Tag: 2023 Masters

Masters survey 2023: Pimento cheese, anyone? Contestants past and present answer the question: You have $20 for concessions. What do you buy?

What’s your order?

You’re at Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters Tournament.

You give your caddie a $20 bill to go to a concession stand.

What’s your order?

That’s the question we proposed to more than two dozen pros — from Jordan Spieth to Gary Player — who have been there, done that and tasted the pimento cheese, egg salad and ice cream sandwiches and have strong opinions on how they’d spend their dough.

Many noted they’d probably have some change, but who knew Max Homa didn’t eat eggs or that Collin Morikawa uses Masters drink cups at his house. And there are some very mixed opinions on Pimento cheese. Check out their answers…and keep the change.

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Report: Tiger Woods made trip to Augusta National last week

Woods is a five-time Masters champ, who won the tournament most recently in 2019 for his 15th career major title.

Tiger Woods elected to skip the Players Championship, the flagship event on the PGA Tour, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t tee it up last week.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig, Woods traveled to Augusta, Georgia, and played the home of the Masters on Thursday, the day of the first round of the Players in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Woods never issued a statement on why he didn’t play last week, but an Augusta National practice round just weeks before the tournament is an encouraging sign that he intends to be in the field at the season’s first major at one of his favorite hunting grounds.

It’s not uncommon for Masters contestants to visit Augusta National in the weeks leading up to the tournament being contested in April. This year, players will be interested in seeing the new tee at the par-5 13th hole, which has stretched the risk-reward gambit to 545 yards.

Woods is a five-time Masters champion, who won the tournament most recently in 2019 for his 15th career major title. Last year, he played a practice round a week before the tournament alongside his son, Charlie.

Rory McIlroy confirmed he would be making a reconnaissance trip this week, and reportedly played there Monday as did reigning champ Scottie Scheffler.

Last year, Woods surprised the golf world when he not only was a late addition to the Masters but made the cut in his first start since being sidelined with a slew of injuries sustained in a single-car accident in February 2021. (He previously had played in December 2021 in a two-person scramble at the PNC Championship, where he was allowed to use a cart.) Woods tired on the weekend at Augusta, arguably the toughest walk on the PGA Tour, shooting a pair of 78s and fading to a T-47 finish.

Woods was able to play in three of the four majors last season, skipping the U.S. Open. He continues to struggle with injuries to his right leg, ankle and foot, which have required multiple surgeries. He last played at the Genesis Invitational in February, where as tournament host he managed to make the cut.

“Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there. But that’s it for the rest of my career,” Woods said after finishing T-44. “I know that and I understand. That’s just my reality.”

The 87th Masters begins April 6.

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Eureka Earth shares ‘majestic’ aerial image of Augusta National’s revamped Par 3 Course

With the Masters less than two months away, Augusta National’s renovated Par 3 Course appears ready to shine.

It’s only 51 days until the Masters, and all the work Augusta National Golf Club has done since Scottie Scheffler donned a green jacket in 2022 is coming even more sharply into focus, thanks to the latest aerial photography by Eureka Earth posted to Twitter.

And it’s not just the main 18-hole course, where the 13th tee box has been moved some 35 yards deeper into the pines on the legendary par 5. Augusta National’s Par 3 course has seen even more dramatic renovations in recent months. The club has not shared details on the changes, but previous reporting and images appear to show a new routing for at least the first several holes of the Par 3 Course.

The Augusta Chronicle reported in July that the club had filed documents with the Georgia city’s Planning and Development Department outlining plans for two new cabins, with cabin being a relative term. One of the cabins was listed in engineering drawings as being a 6,284-square-foot structure, with the other measuring 5,556 square feet. Both border the Par 3 Course.

The Chronicle reported the cabins’ locations would change the Par 3 Course’s first four holes, according to the plans. The new No. 1, instead of playing northward, appears on a city-filed map to point northeast toward the pond, with the new No. 1 green placed on or near the old No. 4 tee. The new No. 2, instead of playing west-to-east, points northwest. The new No. 3, instead of playing southward, faces southeast back toward the pond. The new No. 4 tee, on the opposite side of the No. 3 green, seems to be placed to allow fewer shots to travel over open water to reach the green. The fifth hole would appear relatively unchanged, according to maps.

The Chronicle also reported that other plans filed separately with the city show a new concessions and restroom facility between the main course’s eighth and 18th holes. Aerial images from Eureka Earth have corroborated the Chronicle’s reporting.

As for the rest of the Par 3 Course? When the whole Par 3 Course was basically dug up in June, it wasn’t clear what all the club had in mind. The club has since remained mum on details, as is customary. But come April 5, when the world tunes in to watch the annual Par 3 Contest with families dressed in white caddie bibs as their players try for crystal hardware, the rest of the world will get a first televised look at a very different nine-hole layout.

