Episode 2 - The Masters

fought in the enchanting forests of augusta national park georgia in the united states it's played in picture -perfect settings driving up magnolia lane you're met by a grand old clubhouse which is the gateway to golfing heaven they say it's perfect they say it's where god himself hangs out it could be the garden of eden the fairways are impeccable the surroundings are idyllic the trees and flowers as rare as they are stunning it oozes class the breeze whispers the tales

of legends into your ear the crowd's cheers echo through the trees it has history at every turn Mark Twain is said to have described golf as a good walk spoiled, but he died before Augusta National Golf Club was formed. He doesn't know what he's missed. The best contends with the best on one of the hardest golf courses in the world. If you win it, you really have earned the right to be considered one of the masters of the game. This is the Sporting Almanac. Hi

Ben. Hi Jack. How are you? Yeah, I'm alright, thanks mate. How are you? Yeah, not too bad. We're just recording this just after the running of the Grand National. It was won by Nick Rocket at 33 -1, which incredibly, I did actually bet on him this year. I didn't. Well, you know, at least one of us knows what they're doing. Completely

not just random luck. unfortunately yeah it's another race not without controversy um there's a couple of uh horses one horse pulled up one horse fell and both horses made their way to the horse ambulance which i only discovered today was a thing um a good thing uh yes a very good thing both made it into the ambulance on their feet so fingers crossed and there'll be no lasting damage from that but across the meet there has been horse deaths again and rachel blackmore

who we mentioned in the last episode had a bad fall On the first day of the meet, her horse unfortunately lost its life and she had to be taken away for checks as well. So just another reminder, it is a dangerous sport and this year is no exception. Thanks for getting us off to such a positive, happy start, Jack. It's all uphill from here. The race itself though, the Mullins National. The Mullins National, yeah, absolutely. First, second and third, all trained

by Willie Mullins. And I think fifth as well. Incredible. And his son was riding the winner. Yeah, and his son was riding the winner, Patrick Mullins, as an amateur. I was just going to say, before we get on to this week's episode, anything else going on this week that we should cover before we start? There's a couple of things. It's not the busiest weekend of sport ever. The Women's Six Nations continues this weekend. Round three of that is coming up this weekend. Go on

the Red Roses. Go on the Red Roses, indeed. Anything else, Ben? Bahrain Grand Prix? Ah, the Bahrain Grand Prix, yes. Round four of this year's season? Round four already, yeah. Coming thick and fast. Coming out of episode one, there is one or two things I think we should mention because... I don't know if you're aware of this, Ben, but we made one or two small errors in the first episode. We mentioned a few times it was the 176th running of the Grand National, when in

fact it was the 177th running. Ah, there we are. Don't know if you know that. Can't do maths. We've corrected ourselves now, and it's my job to fact check, so I hold my hands up and apologise for that. In addition... Unfortunately, as good a story as it was, Easter Hero was not the runner -up in the 1928 National. He took out the entire group, somewhere between 20 and 35 other runners and also himself. But one of the other horses

did fall, get up again and finish. That was Billy Barton, who was an American horse, I believe, ridden by Tommy Cullinan. So there you go. Oh, nice. We have corrected ourselves and we are back in the game. So you already introduced it, but do you want to go again? Where are we this week, Ben? We're at the Masters this week, Jack. Oh, I can't wait. It's the best. It is the best tournament in golf. It is the best setting in golf. I am going to Georgia. I don't know if

you know this. I think I'm going to Georgia later this year. I'm certainly going to the Deep South

or the South generally. So I don't know if I'll have time or... the um credits with the people i'm traveling with to uh pop in there and more than that i don't actually know if they allow guests um unless you remember but uh i'm sure you're swinging by and have a look from the outside um if i if i get the chance but it's a big state in a big country so might not get the opportunity that would be unreal though even just to have a look around a little tour even get thrown out

If I sneak in, that would be an absolute honor. Anyway, would you like to tell us about the Masters Tournament and about Augusta National? Yes, I would be very happy to. I know that you probably know some of this already, but for those who are less familiar with either the game of golf or the tournament itself, it was founded by the amateur golf champion, Bobby Jones, and an investment banker, Clifford Roberts. And they set up the Augusta National Golf Club, which is the host,

essentially, to the Masters. And the tournament is pretty unique in that it's the only major tournament conducted by a private club rather than a national golfing organization like the PGA. And it's been held since 1934. And it's been played every single year except 1943 because of World War II. Good excuse. 1944. World War II, good excuse. 1945, World War II, good excuse. Very solid excuses. But it did prevail during

COVID. It was delayed and it was played at the end of the year outside of its usual calendar slot. At the back end of the year, it actually was the last major in 2020. But it was played. But yeah, I mean, the purse back in 1934, I think the winner earned... $1 ,500, and now it's $3 .6 million. So it's done okay. And it was originally called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament.

