The Masters Tournament
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The Masters Tournament, commonly referred to as The Masters or The US Masters (outside the United States), is one of four major championships in men's professional golf and the first to occur every year. The final round of the Masters each year is scheduled the second Sunday in April. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held every year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in Augusta, Georgia, USA. The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones, who designed Augusta National with legendary course architect Alister MacKenzie.
In line with the other majors, winning the Masters gives a golfer several privileges which make his career more secure. Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years, and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years. In 2006 the prize fund was US$7 million.
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[edit] History
Bobby Jones saw his involvement in founding the tournament as a service to golf, but demurred at calling it the Masters Tournament, preferring "Augusta National Invitation Tournament". That name was used for five years before Jones relented and the present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second nine (although front and back are more commonly used, the Masters is well known for insisting on referring to the first and second nines), then reversed permanently to its famous layout for the 1935 tournament.
Gene Sarazen hit "The shot heard 'round the world," holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle to force a playoff in which he won the 1935 Masters. In 1961 Gary Player became the first non-American Masters champion. In 1975 Lee Elder became the first African-American to qualify for the Masters.
European players collected eleven victories in twenty years in the 1980s and 1990s, by far the strongest streak they have had in any of the three majors played in the United States since the early days of the U.S Open. Jack Nicklaus became the oldest player to win the Masters in 1986 when he won for the sixth time at age 46. In 1997 headlines were made around the world when Tiger Woods won the Masters by twelve shots at age twenty-one.
More recently, the club was targeted by Martha Burk, who organized a failed protest at the 2003 Tournament to pressure the club to accept female members.
As with many other courses Augusta National's championship set up has been lengthened in recent years. In 1998 it measured approximately 6,925 yards from the Master's tees but by 2006 it was almost 500 yards longer at 7,445 yards. The 2006 changes attracted many critics, including the three winningmost players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed "Shorter hitters are going to struggle". Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed and stated, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course". After a practice round Gary Player defended the changes saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it.... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]". [1]
[edit] Field
The Masters has the smallest field out of the major championships at around ninety players. It is an invitational event, but nowadays invitations are largely issued on an automatic basis to players who meet published criteria and as the top fifty players in the Official World Golf Rankings are all invited, none of the leading current players in the world miss out. Past champions are eligible to play in any edition, but in recent years the Augusta National Golf Club has discouraged them from continuing to participate at an advanced age.
Invitation categories (as of 2006):
1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
2. US Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
3. British Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
5. Winners of The Players Championship (three years)
6-A. Current US Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year);
6-B. Runner-up to the current US Amateur Champion
7. Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year)
8. Current US Amateur Public Links Champion
9. Current US Mid-Amateur Champion
10. The first 16 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters Tournament
11. The first 8 players, including ties, in the previous year’s US Open
12. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s British Open
13. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship
14. The 40 leaders on the Final Official PGA Tour Money List for the previous calendar year
15. The 10 leaders on the Official PGA Tour Money List published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament
16. The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
17. The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament
(this will need to be revised in 2007 as the Players Championship will be played after the Masters).
- The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified.
[edit] Format
In accordance with typical golf tournament formatting, the Masters Tournament is a 72 hole golf tournament held over 4 days. It is held under the rules of golf as defined by the United States Golf Association and is also be subject to special rulings and regulations set by the Masters Tournament Committee.
Because the Masters has a relatively smaller field when compared to other golf tournaments, groups are set to a size of three players for the first 36 holes (typically Thurs/Fri). After 36 holes have been played by all players, a cut is made. Players who 'make the cut' are in one or both of the following two categories: 1.) Lowest 44 scores plus ties 2.) Within 10 strokes of the lowest 36 hole score (set by the leader).
[edit] Tradition
In some years, an honorary opening tee shot is made at the first hole. This honorary tee shot has typically been hit by some of golf's most legendary players. Sam Snead made the opening tee shot from 1984 to 2002. Until 1999, he was joined by Gene Sarazen and in 2001 by Byron Nelson.
Before 1983, all players were required to use the services of an Augusta National Club caddie. Since then, players have been allowed the option of bringing their own caddie. The Masters maintains however the standardizing of a full caddie uniform. The complete uniform consists of a white jumpsuit, a green Masters cap, and white tennis shoes. The last name, and sometimes first initial, of each player is found on the back of his caddie's uniform. While the caddie uniform is original to the Masters Tournament, it has also been instituted into the Memorial Golf Tournament.
Given the tournament's fathering by the great amateur golfer Bobby Jones, the Masters has a strong tradition of honoring amateur golf. Firstly, the Masters invites winners of the most elite amateur tournaments in the world (see Field above). In 1952, the Masters began presenting the low amateur award. This award is known as the Silver Cup and is presented to the lowest scoring amateur to make the cut. In 1954, the Masters began presenting an amateur Silver Medal to the low amateur runner-up.
In addition to the green jacket (see below), winners of the tournament receive a Gold Medal and have their names engraved on the silver Masters Trophy. This trophy, which depicts the clubhouse, was introduced in 1961 and remains at Augusta National. Starting in 1993 a sterling replica of the Masters Trophy has been presented to the champion. The runner-up receives a Silver Medal, introduced in 1951. Beginning in 1978 a Silver Salver was added as an award for the runner-up.