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Scott Stallings finally has his Masters invitation and he’s inviting Scott Stallings to a practice round

Scott Stallings finally has his invitation.

It’s finally here.

In Scott Stallings’ case, that means his Masters invitation.

You might remember last week, three-time PGA Tour winner Scott Stallings was patiently waiting for his invite to play at Augusta National in April in the first major of the year. Yet it never arrived.

Instead, it went to Scott Stallings, who happens to share the same name as the professional golfer but doesn’t have quite the skills.

The other Stallings, an Atlanta realtor, received the golfer’s invite by mistake and shared it on social media, quickly going viral. Nothing to fret, however, as the golfer Stallings received his invitation from the realtor Stallings in the mail after the hilarious mixup.

The Stallings will meet at Augusta National in April, as the golfer will host the realtor during a practice round.

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Tickets for the 2023 Masters are up 20 percent from last year, still the best deal in sports

$450 is still an outrageous deal.

We are just over 91 days away from round one of the 2023 Masters.

Folks on the patron list were alerted that tickets are officially available for the year’s first major. With one small change from 2022.

Last year, weekly badges (good for all four tournament days) went for $375. This year, they’ll run patrons $450, according to the executive editor for The Aiken Standard, John Boyette.

If you’ve never seen Masters ticket prices before, the cost might surprise you. Just over $100 to spend a day at the greatest place on Earth — it’s a no-brainer.

For comparison, a single-day pass for the ’23 Honda Classic is listed at $75. A Monday pass for this year’s U.S. Open is $125. Saturday is $300.

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An invitation to the 2023 Masters was sent to the wrong Scott Stallings

If you share a name with a professional golfer, check your mail, you might have a Masters invitation waiting for you.

Let’s set the scene: Imagine you’re three-time PGA Tour winner Scott Stallings.

You haven’t won since 2014 but last season you finished runner-up at the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and earned a career-high seven top-10 finishes. For your efforts you took home a cool $3,933,593 over the season, but more importantly you finished top 30 in the race for the FedEx Cup, earning an invitation to the 2023 Masters.

Stallings finished T-27 in his Masters debut in 2012 and missed the cut in his only other appearance in 2014, so one can only imagine he’s been checking the mail for his cordial invitation from Augusta National like Clark Griswold waiting for his holiday bonus in Christmas Vacation.

Augusta National sent the invitation to Stallings, just the wrong one.

For anyone out there who has the same name as a professional golfer, check your mail, you might have an invitation to the Masters waiting for you.

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PGA Tour, LIV Golf and college players share 2023 Masters invitations

The Masters is creeping ever closer.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

As the holiday season rolls on, a group of elite golfers received a coveted gift in the mail from Augusta, Georgia.

The Masters sent out invitations last week ahead of the 2023 tournament, meaning golfers who received them are in the field at Augusta National come April. Those who received invites include those inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, past champions and more.

Even LIV golfers took to social media to show off their invitations, after Augusta National announced last week there would be no change in qualification criteria for the 2023 Masters.

Here’s a look at some golfers who took to social media to show off their invitations.

We asked more than a dozen PGA Tour pros whether LIV golfers should be allowed to play in the Masters. Here’s what they said

Golfweek asked more than a dozen players whether LIV golfers should be allowed to play in the 2023 Masters.

Augusta National made it official on Tuesday that it won’t stand in the way of  LIV golfers competing in the 2023 Masters in April. Invitations will be sent to all players who meet the existing qualification criteria.

It’s been a hot topic of discussion almost since Scottie Scheffler donned the Green Jacket in April and LIV Golf began to take shape. Would the private club, which makes its own rules for the tournament held each April in Augusta, Georgia, update its qualification criteria to prevent LIV golfers from competing in the season’s first major? For now, the answer is no, but the green jackets left the door open to make changes as it sees fit in the future.

LIV Golf signed a host of former Masters champions and there are also several major champions who have won their titles in the last five years and are thus eligible as well as players who appear to be locked into finishing the year in the top 50 in the world.

Ahead of ANGC Chairman Fred Ridley’s announcement, Golfweek asked more than a dozen players, including past champions Jordan Spieth (2015) and Trevor Immelman (2008), whether LIV golfers should be allowed to play in the Masters. Here are their answers.

LIV golfers allowed: Augusta National announces no changes to eligibility criteria for 2023 Masters

“At Augusta National, we have faith that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again.”

Invitations for the 2023 Masters will be hitting the mail shortly for Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed.