And this is quite a fun story, actually. There was a debate whether to call it the Masters or the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, which really rolls off the tongue. Bobby Jones thought it was a bit presumptuous to call it the Masters. But the press got wind of it and they ran a story referring to it as the Masters and it obviously stuck and has henceforth been known. But it was officially titled the Masters in 1939, I think. So there were a couple of iterations of the tournament

under its original name. But yeah, I mean, the Masters is the Masters. And there's a lot that we can talk about on this subject. Yeah, it's the first of golf's four major championships and the only one that's played at the same venue. Possibly the most iconic sporting venue in the game of golf. Oh, that's debatable. Apart from... Scottish people disagreeing with you there. Exactly. Well, you've pre -empted me, mate, other than St Andrews, probably. So, yeah. Which I have

been to. Not played at, but I've been to. I'm about to say something, which anyone who is interested in golf who ends up listening to this will... be astonished by and perhaps dislike me for but I won free tickets to the 150th Open which was at St Andrews where Tiger was playing and I couldn't find anyone to go with me so I handed them back To be fair that's as much on me as it is on you You presumably invited me to that and I wasn't able to go, I imagine. I did. And you turned

me down. So it's a group effort there. Not to be repeated. Yes. Well, I mean, I certainly wouldn't be turning down free tickets to the Masters if I ever got them. So lesson learned. I'd go on my own if necessary. You and me both. Yeah, exactly. Well, back to the tournament. 85 to 100 participants. Invitational only, which is a really interesting aspect of this tournament, is an official money event on the PGA Tour, European Tour, I think

Japanese Golf Tour as well, maybe. I don't know what actually its official title is, but the

Asia Circuit. And yeah, the invitational criteria is complex, but it essentially ensures that all the masters, weirdly, turn up at this tournament all the all the best players so um all prior champions get a lifetime invite all major winners from the previous season all winners on the pga tour as long as they carry some sufficient ranking points or something uh the current olympic gold medalist which i guess is a new addition to the criteria that's interesting yeah the top 50 in

the world the top 30 money winners in the previous pga tour which is called the fedex cup for those that aren't informed um the top 12 from the last tournament and they also have a very long -standing amateur history and invite basically all of the um best amateurs from around the world uh through series of amateur tournaments uh and yeah the top four players from the previous us open uh open and pga championship um so yeah like a pretty a pretty interesting set of criteria there is

one other um way in which you can be invited and that is through um special invitations which we'll get onto in a minute Yeah, it's worth pointing out with that, obviously a lot of people will fall under multiple criteria there. So obviously if you have won a major title, you are also probably in the top 30 of the rankings. Exactly. And they do, people hit all the, the top 50 in the world basically hit all the criteria normally. So it's just the people outside of that. But yeah, special

invitations are a fun thing. They are traditionally predominantly used to invite foreign players who don't meet the criteria for an invite. And it's at the discretion of the club. And the first to receive such an invitation was Gary Player. He was the first foreign winner of the Masters as well, being from South Africa, and a three -time winner. Sorry, he wasn't the first to receive it. That's wrong. He wrote to the Masters asking.

This is the reason why it's a fun story. Because he's the first foreign winner and he got into his first Masters via a special invitation. That's what I meant to say. Before he went on to win three Masters. And he wrote to them requesting a special invite. And when he was granted one, he essentially crowdfunded his way to the tournament, which I think is kind of sweet given the prestige and the success that he then went on to earn. Getting all the way from South Africa to Georgia

in the United States. Must have been a mean feat back in the day. Back in the early 1960s. No, probably not. But yeah, he's not the only person of note to have received a special invitation. The first black player to receive a special invitation was a chap called Lee Elder, who was given one in 1975, which is weirdly the same year that Tiger Woods was born. And people and politicians have been lobbying for a couple of years for Elder to receive a special invite because he

was a decent player in his own right. But the club resisted, not on the basis that they were obviously racist in the 1970s, but on the basis that, as they said at least. If black players were good enough, then they could qualify in their own right. Convenient reasoning. Well, you know, weirdly not a barrier to inviting white players from South Africa who had also not qualified and met the criteria. So, yeah, read into that