[edit] Green jacket
In addition to a cash award, the winner of the tournament is presented with a distinctive green jacket, awarded since 1949, and highly coveted among professional golfers. The green coat is actually the official coat worn by members of Augusta National while on the club grounds; each Masters winner becomes an honorary member of the club. Winners keep their jacket for the first year after their first victory, then return it to the club to wear whenever they visit. The tradition began in 1949, when Sam Snead was the winner. The Green Jacket is only allowed to be removed from Augusta National by the reigning champion, after which it must remain at the club. The only exception to this rule is Gary Player, who failed to return his jacket after his 1961 victory, despite the club's insistence that he do so.
By tradition, the winner of the previous year's Masters Tournament puts the jacket on the incumbent at the end of the tournament. In 1966, Jack Nicklaus became the first player to win in consecutive years and he donned the jacket himself. When Nick Faldo (in 1990) and Tiger Woods (in 2002) became repeat champions, the chairman of Augusta National put the jacket on them.
[edit] Broadcasting
CBS has televised the Masters in every year since 1956, when it used six cameras and covered only the final four holes. By 2006 over fifty cameras were in use. The club awards successive one-year television contracts to CBS and USA Network. As a result, the tournament is able to dictate policies such as referring to the gallery as "patrons" rather than spectators or fans. The BBC has had the UK television rights since 1986 and it also provides live radio commentary on the closing stages on Radio Five Live. The Masters is also shown live on RTE courtesy of BBC.
The Masters is one of a very small number of tournaments broadcast each year in high-definition television. In 2005, CBS broadcast the tournament with high-definition fixed and handheld wired cameras, as well as standard-definition wireless handheld cameras. Each hour of Masters broadcasting provides only four minutes worth of commercials - something unseen in modern broadcasting (though in the Martha Burke controversy years there were no commercials). In Canada, which shows the same broadcast as the USA does, TSN and Global added their own commercials during the coverage. In 2006 a webstream called "Live at Amen Corner" provided coverage of all players passing through holes 11, 12 and 13 through all four rounds. This was the first full tournament multi-hole webcast from a major championship.
Unlike the other majors, the number of hours of television coverage is restricted, perhaps to increase the tournament's Nielsen ratings. Only in the 21st century did the tournament allow CBS to air 18-hole coverage of the leaders, a standard at the other three majors. Only 3 hours of coverage is scheduled for the early rounds on USA Network, although the networks always stay past the allotted times until the end of live golf action on all four days. On American television, coverage of the other 3 majors (and The Players Championship) only continues until the end of golf action on Saturday. 2006 was the first year that standard definition television viewers were able to watch early morning action from Augusta, as the 3rd round's conclusion was televised at 8am EDT Sunday on USA Network.
Augusta National does not allow any promos for other network programs, sponsored graphics, blimps, on course announcers or the regular CBS sports graphics template; instead it uses its own guitar-driven soundtrack (notably "Augusta" by Dave Loggins) and a CBS graphic package from several years back, colored green and white and relegating the CBS logo to a small corner shadow, allowing the Masters logo to take precedence.
[edit] Ticketing
Tickets for the Masters are hard to come by. Applications for practice round tickets have to be made nearly a year in advance and the successful applicants are chosen by random ballot. Tournament day tickets are sold only to members of a patrons list, which is closed. A waiting list for the patrons list was opened in 1972 and closed in 1978. It was reopened in 2000 and subsequently closed once again.
The tournament has received some criticism due to its requirement that ticket purchasers provide a U.S. Social Security number, a practice which some say is overly intrusive and could increase the chance of identity fraud.
[edit] Winners
Numbers in brackets after "Playoff" indicate the number of players involved.
[edit] Multiple winners
Sixteen men have won the Masters Tournament more than once through 2006.
- 6 wins
- Jack Nicklaus: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986
- 4 wins
- Arnold Palmer: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964
- Tiger Woods: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
- 3 wins
- Jimmy Demaret: 1940, 1947, 1950
- Sam Snead: 1949, 1952, 1954
- Gary Player: 1961, 1974, 1978
- Nick Faldo: 1989, 1990, 1996
- 2 wins
- Horton Smith: 1934, 1936
- Byron Nelson: 1937, 1942
- Ben Hogan: 1951, 1953
- Tom Watson: 1977, 1981
- Seve Ballesteros: 1980, 1983
- Bernhard Langer: 1985, 1993
- Ben Crenshaw: 1984, 1995
- José María Olazábal: 1994, 1999
- Phil Mickelson: 2004, 2006
[edit] Records
Key records through the 2006 Masters:
- Youngest winner: Tiger Woods (1997) at 21 years 104 days.
- Oldest winner: Jack Nicklaus (1986) at 46 years 82 days.
- Widest margin of victory: 12 strokes by Tiger Woods in 1997.
- Most Under Par, Second Nine: 16, (30-32-33-33), Tiger Woods, 1997.
- Low Middle 36 Holes: 131 (66-65), Tiger Woods, 1997; 131 (66-65), Tiger Woods, 2005.
- Highest Winning Score: 289, Sam Snead, 1954; 289, Jack Burke, 1956.
- Most cuts made: 37 by Jack Nicklaus. (The cut was introduced in 1957.)
- Most consecutive cuts made: 23 by Gary Player from 1959-1982 (he did not compete in 1973).
- Most appearances: 50 by Arnold Palmer from 1955-2004. (Gary Player plans to beat this record, but his appearances will not all be consecutive.)
[edit] External links
- Masters.org, official Masters tournament site
- Augustagolf.com, comprehensive coverage of the Masters
- US-Masters-Golf.com, travel, ticket and venue information
- The Masters Tournamet Video, Photos and Forums.
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