Reasons We Love The Masters (And You Will Too)

Good morning and welcome to this week's episode of the Sports Curious podcast. I'm your host, Amy Buchan on Siegfried and I am joined by the only one out of the two of us that golfs on an actual golf course, not a mini golf course, our co -founder, my co -host, Scott. Scott, welcome to the program. Thank you for having me. It's an honor and a pleasure and golfing twice a year counts me as a golfer. Then I'm in. That's true. It's all relative.

Now, I'm going to start us off with actually something quite controversial now that we're talking a little bit about... Minigolf or putt -putt? What do you call it? Wow, mini golf. mean, granted, we were raised in the same household, but mini golf. I don't know what this is, moving to the Midwest, living all over. Putt -Putt is the weirdest name I've ever heard for a golf game. Why would we call it that? I don't get it. And that's what they call it where you're at. putt -putt.

It's like a Midwest, I don't know East Coast people, you might have to film me and I don't know that one, but putt -putt. Stranger thing.

It's like soda versus pop, right? Like it's a controversial thing. Throwing it out here to start off, start us off with some controversy because there's not enough controversy wrapped into the Masters. That is not true at all. So I guess start us off with why is the Masters so special, right? Everyone gets all up in arms about the Masters every year and people have Masters parties and all these things. So tell me why the Masters is such a big deal. We are discussing the master's today.

It is a big deal. It's always the first golf major of the year. And it's the only golf major of the year that is always at the same course. It's always at Augusta in Georgia. All the other majors rotate through different courses throughout the years. They've got some crazy traditions that only this course has, like the tradition with the green jacket for the winter. which we'll dive into later probably. And that's probably what they're most known for.

And it's just an iconic course with special things that other courses don't do. Yeah, well, let's talk about the green jacket. Like this is a perfect, why not start off with the green jacket? So the green jacket was initially instituted because it made members at the tournament easier to find, right? People you could ask questions to. The jacket, I should say the members, the membership list is very secretive. You can't find out who's a member. They believe it's around 300 -ish people.

Women just became members in 2012. starting with Condoleezza Rice. But there's probably, we think -ish based on our research, there were six confirmed, Annika Sorenstam, who's a golfer, LPGA golfer. She's a member now, so we know we're at least at seven, but I'm imagining we're probably not much more than that. So being a member is a big deal. The jacket is for members only. And then the winner gets to keep the jacket for one year, one year only.

Right, and then they have to wear it, then they can only wear it on the grounds of Augusta National, is that correct? Yes. So the year after they win it, they can take it wherever they want. It's been at basketball games. It's been at Wimbledon. It's been at weddings. It's been all over the place. But once that year ends, the previous champion must give it back to Augusta and they can only wear it at Augusta like all the other members.

Now, I did love this note that you put into our podcast notes that Patrick Reed, who people don't love, he's sort of polarizing, if you will, as a golfer. He wore his green jacket to a Knicks game, and then Will Ferrell thought it would be hilarious to also make a fake green jacket and wear it to an NBA game. Yeah, so Patrick Reed, please don't sue us for mentioning this.

Yeah, Will Ferrell took the opportunity to poke fun at Patrick Reed after he won it and wore a fake green jacket to a game in LA. As only Will Fowler could do. He probably also - which I'm sure the Masters, I'm sure that Augusta was not happy with Will Ferrell. That's probably very offensive. Speedos or something. uh probably under his pants. feel like every time we talk about him doing something, he's in speedos. I mean, as you should be. you can, why not?

So the green jacket is obviously one of the great things that the Masters is known for. Their membership, obviously, as we already talked about, is quite unique. It's very secretive. But the Masters does not rotate from Augusta National. Talk to us a little bit about how the majors work in golf and what that looks like. Yeah. So the only major, like we said, that does not rotate courses is the masters. The other three, which would be the PGA championship, the U S open and the British open.

They rotate through different courses within the parameters of each tournament. So PGA championship and U S open courses are going to be a little bit different layouts, but they rotate. I think it's like every eight years or so, same with the British open. It rotates all over Europe. or England, Europe, Scotland, you know, and British opens always crazy weather with rain and all kinds of things happening. So that's what makes Augusta so special. It comes back every year.

Everyone knows what to expect with these crazy traditions. that are out, that's like their famed plant. The azaleas were out. They've had a couple of rainy years, if I remember correctly. They put in like heaters on the grass because they played in the fall during COVID. I mean, there's all kinds of this course. I've played and been at courses around it. The area is just stunning. And if you remember last year, the huge tree fell on one of the holes.

And then the next day, you would never have known. It just like disappeared. So the ground screw does an impeccable job of keeping this course pristine throughout the year. the grounds crew. Now, you kind of mentioned that this tournament has some things that are different than other tournaments. So if you're going to the Masters, what are some of those things you should know? Because there are definitely some idiosyncrasies, better for worse, about Augusta National.

Probably the biggest thing you have to know if you're going is no cell phone rule, which seems in this day and age of society with phones everywhere, almost impossible, but that's what makes Augusta so special that people will go to the tournament knowing that you can't have your phone out, can't use it, can't take pictures. So it's impressive that they're able to enforce it. some tournaments have it, but no one is as strict like Augusta National.