where you will. There's an inference there. But Elder did obviously get his invite in 75 and he received an awful lot of abuse. Quite an enormous amount of hate mail, I think. And he even rented two houses in the tournament week and moved between them so that people couldn't track his movements easily. And he didn't eat alone. He would always have someone with him. And he would eventually go on to miss the cut. But obviously, his participation in the 1975 edition of the tournament was infinitely

more important than his scorecard. But yeah, he... You know, it's the start of something. And he would return two more times and earn two top 25 finishes. And he also finished his career with four PGA Tour wins and a Ryder Cup in 79. Yeah. And he'd be the first black player as well to hit the honorary tee shot in 2021 alongside one Jack Nicklaus. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player himself. Okay. Yeah. I find it incredible that

that was 1975. Obviously, America has a very long history of segregation, particularly in the South, particularly in the likes of Alabama and Georgia, Georgia being where this tournament takes place. But even so, 1975 is a full decade

after the civil rights movement. It goes to show the... white conservative nature of golf which does persist to a certain extent to this day although obviously has been ruptured somewhat by certain individuals and their success one in particular in the late 90s who i believe we will probably mention once or twice in this episode he's already mentioned once mr tiger woods yeah well i mean if you think that's astonishing pal um elders participation came 15 years before

augusta admitted the first black member so and that was that was a ron townsend in 1990 um and i didn't know about this but apparently um there was a controversy the shoal creek controversy in the lead up to the pga championships in 1990 shoal creek being a club in alabama designed by jack nicholas that didn't have any black members and heavily resisted them and were being panned in the media in the lead -up to the tournament

that they were hosting. And the PGA nearly removed them as the host club for the PGA Championship. But, as I suspect is always the case with tournaments that bring in quite a lot of money, there was a lot of lobbying going on and a compromise was eventually reached. Louis J. Willey was invited by the Mayor of Birmingham to become an honorary member. Again, that's incredible. In 1990. Then again, I guess we're... Let's not get political. Let's move on. Let's not talk about what's happening

in America right now. Anyway, you were saying? Well, all I was saying is that... Four years later, a Tiger Woods, a certain Tiger Woods, would win the 1994 individual collegiate title at the same course. And the position had not changed. There was still only one black member of the club at that time. That's incredible. In 1994. But yeah, I mean, that's pretty much the tournament. I mean, it's, I'm sorry, like a little couple of tangents on special invites,

but it's... Played across four rounds, traditional format. Lose half the field after two rounds. Well, top 50, technically speaking, including ties. And then you play for the title over the course of the final two rounds. The final round obviously traditionally being on a Sunday. And if there's a tie, you have a sudden death playoff across the 18th and the 10th until there's a winner. Although it's never gone beyond the second

playoff hole. yeah it used to be full rounds for um the playoff and i believe i might be wrong i'm saying that it went to multiple full rounds on some occasions presumably when full rounds were drawn or tied i should say um which is an incredible amount of playoff golf uh to play i think the sudden death version they have now is excellent and it results in brilliant finishes like if you recall 2012 being a particularly good finish where a certain Bubba Watson drove

out of the pine with a lot of pull on it, turned about 90 degrees and left it about 10 feet from the hole to win that playoff, which is, in my opinion, and this is notwithstanding Tiger Woods chipping in 2005, the best shot I've ever seen in Masters history. I don't know if you're aware of the one I'm referring to, but it is an incredible shot. Bubba shot. Bubba shot. Yeah, I'm very familiar with Bubba's shot. It's just incredible. It is one of the most iconic shots, I think,

in the tournament's history, as you say. And in a clutch moment as well. Yes. Which is, you know, the way these things happen, always enter folklore when there's heaps of pressure. Indeed.

So that's 2012 is regarded as... one of the the great tournaments i don't know if you've got any more of an introduction to talk about at this point but um we could go on to talk about the great tournaments in the past well we've got yeah we could talk about the tournaments we can talk about the traditions uh whichever you whichever way around you want to do it mate i'll defer you know i think i'll give you a voice arrest you've introduced this beautifully um

but yes so uh there's a few tournaments to stand out historically as being the greatest amongst obviously some great tournaments past 1960 Arnold Palmer the great Arnold Palmer who probably just now really misses out on the goat conversation that may or may not be coming later but in terms of the Masters he has the third highest number of wins overall with four his best being 1960 where he pulled out clutch birdies on 17 and 18 grab his second win of four in the masters

1997 um very notable for the arrival of a certain tiger woods on the scene winning his first major by 12 shots which is still a record and with the lowest score to par of minus 18 which is still a record i believe 2004 phil mickelson um getting his first major at the age of i think he's about 34 at that point he was uh renowned as being one of the best players who have never won one um but uh yeah pulled out of the bag and famously leapt in the air in joy at the end

of that mickelson's uh back story is so good man like the how long he had to wait for one yeah and then to go and get it yes and then same and then to uh yeah so to win a few over the next few years but then to go a few more years without winning one and then win one i think he's he he might not be the oldest man to ever win one at 50. or he might be, but he managed to win one at 50. Who's this, sorry? Phil Mickelson. Not a Masters, I should say. Oh, okay, yeah.

