Masters tournament
Every year, the Masters is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. It is the only one of the four men’s major championships that is held on the same course each year.
Augusta National is a par 72 course that has been significantly lengthened in recent years. The course has been lengthened to 7,510 yards for 2022 due to renovations to the 11th and 15th holes.
The first Masters was held in 1934, and Horton Smith won by two strokes with a four-under-par score of 284. The Masters will be played for the 86th time this year.
There are no qualification tournaments or alternate berths in the field for the Masters. Players are only invited to the Masters if they meet one of the 19 criteria.
There’s an event called The Champions Dinner that is hosted on Tuesday night of Masters week, and the only way to attend is if you are a prior Masters champion. Ben Hogan founded it in 1952. Each new year, the previous year’s champion is supposed to set the supper menu.
To make the cut after 36 holes, players must finish in the top 50, including ties. Previously, those within 10 strokes of the lead also made the cut, but for the 2020 Masters, that regulation was modified.
Only three players have successfully defended their Masters titles: Jack Nicklaus (1965-1966), Nick Faldo (1989-1990), and Tiger Woods (2001-2002).
Every year, the lowest amateur to make the cut receives the Silver Cup, which was originally awarded in 1952. They also started awarding a silver medal to the second-lowest amateur in 1954. The Masters has never been won by an amateur.
The winner is presented with a sterling replica of the Masters trophy, a gold medal, and the club’s famous green jacket, which was first awarded in 1949.
If players are still tied after 72 holes, a sudden-death playoff begins at the 18th hole and proceeds to the 10th hole if required. If it goes to the third hole, it will return to the 18th. Tournaments that finished in a tie were decided by an 18-hole playoff prior to 1979.
Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters, his first major championship. He also became the tournament’s first Japanese player and the first Asian-born player to win. The winner of the Masters receives 100 world ranking points.
Tianlang Guan of China is the youngest player ever to compete in the Masters, having qualified by winning the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at the age of 14. He is also the youngest player to ever make a major championship cut.
There’s also a tournament for amateur women golfers. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which began in 2019, will be played again in 2022. This is the third edition of this event, with Tsubasa Kajitani winning in 2021 and Jennifer Kupcho winning in 2019 (the 2020 edition was canceled due to Covid).
The Augusta National tickets (typically called badges), depending on the day, can go from $500 to $1,500 on the secondary market.
