rounds in the 60s to finish third, seven strokes behind four-time champion Tiger Woods.
"I'm just glad to be back here," Donald said. "It's obviously a place I grew up watching this avidly on TV and enjoyed playing here. Last year was a great first experience for me, and I'm looking forward to this next week."
Donald enters this year's Masters ranked No. 9 in the Official World Golf Ranking and garnered his second tour victory earlier this year at The Honda Classic. He is coming off a 10th-place finish at last week's BellSouth Classic.
Television coverage for Thursday and Friday will be provided by the USA Network from 3-6 p.m. CT with a replay from 7-10 p.m. Live scoring can be found by logging on to the Masters website.
Check NUSports.com for more updates as the week progresses.