I was going to say, Nicholas has got the record at the Masters. He won one when he was 46. Yes, well, I'll come to that shortly. No, Mickelson won, I want to say, the PGA Championship when he was 50, which is obviously impressive. 2005, the legend, probably... other than the one I mentioned, Bubba Watson, the greatest shot in Masters history where Tiger chipped in at the 16th. If you've seen any clip from a golf tournament

ever, you've probably seen this one. This is one where he chips in from just outside the green. He lands it on the top of the green, takes about a 90 -degree turn, rolls slowly towards the cup, stops right on the edge of the cup, stays, stays, stays, and then drops in. And you see the camera vibrating from the chair that goes up from the crowd. And it is obviously Tiger Fist Pump. It's

iconic. And that was at a point where he was chasing and he got back into the mix and ended up forcing a playoff and winning the playoff. And the chap he was up against in that. Let me just get the information here. Oh, this is the unreal. Quote. So he beat Chris DeMarco in the playoff that day. Chris DeMarco said, I went out and shot 68 around here on Sunday, which is usually a very good round, and 12 under is usually good enough to win. It's just that I

was playing against Tiger Woods. Yeah, it's so good. Sums it up, really. And it's like that chip as well. Obviously, everyone would have seen that chip, or anyone who's interested in golf would have seen that chip. It's almost as if it's willed in by the crowd. It genuinely

seems to stop. on like the lip of the cup and then and then just go again i i it's very hard to uh do it justice just like you know verbally but um just if anyone hasn't seen it's youtube it's insane i was gonna say if you haven't seen it just watch it and look just look at how much the camera shakes from the crouching it's one of the things i love most about sport about watching sport on tv when something happens which there's so much joy and so much noise created you can

see it physically i remember it um david beckham when he scored the free kick against greece watch his celebration after that and you can see it there and for anyone who doesn't know going off topic a little bit but that sealed england's qualification for the world cup when in a game we did not deserve to get anything out of whatsoever um but it happens in in tigers chip as well and it's just just an outpouring of joy and just how lucky you must feel to be In that situation,

watching that live. And the commentators, mate. Incredible. They just lose their partiality. Or impartiality, rather. Become partial. Yeah, I love that. And why not? Because they love sport. Yeah, exactly. Sport is the winner in that situation. Just cuts through it all, doesn't it? It's unreal. Yeah, speaking of legendary commentary. Arguably the greatest. Masters tournament of all time and you already briefly mentioned this. 1986.

Jack Nicklaus was 46 years old. He had already won five Masters tournaments but hadn't won one for a fair few years. He went into the round seven shots behind. He went into the last five holes still four shots behind and then he rattled off an eagle at 15, a birdie at 16, a birdie at 17. So the iconic moment came on the 17th, where he had a putt from 10 feet or so. And he nailed it and unforgettably raised his putter

in the air in celebration. And the commentator came out and said, maybe, yes, sir, as it went in. One of the most famous calls in golf history. And it's just a wonderful thing. It's mythical almost at this point, as also 2019 was, as you may recall. For similar reasons, a past champion, a legend of the sport, someone who'd won the Masters title four times before. At an older age, 43 years old, Tiger Woods sealing it in 2019. Fist pump and the noise there as well and

him celebrating with his family. Absolutely iconic. Mate, these guys write their own scripts. They genuinely do. Golf is like psychological warfare against yourself. It is. It's a very good way of describing it. I don't know if anyone here, anyone listening has ever played golf, but your biggest opponent, almost your only opponent is yourself. I mean, if you're playing against, if you're playing to a handicap. You should have had a handicap set up so everyone is at an even

level. You're essentially just playing against yourself and your own focus and your own calmness and your own judgment in a situation. I was saying to my girlfriend earlier, Jack, I was sort of telling her about what we were doing for this episode. You can't beat someone at golf. You

can only shoot your best round. and if it just happens to be better than someone else's then you end up winning and that's like that's the way it is like you you can obviously like that i'm oversimplifying slightly because you can you can psych each other out and you can get in your own head someone can do something and put you under pressure and that sort of thing so there is that dynamic to it obviously it's not but you might you might be you know four

