Weekend at Augusta: Reflections on the PGA Tour’s Masters
Last weekend concluded the prestigious Masters tournament.
The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) hosts four major tournaments throughout the course of each golfing season. These tournaments include the U.S. Open in June, The Open Championship in July, The PGA Championship in August, and the very first of the four, The Masters in April.
The Masters is played at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. and is widely considered the most prestigious of the four tournaments. It is steeped in various traditions that are still going strong since the first Masters tournament in 1934.
What are some of these traditions? Each year before the tournament begins, all previous tournament winners have a meal together. That meal is hosted by the previous year’s champion. This is a very exclusive club to be a part of and the Masters is the only tournament that has a tradition like this.
It’s a significant honor to win at Augusta, and the list of those who have one is filled with greats such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Tiger Woods. Some of these Masters champions have won the tournament multiple times, including the three previously mentioned and the champion this year, Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler is now a two-time Masters champion. He won the tournament two seasons ago in 2022, and again this year. He has been ranked world number one both times he has won the tournament and continues to be almost unanimously recognized as the current best golfer in the world. These two wins make a combined nine wins on tour within the past three years for Scheffler. With these kinds of numbers, Scheffler is being compared to Tiger Woods at the start of his career, which, of course, is a hard name to live up to.
When asked about how he does what he does, Scheffler attributed his success to faith: “I have been given a gift of this talent, and I use it for God’s glory,” according to CBS.
Wanting to watch more golf? The Masters is just the start. The RBC Heritage tournament is currently underway, and the next major, the U.S. Open, will take place next month.