How much do you know about the Masters?
- Friday, 4 July 2008
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Tiger tees off on the historical 12th hole. Photo: Getty Images
Are you as clued up on your Masters trivia as you think? Well, here are Golf Monthly's top 25 things you may or may not know about the Masters:
1 If you win the Masters Tournament, then you receive a lifetime exemption into the tournament.
2 Jack Nicklaus is the only person to ever put the green jacket on himself. He did this after becoming the first person to win back-to-back titles in 1966. Since then consecutive winners Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have received their jackets from the chairman.
3 Magnolia Lane is 330 yards long and extends from the entrance gate to the Clubhouse. There are 61 magnolia trees lining the road, which date back to the late 1850's. It was paved for the first time in 1947.
4 Claude Harmon, in 1968, and Toshi Izawa, in 2002, are the only two players to have had two holes-in-one in the same year during the famous Par 3 tournament. Ironically enough both of them did it on consecutive holes – 4 and 5 for Harmon and 5 and 6 for Izawa.
5 Augusta used to be played in a different order of holes until 1935 when the nines were reversed.
6 In 2004 Mike Weir was the first Canadian to win a Major and the first left-hander to win the Masters.
7 Last year ended a string of nine straight years that the tournament was delayed at some point due to inclement weather.
8 The Champions Dinner is organised every year by the defending champion for all the other former winners. He makes a speech and, more importantly, chooses the menu. The meal is then served in the club dining room. In 2006, the 2005 champion, Tiger Woods, ordered Mexican salad, fajitas and rice with apple pie for dessert. The tradition goes back to 1952, when Ben Hogan was the inaugural host.
9 The site that the course occupies used to be a nursery and is home to 80,000 plants, of which there are 350 different species.
10 Everyone remembers Greg Norman surrendering a six-shot lead to Nick Faldo on the final day in 1996, but Masters history is heavily loaded with tales of final-day stumbles. For example, 14 years earlier Craig Stadler had a six-stroke lead as he stood on the 10th tee – yet still needed a play-off to secure the title.
11 The Par-3 Championship has been staged on the eve of the Masters every year since 1960. The nine-hole par-3 course opened in 1959 and has a course record of 20 strokes, held by Art Wall and Gay Brewer. Nobody has ever won the
Par-3/Masters “double” in the same year. Raymond Floyd was defeated by Nick Faldo in a play-off for the 1990 Masters – five days after winning the Par-3 Championship. He is the closest anyone has ever come to the double.
12 Six players have birdied the final hole to win the tournament: Art Wall (1959), Arnold Palmer ('60), Gary Player ('78), Sandy Lyle ('88), Mark O'Meara ('98) and Phil Mickelson ('04).
13 There have been four “wire to wire” champions – players who have led for all four rounds. They are Craig Wood ('41), Arnold Palmer ('60), Jack Nicklaus ('72) and Raymond Floyd ('76).
14 Tom Weiskopf made the highest score ever recorded on the 13th during a Masters week. After hitting five balls into Rae's Creek he walked off the green with a 13.
15 Dwight D “Ike” Eisenhower is one of the most famous members of Augusta in history. He visited 45 times, including 29 times while serving as President of the USA. The Eisenhower Cabin was built for him in 1953 to secret service specifications and was funded by members' donations. “Ike's Tree” on the 17th is so named because he kept hitting it from the tee before suggesting that it be cut down – the suggestion was politely declined.
16 Since 1963 the famous “honorary starters” have usually hit the first tee shot on the opening day at the Masters. To date, six historic figures of American golf have performed the revered duty: Jock Hutchison, Fred McLeod, Gene Sarazen (pictured), Byron Nelson, Ken Venturi and Sam Snead.
17 There have been 18 holes-in-one in the history of the Masters, an average of one every 3.88 years. 2004 was a bumper year, with three players achieving the rare feat. The famous 16th hole has seen over half of the aces through the years, 10 in total.
18 There are three famous bridges at Augusta, dedicated to some of the game's greatest players. They are the Hogan Bridge (to the 12th green), the Nelson Bridge (to the 13th tee) and the Sarazen Bridge (to the 15th green).
19 The Crow's Nest is a section of the clubhouse that can be used as lodgings during the tournament by any invited amateur, for a nominal fee. It can sleep up to five people and is usually (though not always) accepted by the invitees.
20 Bobby Jones objected to calling the tournament the Masters because he felt it was too presumptuous. The name, Augusta National Invitation Tournament, was used for five years until 1939 when Jones relented and it was changed due to popular demand.
21 In 1947 Ben Hogan was so focused on the troubles that awaited him on the 13th tee that he completely failed to notice that his friend and playing partner, Claude Harmon, had recorded a hole-in-one on the previous hole.
22 Long drive contests were held at the Masters from 1934 through to 1959. Greg Bayer won several of them, including the last ever contest, when he launched a monstrous drive of 321 yards.
23 The winner's Green Jacket made its first appearance in 1949, when one was presented to Sam Snead. The green cloth is transported from Georgia to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the iconic garments are made. The winner gets to take their jacket home for 12 months but it is then returned to the club, after which it may only be worn on the premises. Gary Player is the only champion to challenge this rule – following his win in 1961 the South African, who was famous for his black attire, refused to give the jacket back.
24 Before 1983, all players were required to use the services of an Augusta National club caddie instead of their own.
25 The defending champion always receives the caddie number “1” tag – other golfers get their caddie numbers in the order in which they arrive at Augusta National and register for the tournament.