or five holes away from your closest opponent you might not even see what they're doing so yeah i think it's unique in that sense that you're effectively playing yourself yeah i mean you if you're Not in the same group. So for anyone who doesn't know, in the final two rounds of major tournaments, once the cut has happened, you get sorted into groups based on where you

are in the standings. Essentially, so the top three in the standings will be together, then the next three will be together, and so on and so forth. The idea being that it makes it more likely that the last putt of the day is the winning putt, which is obviously what a TV audience wants to see, what directors want to see, and what

anyone watching at the course wants to see. but it can be the case that someone has a good round someone has a bad round you do end up in a situation where you are two or three holes away and you just you hear the crowd noise and you have to make judgments over it and it it must just be very psychological to block that out and to focus entirely on your own game as opposed to and and other than maybe you see scoreboards or you're getting results through or your caddies telling

you or whatever you don't know in that moment you're lining up a shot what the situation is you just have to focus on your own game and it is absolutely unique in that regard. I don't know why you just jogged my memory there, mate, but I think it's because of the pairings. One interesting quirk about the Masters is the US amateur qualifies, the US amateur champion qualifies, and every single year they are paired with the returning champion for the first two rounds,

which is a nice little tradition. It's probably a nice tradition in that you can probably look back on it and a lot of the time the US amateur champion will be someone who later goes on to succeed in the game. So you probably end up seeing a 21 -year -old future major winner paired up with someone who is now in their 40s or 50s legend of the game. You probably have a lot of pairings like that when you look back. Very good. Very cool rule. And I know we've gone slightly off

topic here, but you were waxing... Oh, we do. Yeah, I know. But you were waxing lyrical about Jack Nicklaus, and this is not the first time he's achieved something remarkable at Augusta. This is not quite as detailed, but it's just a nice little nod to how damn good he was. In 66, one of his third title, I think it was, despite... four of his friends dying on the eve of the tournament in a plane crash on their way to watch him. He went on to win the tournament still. I can't

tell you any more details of it. It's just a little nugget I came across when doing a little bit of reading for this. But yeah, pretty insane. So when we talk about psychological fortitude, not just playing yourself, but playing your demons, playing your emotions, coming through like that is insane. That's incredible. Yeah, I've got

a couple of notes on that. Yeah, it was friends from his hometown, so like long -term friends, friends from his childhood, including the guy he basically learned to play the game with alongside a guy called Bob Barton were killed in a plane crash on their way to Augusta to watch him play. So, you know, his best friends in the entire world. One can only imagine what that feels like. Let's hope neither of us ever find out of whether this podcast might come to an abrupt end. Yeah,

well, fingers crossed. That would be a bit of a bummer. But no, that's a remarkable story. So six titles across, what, like 25 years, 23 years to be precise, I think. Yeah, he also set up a championship level golf tournament in his hometown to commemorate them called the Memorial Tournament as well. Oh, that's cool. Which is, I believe, still played to this day. Yeah, yeah. And it should be said, I mean, I think you might have already said it, actually, but Nicholas

is the tournament's most successful player. Yes. Eldest winner. Most top tens. Yeah. With 22. Most cuts made. 37. So, you know, if you were to be discussing who is the greatest to play at Augusta, you wouldn't look much further than the Golden Bear, as he was known. But the wider debate is one perhaps still to come. Can I chuck a couple of other stats at you about the players and the competition itself? Literally always. You know I like. Let's start at the present day.

Reigning champ, Scotty Scheffler. First winner, Horton Smith in 1934. I've already spoken about Jack. Tiger's the youngest winner. with a then -course record of 18 -under as a 21 -year -old in 1997. Of course, no, he was beaten, wasn't he? Yeah, very recently. Was it Scotty Scheffler? No, Scheffler's a current champ. Who, was it Dustin Johnson, maybe? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, but still remarkable. And some more fun stats. Mike Weir, first left -hander to win the

tournament in 2003. He's also the first Canadian. Yeah, exactly. And the aforementioned Gary Player has the most appearances with 52, which is quite insane. I don't know how you rack up 52 appearances at the Masters. That's crazy. I think in Gary Player's case, you do it by being nicknamed Mr. Fitness. That's great. Even into his 80s. Oh, really? Jeez. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, very, very fit man. But I mean, it's not all about the winners, though, Jack. And we should probably make this