They will actually ban you from tournament if they catch you with your phone. Yes. So you can get banned using your phone. Another thing inflation proof is they're cheap concessions. You would think a tournament that costs so much money to get to on such a prestigious course would have ridiculous concession prices. Like we saw, we went to, was it the PGA championship with $18 beers. You've got egg salad sandwiches for $1 .50, Femino cheese sandwiches for $1 .50. Beers are five bucks.

White wine is six bucks. That's kind of the high end. The pimento cheese, we'll put that up as our tailgate treat this week because, A, it's easy to make, really easy to make. I can do it and I think I made it like in a minute. It's really good. But it's something like, that's their sort of famed thing, a pimento cheese sandwich on white bread is sort of the famed master's dish. Yeah, and they have the Taste of the Masters package that they sent.

You can buy now, where they'll send you all these items for the Masters party that you're going to have. And you can... It was really expensive. that. And I did see it a friend had it last year and they like send you it's like the pre -packaged pimento cheese and you just put it on the bread and it's kind of cool. Now, speaking of food, a perfect lead in to the week starts off with the champion's dinner, where the previous year's winner invites all previous winners to dinner.

And they choose the menu, they pay for it, which I thought was really interesting. That was something I hadn't realized. They pay for it. And this year's winner is, last year's winner, I guess, is in this year's host. is John Rahm. And this is another thing specific to Augusta, specific to the Masters is the previous winner gets to pick the menu, whatever they want.

I mean, we've had cheeseburgers and fries and I think that was maybe Tigers when he was younger to basically anything you ever want. But yeah, like I honestly just learned that the previous year's winner has to pay for it. guess you make enough money in it. That could probably factor into a few things. But I guess. I was like, oh dear, that's a... It's like a, is it sheep? It's essentially like a, yeah. Think of Scrapple, but the Scottish version. I mean, whatever he wants. He's the winner.

He gets to pick it. And this year, John Rom from Spain. So he's got a little, is it Basque flair to his menu with tapas. And I think his mom's stew, is that what you said? lentil stew, lentil stew is part of the menu. So mama must be in the kitchen. It's a lot cheaper than having somebody else make it. So that's a nice home cooking flair for him. Yeah, it's really cool to see them factor in their different influences.

Now, John Rahm, this is probably a good way to talk a little bit about Liv Golf. John Rahm, one last year, allegedly received about $300 million to move over to Liv Golf. So give us an update. The two, PGA and Liv, were supposed to merge at some point. They originally had a deadline of, I think, December 31st, and they kicked the can down the road. Where are we now at that and can live players play in the Masters?

So John Rahm will have no problem paying for the dinner with his alleged, alleged $300 million contract, which I don't know if anyone's actually confirmed the number. That's just what was rumored. So yeah, no problem paying for it. He left after the season last year. And L .I .V. golfers, live golfers cannot play in PGA events. But since all the major tournaments are run completely different, They can do whatever they want. So the masters does allow LAV golfers, live golfers to play.

And I think this year there's 13, including seven former master champions, which is kind of crazy to think. So they've pulled over a lot of talent. But as far as the deal with PJ and the PIF, it's kind of, no one has any clue what's really going on. It was supposed to be done by the end of the year. And they just keep saying, pushing it down the line. So we really have no idea. I don't think anyone knows what's going on with that.

But did I see that the PGA reached a deal with a bunch of billionaire sports team owners this week to make PGA tour enterprises? It's called the Deal With a Strategic Sports Group, which is a consortium of billionaire sports team owners. So they've got billions of dollars that they didn't need to get from the PIF, which is good. And that's led by the Fenway Sports Group, which is the Red Sox. And I think it's Liverpool, a few other teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins as well.

So they've got an infusion of a lot of money to keep the tour going and... to increase purses and try to keep these golfers happy. is making a for -profit company, the PGA Tour will run the for -profit company PGA Tour Enterprises, which is, I mean, I guess you have to do what you have to do, but I mean, there's so many big names that we know that are no longer part of the PGA Tour. Now, Roy McElroy, he has been really outspoken about not liking Liv, but he's sort of changed his tune lately.

Yeah, I think he was, as we saw last year, he was out in front forefront of his battle against all the guys who left and defected. But since the announcement of that, they were going to get this deal done, which still has not been done. He's kind of changed his tune and we're seeing a lot of golfers this year, much different. Um, I mean, Rory said he thinks that the division between the PGA and LIV is kind of killing golf and ratings have dropped, I think 20 % since this has all happened.

So he's saying like, everyone's kind of just fatigued about the whole thing. And he kind of wants to see maybe some kind of merger. So golf fans can just watch golf and not have to worry about watching PGA, watching LAV with the different format. So I think everyone's kind of got a different tune this year as opposed to last year where everyone was very against it. interesting because when you really think about it as a fan, you only have so much capacity, right?

