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The Augusta Masters Tournament, one of the four Majors, the most important tournaments in men’s professional golf, will be played from 11 to 14 April. The winner, in addition to the cup and a very rich prize fund (last year the Spaniard Jon Rahm won more than 3 million euros), is given a green jacket, the symbol of Augusta National, one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world .
To wear the green jacket (as they call it in the United States), you must be a member of Augusta National, or indeed have won the tournament. Over the years, therefore, it has become a symbol of success and prestige in golf. When a golfer wins the Masters Tournament, the previous year’s winner traditionally puts on his jacket during the ceremony that takes place at the end of the tournament. If a player wins the tournament two years in a row, then the president of the Augusta Masters hands it to him.
Tradition (another one, yes: golf is a sport with many traditions) dictates that winners and members leave their jacket in the cloakroom at Augusta National, and therefore never wear it outside the golf club, that located in the US state of Georgia. An exception is the reigning champion, who for the year in which he holds the title can wear the jacket outside the club.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, winner of the 2023 Augusta Masters (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The jacket is a very bright green, Pantone 342. The idea of having a jacket that identified the members came to the golfer Bobby Jones, founder of the club and of the Augusta Masters, when at a dinner at the British golf club Royal Liverpool he saw that the members all wore a jacket of the same color (red, in that case). From 1937 it was worn by Augusta members to distinguish themselves from the others during the Masters week, and from 1947 it also began to be given to the winners of the Masters, who therefore became honorary members of the club (the first was Sam Snead, American).
Last year the Spanish golfer Jon Rahm won the tournament, who at the end of 2023 decided to leave the PGA (the US professional circuit) and move to LIV Golf, the Saudi circuit which in recent years has gained more and more power and influence, until reaching a merger agreement with the PGA (which, however, has yet to materialize). In addition to Rahm, among the favorites this year there will be Scottie Scheffler, number one in the world ranking, Tiger Woods, five times winner of the Masters, and the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who however has never won the Augusta Masters in his career.
– Read also: Rory McIlroy is just missing this
2024-04-11 15:37:02
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