very clear. I mean, there's a lot that could be said. I think Spieth's had a nightmare there once. Obviously, we know Rory's had a nightmare there once going into the final round. But perhaps, well, not perhaps, the unluckiest man in Masters history is undoubtedly Greg Norman. He has come

extremely close. quite a few times um he finished in the top five at the masters eight times but never won and that included 81 he was leading into the second i say i'm not saying that these were his top five finishes rather but these are some this is a snapshot of his fortunes at the at the tournament 81 he led in the second round but ended up finishing fourth in 1986 He birdied 14 through 17 to tie Jack Nicklaus for the lead, but ended up pushing his approach on the 18th

and bogeyed, handing it back to Nicklaus. 87, he lost in a playoff to Larry Mies, so forgive me, Larry, if this ever reaches your ears. But he was, by the way, Larry being the first Augusta native to ever win the tournament, just a little sidestep there. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, yeah. But he lost the playoff to Larry because Larry chipped him from 45 yards. Yeah, that'll do it. If you ever thought that you were ever going to win it, that would probably drain whatever

optimism you had from you. And then in 96 is the really famous one, which everyone probably remembers. I remember this. This is probably the first time I ever remember a golf tournament because it was an Englishman who won it, Nick

Felder. and um my yeah grandparents were very into golf and i do i remember this being at the very least mentioned on tv perhaps um this being a thing but yeah he was um well up at the end of the six up six up at the end of the third round oh my word i found only one by five i know That's an implosion. It's an implosion. But they can do that too. When it's happened before. Yeah. As you say, ultimately it's a game against yourself. Right. But this is the thing that's so interesting

about Norman. It sounds like we're going in on him here. But he kept coming back. He kept coming back for more. So the geezer had psychological fortitude. But obviously it just wasn't quite enough because it happened again in 98. So, you know, sorry, Greg. But he's leading on the back nine in the final round, but again, faded to the eventual winner, which was Jose Maria Alathabala. Again, apologies to any Spaniards, but he picked

up his second green. I think British people have been butchering that name for many a year, Ben. You don't need to apologize. But yeah, sorry, I know just sort of reeled off some stats there, but I just think it's some fun stories kicking around as there always are in tournaments like

this. Yeah. Yeah, that was very good. I'd not come across that in my reading, Greg Norman, probably because I was, and this is going to sound like I'm going in on Greg again, probably because I was focused on people who'd won it. Sorry, Greg. Greg Norman did win two Open Championships. He wasn't shit. No, he was not at all. Lots of high finishes in the other majors as well. Very talented golfer. I'm sure he made plenty of money out of it too. I'm sure he doesn't care about

a couple of blokes. We're not criticising him. Just reading off the history, mate. You can't

run from history. Just like the club can't run from their... their problematic past and controversies episode one we're very complimentary for good reason about an australian episode two it stands to reason we go the opposite way we are english after all but yeah i don't know what do you want to talk about i've got i've got some stuff on the course that we can talk about stuff stuff on the club uh itself the traditions what's your preference where do you want to go next Let's

go for some traditions. Why not? Traditions. Well, that's often the best thing about sport, isn't it? The traditions. Should we do it chronologically? As if we were going into a Masters week? Let's do it. Anyone who's not as familiar with Augusta National Golf Club, here are the key traditions. Champions dinner. You must have heard of the champions dinner. I've heard of the champions dinner. Have you heard of the dinners that have been put on the menu? I've not heard the menu

items and I'd love to hear them. Well, I mean, I don't have all the specifics because that would be boring, but it is usually something that the defending champion has a relationship with. So like, you know, from their home country or something like that. But there is one sweet story from 2011, which has a tinge of sadness. But when Phil Mickelson won. one of his green jackets, he arranged for a Spanish -themed menu in the hopes that Seve Ballesteros would be able to

attend when he was poorly. But unfortunately, Seve wasn't able to, and he actually ended up passing away a few weeks later. But I thought that was a lovely touch, because obviously he's a very wide discretion. Yeah, 1983 champion Seve Ballesteros. Yeah, so he is probably, in terms of overseas sportsmen, I don't know anyone who is as beloved as Tavares in England. Yeah, it's weird. Absolutely adored. He won, I think, three

Open Championships. So obviously that's the British Open, as well as a couple of Masters, 1980 and 1983. Legend. And that is actually a very sweet story. That's kind of made me send a shiver down my spine there. That was lovely. Yeah, it is nice, isn't it? And he's also, you omitted the fact that he's a Ryder Cup legend. Yes, that's probably why. But that tradition was started by Ben Hogan, the famous Ben Hogan in 1952. And it's held on the Tuesday before the Masters.

