Masters Tournament

The Masters Tournament is a prestigious golf tournament played during the first full week of April at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The Masters is one of four major championships played each year in men’s professional golf. It began in 1934 as the brainchild of amateur golfing legend Bobby Jones and his business partner. In the years since its inception, the Masters has given birth to several longstanding traditions that make it unique among the several major golf tournaments. The tournament is the only major played at the same location each year. That location, Augusta National, is renowned for its scenic beauty and is considered one of the top golf courses in the United States. Participation in the Masters is by invitation only and even then, players must meet certain conditions to be eligible. However, the most famous tradition may be the iconic green jacket awarded to winners since 1949.

Background

One of the most famous golfers of the early twentieth century, Bobby Jones was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1902. He began competing as an amateur while still in his teens and went on to become the most dominant force in golf during the 1920s. Jones won thirteen major titles from 1923 to 1930, often competing against the top professional golfers of his era. A major is an informal term referring to the signature events in professional golf. The majors in Jones’ time also included amateur championships and were different from the four modern major championships.

After retiring from competitive golf in 1930, Jones partnered with New York investment banker Clifford Roberts to build a golf course in his home state. They chose a 365-acre site on a former plantation called Fruitland Nurseries, a horticultural business in the eastern Georgia city of Augusta. The nursery was well-known for its beautiful landscaping that included specially grown magnolia and dogwood trees and azalea shrubs.

Jones codesigned the new course along with Alister MacKenzie, a noted golf course architect who designed courses around the world. Construction on Augusta National Golf Club began in 1931 and the course formally opened in January 1933. The course was designed to be a challenge for even the best golfers and was meticulously landscaped to include the trees and plants grown at the former nursery. Club membership was open on a nationwide basis and the new course attracted a great deal of attention, mostly due to the involvement of Jones and MacKenzie. Despite the publicity, Augusta National struggled at first to attract permanent membership.

Overview

In 1934, Jones and Roberts decided to hold a tournament at Augusta as a way to raise the club’s profile and drum up more membership. Roberts wanted to name the tournament the Masters in reference to the “masters” of golf who would be competing; however Jones thought the name was too pretentious and the tournament was named the Augusta National Invitational. Jones eventually had a change of heart, and the event was rechristened the Masters in 1939.

The first tournament began on March 22, 1934, with Jones coming out of retirement to play in the event as a way of attracting more media attention. The inaugural tournament was won by Horton Smith who shot a 72-hole score of 284, or four under par. The 18-hole par score at Augusta is 72, meaning a golfer would have to finish the 18 holes in fewer than 72 shots to score under par. In 1935, Gene Sarazen made perhaps the most famous shot in tournament history when his second shot landed in the cup on the par-5 15th hole—an extremely rare feat. The shot helped Sarazen tie for the lead, forcing a playoff that he eventually won to claim the championship.

In 1937, the members of Augusta National began wearing green jackets on the course so that guests—officially referred to as patrons at the club—could easily identify them to ask questions. In 1949, the winner of the Masters Tournament was also presented with a green jacket, a tradition that has continued since that time. The winner of the first green jacket was Sam Snead who would go on to win two additional Masters titles. Each winner is allowed to keep the jacket for a year, but must return it to the club before the next year’s tournament. The jacket is stored at the club and the winner can wear it upon visiting Augusta National, though he can have a replica made to keep if he so chooses. In addition to the green jacket, tournament winners also receive a gold medal, have their names engraved on a trophy, take home a replica of that trophy, and win a cash prize. In 2019, the prize topped $2 million for the first time.

As golf grew in popularity during the 1940s and 1950s, the Masters became one of the sport’s four major championships, along with the US Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. In 1940, the tournament was moved from March to the first full week of April, the time it is still played today. The field of golfers in the Masters is the smallest of any major, with about ninety to one hundred players being invited to compete. Golfers can only play in the Masters by invitation from Augusta National, but must first meet at least one of nineteen conditions. Past champions of the event receive a lifetime invitation while the top twelve players from the previous year’s Masters are also invited. The winners of a major championship from the previous five years receive an invitation. Other criteria for invitations include being among the top four finishers in the previous year’s majors; the reigning US, British, Asian-Pacific, and Latin American amateur champions; the current Olympic champion; or being among the top fifty golfers in the World Golf Rankings.

Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters championships, with six. His come-from-behind victory at the age of forty-six in 1986 not only made him the oldest Masters champion, but is also considered by many to be one of the most iconic moments in tournament history. In 1997, twenty-one-year-old Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win a Masters. His 72-hole score of 270 was a course record at the time, and twelve strokes better than the runner-up, also a course record. In 2015, his score of 270 was matched by Jordan Spieth. Woods has won the tournament five times, with his fifth victory coming in 2019. In his first four wins from 1997 to 2005, Woods’ ability to drive the ball great distances prompted club officials to lengthen the course to its modern dimensions of 7,768 yards. In 2020, American professional golfer Dustin Johnson set a course record with a 72-hole score of 268.

Bibliography

Barrett, David. Making the Masters: Bobby Jones and the Birth of America’s Greatest Golf Tournament. Skyhorse, 2012.

Kolur, Nihal. “Why is it Called the Masters?” Sports Illustrated, 5 Apr. 2018, www.si.com/golf-archives/2018/04/05/masters-name-origin-history. Accessed 6 May 2022.

McDonald, Dan. “Past Winners of the Masters Tournament.” PGA.com, 14 Apr. 2019, www.pga.com/events/masters/list-masters-champions. Accessed 6May 2022.

Myers, Alex. “9 Things Augusta National Doesn’t Want to Talk About.” Golf Digest, 2019, www.golfdigest.com/gallery/9-things-augusta-national-doesnt-want-to-talk-about. Accessed 6 May 2022.

“Tournament Info.” Masters, www.masters.com/en‗US/tournament/index.html. Accessed 6 May 2022.

“25 Fun Facts About the Masters Tournament.” The Augusta Chronicle, www.augusta.com/masters/photos/25-fun-facts-about-masters. Accessed 6May 2022.