Around the World in 80 Years: Adam Scott breaks Australia's duck

The final instalment of our five-part look at the international impact on the Masters reflects on Australia's first Augusta winner and the country's nearly-man of the tournament.

In 2011, Charl Schwartzel continued South Africa's fine heritage at Augusta when he finished two shots clear of Australian duo Adam Scott and Jason Day.

But, after providing nine runners-up in the tournament, the Aussies would finally have their day in 2013, when Scott went one better with a play-off win over 2009 champion Angel Cabrera.

Played in unseasonable but steady rain, the final round saw Scott card a 69 before holing his 15-foot birdie putt at the second extra hole to secure Australia its first Masters.

Scott paid tribute to compatriot Greg Norman following his triumph, saying: "It was one guy who inspired a nation of golfers."

It was a fitting tribute to a fine player and Scott's victory, which Norman admitted meant "everything" to him, will have provided The Shark with some solace after a career which saw him repeatedly come so close to glory at Augusta.

Indeed, no one can match Norman as the nearly-man of the Masters, particularly given this year is the 30th anniversary of his greatest heartbreak in Georgia.

Between 1981 and 1999, the Australian finished in the top six an astonishing nine times without winning the event.

In one four-year stretch at the end of the 1980s, he finished tied for second in 1986 and 1987, fifth in 1988 and third in 1989. He then recovered from a career slump by turning to Butch Harmon for help and although his game improved, there was more agony awaiting him on the greens of Augusta.

He followed a third-place finish in 1995 with a course-record-tying 63 in the opening round of the 1996 edition, and entered Sunday with a huge six-shot lead over the rest of the field. But he crumbled over the final 18 holes, shooting a 78 to finish five back from Nick Faldo.

Still, the international pedigree remains strong in the tournament. 2016 saw Danny Willett become Britain's first winner since Nick Faldo 20 years earlier, before Sergio Garcia finally fulfilled his Augusta promise with victory in 2017.

The international flavour of the tournament was further enhanced in 2009 when the Masters launched the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship with the goal of growing the game in the region and allowing the winner to qualify for the tournament.

Hideki Matsuyama, now a worldwide star, has twice qualified for the Masters after winning that tournament, and it is surely only a matter of time before we have our first Asian winner standing proudly in the Green Jacket.