And it's only open to past champions and, of course, certain board members because, you know, the boys aren't going to miss out. But that's the Champions Dinner, which is a light -hearted way of starting a tournament week. Sticking with the food theme just for a second. I didn't know this, but just because I thought it was weird. Pimento cheese sandwiches. Yes. I don't really know what pimento cheese is. I think it's an American thing. I know what pimentos are and

I know what cheese is, obviously. It seems a strange combination. But I've heard this, and also I believe they're still sold for like $2 .50 or $1 .50. They're still sold deliberately incredibly cheaply at the event. So as you can imagine, most sporting events behind closed doors, you tend to jack up the food prices, not keep them low. So that's nice. Yeah. Even if pimento cheese is a strange one to go with. Well, I'm

like you. I don't know what pimento is. And I have no idea why it's a concession that's been around since the 40s, but apparently it is. It's basically just a sweet pepper, like a red pepper. Oh, okay. Well, people who go to the Masters seem to like it, I guess. I guess so. So yeah, if you're a patron, you're having pimento cheese

sandwiches. If you're a former champ, you're having whatever other former, whatever the reigning champ wants you to eat in the lead up to... it didn't lead up to the masters but getting back to the golf they're one of the most fun parts of it is the par three contest oh yes i love the par three contest yeah around since 1960 semi -social um par three played on a wednesday day before the first round um I think it's been played every year apart from 2017 when it was

washed out. And 2020, 2021, they didn't hold it because of COVID, although they're obviously the main tournament. Main tournament did go ahead. A fair compromise, probably. Yeah, exactly. Apparently, weirdly, it's a par 27 course in the northeast corner of the club's grounds. So it's a specific

specialist par three. course single round uh and traditionally all the contestants participate um with family members uh caddying for them and sometimes even allow them to play shots on their behalf and stuff so taken super seriously yes exactly as seriously as it should be taken i think for a par three tournament exactly makes for very good highlights though yeah well talking of highlights man it's not shy of a hole in one There's been 94 of them up to 2019. I don't know

what the up -to -date stats are. I'm sure we could find them on the internet somewhere. But that worked out at about one and a half a year. Although if you were there in 2016, you'd have had a good day because there were nine. Nine. That's mad. Exactly. Replace one of the holes with a bucket or something. Incredible. A lot of Peugeots given away or whoever was sponsoring that particular tournament. Yeah, some famous names have won it though. Padraic Harrington

has got the most wins. He's won it three times. Tom Watson, Sandy Lyle, Sam Snead. A couple of multiple winners. And yeah, I think there's only seven that have won it more than once. A couple of other notable champions, just to keep name -dropping people, Arnold Palmer, Gary Brewer, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Louis Oosthuizen, Luke Donald, and Ricky Fowler have all also won it. The lowest winning score was by Ben Walker in 2016, and he hit an eight under, which I actually

think is pretty astonishing. Well, he must have had at least one hole -in -one there, if not two. Yeah, yeah. That was a year of all the hole -in -ones. Oh, that's a great point. I didn't even pick up on that. Ben Walker just dropping hole -in -ones the whole way around. But yeah, it's a bit of a curse, though. Do you want to know why? Do you know why? No, I don't know why. You're about to tell me why. No player has ever won the Par 3 contest and the Masters in the

same year. There you go. Use up all your luck and your skill on the Wednesday. I'll teach you. Yeah, and only Vijay and Ben Crenshaw have won the Masters after having won the par 3. Okay, in like years to come. Impressive. Vijay Singh, though, what a guy. What a player. Absolutely. But yeah, that's a fun part of the tournament

week. I think Rory once had... uh caroline wozniacki caddying for him didn't he in the par three and there was i bet that distracted some of the photographers who were there uh no comment um probably for the past but uh yeah carrying it on this is fun right i don't think this is still done anymore but i i think this is my favorite things uh that i that i learned about um with the masters they used to have a thing called i say they used to this might still go on Obviously, we were talking

about the board members and everything, muscling on Champions Dinner and their self -imposed discretion for the invitational aspect of this. So I wouldn't be surprised if behind closed doors there's some similar conduct prevailing. But there's a thing called the Calcutta, which is an unofficial sweepstake of the players, where all of the entrants for a tournament were auctioned off to the punters. And the best players and obviously the favorites

will go for major money. And then some of the other entrants who perhaps were less fancied to win would be pulled together so that they would be sold off in like syndicates, I guess. Yeah, that would be the correct word for it. Fair enough. And then all the money that people bid in order to assign their... their player of choice, I guess, would go into just a pot. And now you're thinking, you know, course, Ben, they must give it to charity. No, no, no, no,

