Masters chairman Fred Ridley on Thursday gave an replace on the restoration efforts within the southeast, together with Augusta, Georgia, after the devastating hurricane that ravaged the world final week.
Ridley, talking through the opening spherical of the Asia-Pacific Newbie Championship in Japan, mentioned that the destruction from Hurricane Helene is “one thing that I’ve actually by no means seen in my life,” after a number of states had been within the path of the category-4 storm that packed historic storm-surge ranges and 140-mph winds.
Ridley mentioned he was a late arrival to Japan due to the continuing efforts to rebuild the world.
“Now we have been with out energy and water and different necessities for quite a lot of days,” Ridley mentioned. “So it actually does impress upon you what can occur when there’s a pure catastrophe reminiscent of that.”
Ridley mentioned that Augusta Nationwide suffered “a number of injury,” very like the remainder of the neighborhood.
“Now we have lots of people working arduous to get us again up and operating,” he mentioned. “We don’t actually know precisely what that’s going to imply, however I can inform you if it’s humanly potential, we’ll be again in enterprise sooner fairly than later.”
Ridley added that he’s “assured” that subsequent yr’s Masters shall be held as scheduled, April 10-13.
In tournament-related information, with the golf world nonetheless fractured, Ridley was requested about the opportunity of including gamers to the sector who would in any other case not be eligible. Joaquin Niemann, as an example, was invited to this previous yr’s occasion, based mostly on his taking part in report, dedication to incomes world-ranking factors exterior of LIV occasions and standing as a former Latin America Newbie champion.
Ridley mentioned that the Masters will “look to search out gamers” who could be additive to the sector for the yr’s first main.
“We’d all prefer to see the sport get again collectively,” Ridley mentioned. “The followers need to see the very best gamers play collectively. So it’s a less-than-desirable state of affairs that we’ve proper now. I’d say, sure, we’re going to look to search out methods to get a few of these gamers in which may not in any other case be certified, form of based mostly on their data.”