The past champions who have departed for LIV Golf, will be welcomed to the field at the first major, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley confirmed on Tuesday.

“We will invite those eligible under our current criteria to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament,” Ridley wrote. “Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it. Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April.”

Ridley, however, left open the possibility that those eligibility criteria, which includes using the Official World Golf Ranking to determine invitees, could be revised in the future.

“As we have said in the past, we look at every aspect of the Tournament each year, and any modifications or changes to invitation criteria for future Tournaments will be announced in April,” he said.

In addition to Mickelson, Johnson and Reed, LIV Golf has signed former Masters champions Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia. Recent major winners Cameron Smith (2022 British Open), Bryson DeChambeau (2020 U.S. Open) and Brooks Kopek (2019 PGA Championship) will receive invites too, as will the likes of Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch and Harold Varner III, who are ranked within the top 50 in the world. In all, 16 LIV golfers are expected to be exempt into the 2023 Masters.

Ridley’s comments didn’t mention LIV Golf by name but included the most direct statement of how Augusta National views the upstart league, which is backed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.

“We have reached a seminal point in the history of our sport,” Ridley wrote. “At Augusta National, we have faith that golf, which has overcome many challenges through the years, will endure again.”

Golfweek asked more than a dozen PGA Tour pros, including past champions, whether LIV golfers should be allowed to play in the Masters and to a man they didn’t have a problem with it. The general sentiment was summed up by 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman, who said, “If they have qualified via various criteria, yes. It is an invitational, though, so the Masters can decide on its own criteria.”

The 87th Masters is scheduled to begin on April 6.

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Reviews are in: These PGA Tour pros have played the new 13th hole at Augusta National. Here’s what they think

Some PGA Tour players have played the renovated tee box at Augusta National.

NASSAU, Bahamas – The calendar may say December, but April in Augusta already is on the minds of golfers competing at the Hero World Challenge this week.

Some of the competitors already have begun making scouting trips to Augusta National, and we’ve got their early reviews of the par-5 13th hole, which has been lengthened some 35 yards.

“You know, what?” said Kevin Kisner, who lives in Aiken, South Carolina, about 45 minutes away from Magnolia Lane and the famed home of the season’s first major. “I was totally against it until I played it, and I don’t think it’s going to be that bad.”

The par-5 13th ranks as one of the great risk-reward holes in golf – going for it should be a “momentous decision,” in the words of Bobby Jones, who assisted Alister MacKenzie in its design. It originally measured 480 yards when the Masters debuted in 1934 and had played to 510 yards for the 2022 Masters. But that distance is shorter than many par-4s in major championship golf these days.

In recent years, powerful players such as Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy have been able to blast balls over the trees that protect the dogleg-left hole, sometimes hitting it far enough around the corner to leave a short iron or even a wedge for the second shot to the green. The 13th played as the third-easiest hole on the course at the 2022 Masters, only more difficult than the two front-nine par-5s.

In 2017, Augusta National purchased a swath of land from Augusta Country Club – the land actually was part of a hole on the neighboring course, and Augusta Country Club was forced to reroute its layout to accommodate the land sale. In his 2022 press conference, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said there was no timetable to use the land for a new tee but also hinted that changes to 13 could be coming.

“There’s a great quote from Bobby Jones dealing specifically with the 13th hole, which has been lengthened over time, and he said that the decision to go for the green in two should be a momentous one,” Ridley said. “And I would have to say that our observations of these great players hitting middle and even short irons into that hole is not a momentous decision.”

He added: “From our perspective, we will always do what’s necessary to maintain the integrity of our golf course.”

So far, the club has not commented on what work was done to the hole, but thanks to the good people at Eureka Earth, golf fans have been able to follow the construction project via detailed aerial images.

Kisner said he wished they left the old tee as a potential option in case conditions became extreme.

“If we catch it straight into the wind, I’m not sure you can get it around the corner,” he said. “But it’s a par-5, you can lay up.”

Kisner, who played Augusta National on Sunday, said he had 210 yards to the front of the green – “I pounded it and there was no roll” – and anticipated that “the bombers can probably get home with 5- or 6-iron.”

Tony Finau can confirm. He visited Augusta National two weeks ago and played 36 holes. He said he didn’t think adding length was necessary at 13, but he, too, agreed that the changes were better than he expected.

Like Kisner, he still reached the green in two shots – the first time with a 3-iron and the second time with a 4-iron.

“In the spring, that should be a 5- or 6-iron,” he said.

Count Billy Horschel, who called 13 “the greatest par 5 in the world,” among the players who are saddened by the changes. While he hasn’t seen them yet, he predicted, “I think you’re not going to see as many guys go for it.”

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