The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.

[1] Inglis had no experience running a golf tournament and recruited Ian Stanley, a leading Australian touring professional, to give him advice.

Stanley was able to secure commitments from top golfers like Graham Marsh, Lee Trevino, Bob Shearer, and Greg Norman.

Prize money was originally supposed to be $50,000 but, due to an inability to find enough sponsors, a decision was made to reduce the purse to $30,000.

Frank Williams, an employee of IMG, justified the decision by stating, "The sponsors expect the Masters to be different from other Australian tournaments and it was sold to them as a limited-field special event.

On 18 March 2009 the Victorian State Government announced a major coup, confirming that then World Number 1 Tiger Woods would play in the 2009 event at its new venue, Kingston Heath.

[3] The announcement caused a minor public backlash due to 50% of Woods' A$3 million appearance fee being paid by taxpayer funds.