Curtis Luck completed his stellar amateur career at Augusta National today and now moves to a new phase in his life.
Luck, the 20-year-old Perth amateur, once again impressed with a closing 72 in the Masters to finish just outside the top 40 in his first major championship at nine-over par.
He was one of two amateurs to make the cut but was beaten for leading amateur honors by American Stewart Hagestad, who finished six-over, by three shots.
The Western Australian's scores were 78-72-75-72. Today he began with two bogeys and had another two dropped shots on the 10th and 11th, before pulling it back around, making four straight birdies on 12, 13, 14 and 15.
The Perth star is now poised to announce that he is turning professional, with an invitation to play in the Valero Texas Open from 20 April first on his radar.
He has declined his invitation to play the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale — as an amateur — to become a professional. It is a big decision but he has a big-time game.
Luck is one of Australia's most accomplished amateurs ever, reaching a No. 1 world ranking and winning both the US amateur championship and the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, as well as being part of an Australian team that won a world teams championship for the Eisenhower Trophy.
He has already won a professional tournament — the 2016 Western Australian Open — as an amateur.
"It could have easily been higher than what it was today,'' he told Fox Sports. "That's how golf goes. Fortunately, I made a couple in a row and got a bit of momentum off it. I actually hit it quite good on the back nine, unfortunately I had bogey on 18 to finish. But that's fine, my week's over, I can forget about it now.''
For Luck, this week has been about learning. "Just the experience of playing in front of such big crowds. It's interesting dealing with roars from six holes away, it's crazy, in fact, being out there and you walk in to putt and something just goes off from a random corner of the golf course. It's. a very tough golf course, my first major championship, hopefully I'll use that experience later down the track as well.''