A 29-year-old optometrist briefly led the 2023 Masters

Get to know Matthew McClean, the Irish optometrist who led briefly in Round 1.

As of you reading this, Matthew McClean might not be on the top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Masters.

But let the record show: For a brief moment, earlier in the first round at Augusta, long before the big names teed off, McClean — a 29-year-old optometrist from Northern Ireland — led.

Masters Leaderboard: Live leaderboard, schedule, tee times

Yes, you read correctly. McClean, from Belfast, is one of the amateurs playing in the tournament. Per Golfweek, he was “just the second international golfer to win a U.S. Mid-Amateur” in 2022.

But back to the whole optometrist thing. McClean had this to say via The Guardian recently about balancing that profession with golf:

“I went to school, did my degree then worked for a couple of years,” he says. “The plan in 2018 was to take some time out to play golf. I was looking at four years to play, practise then take a decision over whether to turn pro. Covid changed things obviously in 2020 and 2021. Basically I’ve got this year; if I’m turning pro it would be at the end of this year. It’s very much an ‘if’.

Very cool. We’ll see if he ends up being the top amateur by Sunday.

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