Get your green on and get ready for a weekend filled of golf. Even non-golf people watch golf this weekend. The Masters are considered a sports bucket list item and here is everything you need to know about the Masters…
Where is it?
- In case you aren’t the best at US state geography, the flag in the US logo is in Georgia. The Masters is held every year in April in Augusta, GA at Augusta National Golf Club.
- Tickets for the weekend will run you a minimum of $2,000 according to Stubhub as of this morning.
- Most people apply for tickets after the previous year’s Masters through a lottery.
Want to be the savior of your office – here’s how to watch. Don’t tell your boss.
- Thurs 4/11 – The Masters – Round 1
- 6:45am – 6:45pm on Masters
- 2pm – 6:30pm on ESPN
- Fri 4/12 – The Masters – Round 2
- 7:30am – 6:30pm on Masters
- 2pm – 6:30PM on ESPN
- Sat 4/13 – The Masters– Round 3
- 9:15am – 6pm on Masters
- 2pm – 6:30pm on CBS
- Sun 4/14 – The Masters – Round 4
- 9:45am – 6pm on Masters
- 1pm – 6pm on CBS
- You can watch for free on the Masters app as well.
Soooo why does everyone watch this tournament?
- This is the first of the 4 major PGA Tour tournaments (aka majors) of the year. Those tournaments include (in order): the Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open and the OPEN (aka the British Open).
- These tournaments are how you judge a golfer’s career. Major wins are more considered important than total wins. The majors generally admit the best golfers in the World and offer the higher prize money than a normal tournament.
- The top 50 plus ties and any player within 10 strokes of the lead makes the cut to the weekend.
- The winner gets $1.98MM, 600 FedEx Cup points and the ‘Green Jacket’ (see below).
Who is playing?
- All the usual names you hear like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Speith, Ricky Fowler, etc.
- The tournament took 87 people this year but it can take up to 100 players.
- The top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings are invited to play
- Top 50 as of last week (after the Valero) or last calendar year’s Top 50
- You also get an invite is you are a previous Masters champion, other major champion in the last 5 yrs, Players champion in the last 3 yrs, Olympic Gold Medalist (last yr), US Amateur champion and runner-up, British Amateur champion, Asian-Pacific Amateur champion, Latin American Amateur champion, US Mid-Amateur champion, if you got 1-12 in last year’s Masters, if you got 1-4 in the other majors last year, winners of the PGA tour events from Masters – Masters (full point tournaments only), if you qualified for the Tour Championship last year
Who won last year?
- Patrick Reed, an American, won last year’s green jacket.
- The most Masters tournaments ever won: 6 by Jack Nicklaus
- Tiger Woods has 4 wins here
- Phil Mickelson has 3
- Other players in the field who have won previously (20): Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Zach Johnson, Vijay Singh, Fred Couples, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Larry Mize, Jose Olazabal, Mike Weir, Danny Willett, Ian Woosman
- The record is 18 under par to win by 9 strokes by none other than Tiger Woods.
- Jordan Spieth tied this record in 2014 but only won by 4.
Why is this popular in the office?
- Besides being a sports bucket list item, this is the most gambled on golf tournament of the year.
- Vegas has the best odds on Rory McIlroy to win at 8/1 as of 6:45am this morning.
- Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods and Ricky Fowler are 15/1 odds or lower.
- Larry Mize and Ian Woosman have the highest odds with a payout of 2500/1
- Office pools for the Masters are very common. But they can vary by type:
- Calcutta – where everyone playing has an auction on every player in the field. Think of this as ‘drafting’ a team. This way of playing usually results in more money spent but also bigger pots.
- Fantasy Leagues – closely related to the fantasy football concept, you draft players to come up with 4 ‘starting’ players and 2 players on your bench. You can rotate after each round and usually the team with the lowest score wins but this can vary as well.
- Tiers – my personal favorite. The golfers are split into tiers by their official golf ranking and you pick one in each of the 6 tiers to form your team. Lowest cumulative score at the end of the weekend wins!
- This makes it more fun for people who don’t follow fold on a regular basis because even if you have the winner, you might also have a guy who scored terribly and missed the cut which can balance you out and let someone else sneak in for the W.
- Pick’em – less common. You put all the golfers in a hat and draw randomly. You can pull as many or as little names as you want. Each pull is a fixed price. The top 5 finishers are paid out.
- I am not going to give pick recommendations as the tournament has started.
Why a green jacket?
- In 1949, every member of the Augusta National Golf Club wore their green jackets during the tournament so people would know who to ask questions and who was picking up the bar tab. After 1949 (and retroactively) each winner of the Masters was given a green jacket. Winners become honorary members.
- Players are only allowed to wear the green jacket on premises. However, Phil Mickelson broke that rule after wearing it to a Krispy Kreme drive-through in 2010 after he won his 3rd.
- To a golfer, Masters green is as recognizable as Tiffany blue to any woman.
- The exact shade? According to Golf magazine its Pantone 342.
I love the color green, where can I buy that swag?
- Only AT the Masters during the Masters which is why when you see someone wearing a Masters hat, you can assume they have actually attended the event. No online sales.
Dang! Harsh.
- You have no idea. Augusta National Golf Club has plenty of strict rules:
- No phones are allowed on the premises. None.
- Cameras are only allowed on practice round days, after the tournament starts, you have to leave those at home too
- No signs or flags
- No chairs with armrests
- No big logos on umbrellas or clothing that can be seen on TV – they can ask you to leave if they think a logo is too big
- You may NOT ever ask a player for an autograph on the course. Only at the practice range
- A man was once charged $20,000 after taking a beer cup of sand from the course. Now that’s a pricey souvenir.
- African-Americans were not allowed to be members until 1990.
- All caddies had to be African-American until 1982
- 1st African-American member: Ron Townsend (a TV exec)
- Women were not allowed to be members until 2012.
- First women members: Condolezza Rice and Darla Moore (former president of a private investment firm)
- However now Augusta National hosts the Women’s Amateur as of last week! Welcome to the 21st century.
Augusta National seems very traditional, anything good things?
- Augusta National was once a plant nursery so some of the trees and plants are not indigenous to that region. There is actually a palm tree on the 4th hole. Each hole is named for a tree or shrub.
- Caddies play for free all day on the last day that the club is open before the summer.
- The previous year’s winner gets to pick what is served for dinner at the Tuesday night champions dinner. Previous champions do not have to eat it though. This year Patrick Reed chose a bone-in ribeye.
- The Par 3 contest on Wednesday is a chance for players to practice but mostly have fun. The players usually have their family as caddies including their kids! If you were on social media, there were some adorable caddie photos.