I can only watch so much basketball. I can only watch so much golf. I only have so many time hours in the day. So how do I... We're splitting the hairs on so many things. So it's a really interesting perspective. How did they had a big Super Bowl event in Vegas? Didn't they have a big Super Bowl golf tournament? How'd that go over? Yeah, they did play in Las Vegas. I don't know that it went very well. I don't know anyone that went. up against the Waste Management Open, which is in Phoenix.

Yes. And that's the most iconic tournament in the United States. It's always Super Bowl weekend. You've got people for generations who have been going Super Bowl weekend to waste management. So no one's really going to change their plans to go see a 54 -hole LIV tournament. And it's on the CW, which is, I don't know if everyone has the CW. So. Interesting. Interesting.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what comes out of that as this as their season starts as the PGA season really kind of ramps up here. Be intrigued to see how that all how that all comes into play. But it sounds like the PGA it's buying them buying itself some time at this point. So. Yeah, I think they're just trying to stitch together whatever they can to keep afloat and keep these golfers happy. Okay, so speaking of golfers, who are we watching for to win this tournament?

Who is predicted to be someone we need to keep an eye on this season? Is Tiger showing up? What's happening here?

We'll start with Tiger. He is playing. As we know, he's been battling injuries for quite a few years, especially after the car accident. So he is playing. We'll see how physically he does. I know Augusta is extremely hilly, although he may not look like it on TV. So it's a lot of uphill, a lot of walking. So we'll see. Hopefully, he at least makes the cut, makes it to the weekend to keep eyes on the tournament. make the cut and can you explain the cut for those who are not golf people?

So the cut takes place after 36 holes, which would be traditionally Friday, unless there's some kind of weather or some kind of delay. So that way narrows the field down, so a lot less players over the weekend. And as it is now, it's the top 50 players, score -wise, and ties. So there can be more than 50 if there's a bunch of ties. But that slashes the field almost in half for the weekend. How do you make the Masters?

Like how do you get invited if you're not sort of a Rory McElroy, or a previous champion? How do you get invited? So it can get kind of complicated. If you've won the Masters, you have a lifetime exemption, so you can keep showing up. So that's how a lot of these LAV golfers, live golfers, are making it. Seven former champions, so they've got a lifetime invitation. US Open champion has a five -year. Entry British Open champion has a five year entry PGA champion five year.

So winning other majors helps you get in. You can get in with the world golf rankings, which the. L. I. V. golfers don't get. So that's why a lot of there's only 13 as opposed to 18 last year because they don't get like cough rating points. Yeah, exactly. So that's how that's how you can definitely make it. But that's a reason why there's less this year. they're basically, they've all either been a champion or won something else to be able to get in. That makes sense. other major. interesting.

Now, before we wrap us up, I want you to give me, you've got probably got something we haven't covered that I would love for you to share with us. I will go first just so I give you time to buy and figure yours out. How's that sound? My favorite thing about the masters and I love this fun fact and I use it all the time is the fact that there are, that the broadcast puts in bird sounds, tweets and things like that.

not tweets like Twitter, tweets or X, into the broadcast to make it sound more melodic and peaceful. Whereas if you talk to people who've been in the masters, there is not a bird in sight. And I'm pretty sure they probably have hawks on all the different holes that chase with the birds, just like Wimbledon does, because they don't want birds pooping on people and so on and so forth, and eating your pimento cheese sandwich, because that would not be classy at all.

So that is my favorite fact about the masters. What do you have? I'll just run down some names real quick to look out for that way people have some to look forward to. We've got world number one, Scotty Shuffler. He's been on quite the terror lately. He's favored to win John Rahm who won last year and then changed golf leagues as second Roy McElroy surprisingly is third in the odds, which he's never won the Masters and he traditionally does not play very well there. So that's kind of.

It's the only one who's not. It's the only one he's not won and you never, for some reason, he just can't get over that hump. I think he missed the cut last year. Yeah, I think it's all mental at this point for him. So those are the top three to look out for. And I was going to make you try to spell Xander Schauffele, but I think you have your notes in front of you. So that's not nearly as much fun. Oh, I know what I wanted to cover before.

You put this in our notes about Keegan's Bradleys, who is a golfer, his answer to the question of his favorite room or building on Augusta National. It's the best answer. Can you please? I think it's hilarious. Yeah, King Bradley kind of spilled the beans here. There's secret bathrooms on the course for the golfers. That way, if they need to use the restroom in between holes, they can kind of get off and go to the restroom.

There's one behind 11th T and there's also one on the 13th hole down to the left. So that's a good easy way for these golfers to get off the course for a moment. unlike when you might play the Masters, if you had to pee, you could maybe pee around the side of a tree or something. They don't have that option. They do not. So Gegan Bradley kind of spilled the beans on. Well, he's answered the question that we all needed the, we all were just so curious about. You can't get in.

Well, I hope you go enjoy the Masters over your pimento cheese and your white wine. That's going to only cost you $6 if you're buying it at the course. The ticket may be not that cheap or the hotel or the airfare, but we can have a Masters party on our own couch. So with that, I bid you adieu. Enjoy the game. Enjoy the game. Enjoy the tournament. tournament games. see you next week.