C.T. Pan took in all he could during his first trip to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
That included sampling all the sandwiches on the menu. But which one did he like best?
“After long debates with my wife, I want to say egg salad sandwich,” Pan said. “I’ve tried the pimento cheese, egg salad, the burger, the grouper sandwich, the fried chicken sandwich, all the sandwiches I could get. I tried them all.”
Pan won the 2019 RBC Heritage to earn a spot in this Masters. When he returned in June to the RBC to defend his title there, his wife Yingchun Lin worked as his caddie. At the Masters this week, he had Derrick Redd on the bag.
Pan said in addition to the famous Masters food, he and his wife found time to buy some souvenirs.
“My wife did all the shopping, honestly. I was just kind of walking and tried not to spend too much time there,” he said. “The more time I spend, the more money I spend, so I was trying to be smart there.”
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He was smart out on the course, too, especially on Sunday, when he closed his round with birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 16 and 17. He made par on the 18th to forge a T-7 finish with Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm.
The top 12 and ties get invites to the 2021 Masters, so Pan’s performance will bring him back in 141 days.
“I struggled the whole year, so this is definitely a big step up for me and a big confidence boost.”
Pan opened the 2021-22 season with back-to-back T-61 finishes. He posted a T-12 at the Sanderson Farms Championship but slid back with a T-52 finish in Las Vegas at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and a T-58 last week at the Vivint Houston Open.
This week, he shot 70-66-74-68 for his best performance since a T-3 finish at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge.
“As far as this being my first Masters, I enjoyed it very much. I love the food here. My wife and I, we just love all the dinners, all the sandwiches out here. It’s great. The course is playing tough, especially right now. I just want to thank Augusta National for everything.”
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