GOLF officials hope to restore the Australian Masters to its former glory after the one-time flagship event was canned for 2016.

    Despite Australian superstars Jason Day and Adam Scott dominating the U.S. PGA Tour this year and the country’s talent pool enjoying unprecedented depth, the Masters has been removed from the summer program.

    First played in 1979 and won six times by the great Greg Norman, the Masters has been on the wane for several years with the industry abuzz for months with talk of its demise.

    The tournament – part of Australian golf’s so-called “triple crown” along with the Australian Open and PGA – has run at a loss for the past two years.

    IMG finally pulled the pin Wednesday. “To best execute a change of this scale, IMG today announced that the Australian Masters will not be played in 2016. IMG will unveil its new plans for the event in the coming months.”

    (SD-Agencies)