no. It's just, it's for the boys. And so, you know, an elitist sport it was, and perhaps still is. And if your player goes on to win it, you would get the majority of that pot. And then the second to fourth place would split the rest. Okay. And there is actually, sorry, go ahead, go ahead. I was just going to say that would be a great idea even to persist within the modern day if 50 % of that money went to charity. That would be an excellent idea. Somehow it doesn't

feel quite so... There's some connotations there

and it doesn't feel quite so comfortable. uh in my mind without it being a charitable thing but but anyway an interesting history an interesting piece of history there well it's even more fun than that because um you know you're you're quite right if there was a formality to it and a charitable aspect to it and perhaps one could justify it but um it certainly does undermine the integrity somewhat of perhaps the odd tournament or two uh and there's a chap called herman kaiser who's

1946 winner of the masters which was the first to be held after World War II, which we'll come back to, because that's something we like to do. He thinks, or at least he's on record as having stated that he thinks that the Calcutta Cup, Calcutta Cup, that's a different thing altogether, the Calcutta nearly cost him the title. Kaiser went unsold in the Calcutta and formed part of a group before the 1946 tournament, and he was

a massive outsider. And across his four rounds, he encountered a series of issues, you might call them, which he thinks progressively sort of contrived or conspired to sabotage him. Sabotage, yeah. Excellent. But basically, as he went deeper in the tournament, he remained in the hunt against some of the more favoured punters who people

had more favoured. players who punters had quite some major money on um weird things started to happen and uh during one of the later rounds he was told the wrong tea time by a club official and nearly missed his tea time when he was leading and then he was also given a 13 year old caddy because this was back in the day where the players got assigned their caddies and they didn't get to bring their own caddies or choose them and it nearly worked because ben hogan came from

five shots back uh and tied but tied with him but then on the final on the 18th Hogan three -putted when a birdie would have won it for him a par would have sent it to a playoff um but he three -putted for a bogey and Kaiser was champion so yeah Kaiser described it as the greatest thing to ever happen to me so yeah a nice a nice ending but uh yeah interesting things go on when people are unofficially betting That would make for an excellent comedy film. Yeah, it would. Basically,

it's like Happy Gilmore Professional. Yeah. Yeah, like Happy Gilmore Caddyshack, but yeah, based on a true story. Do you know what I was saying else about Kaiser? Just because this is completely unrelated to the Calcutta, but I just thought it was weird. His nickname was the Missouri Mortician. Okay, and why was that? I don't know. It's not clear, but it sounds very sinister. Is it just no one's sure? Or were you just unable to find out? I couldn't find the answer. He wasn't a

pathologist, as far as I could tell. I was going to say that would be the obvious solution, but yeah, interesting. But he made the 47 Ryder Cup team as a result of his win. And the USA demolished us 11 -1 back in the day where the US played the UK. But the funny thing is that Kaiser was the one, so denied the clean sweep. Yeah, that'll teach him. They got him eventually. That's probably

the Calcutta of the Ryder Cup. influencing that someone uh that must be yeah someone had bet on an 11 -1 win um yeah but yeah uh that's the calcutta it's kind of fun the crow's nest have you heard of the crow's nest i didn't know about this yes no i have actually heard of this this is where the amateurs stay isn't it yes exactly it's like a five bedroom a nice little five bedroom apartment which is cool Mate, it's like 1 ,200 square feet, so a nice little apartment. A nice

big five -bedroom apartment. Exactly. But yeah, they get to stay there. It's kind of fun. And then I think this is a nice rule. So there's a lot of weird rules at Augusta because it's very traditional. But no phones, which is cool. Okay. That is good, actually, as opposed to just having to mute them. Yeah, exactly. No, I think that is nice because... You don't get all the pictures from the course and everything as well. They kick you the fuck out if you use it. Or

if you get caught using it. I'm sure people do. They actually do police it. And if you're caught with your phone on the course, you can get kicked out. Yeah, I don't disagree with that. If you're there to watch sport, watch some sports. Exactly. The amount of events you go to nowadays where it's just people with their phones out. I approve of that rule. I wish that rule was... I'm sounding like such an old man now. I wish that was more normal. Sky are filming it. They've got better

cameras than you. Just enjoy what you're watching. You're not going to get better footage than Sky Sports are. Exactly. If you want to watch it back, just watch it back on YouTube. Or CBS or whoever. Anyway, good rule. What else? Caddies. Oh, yeah. Less good rule. Yes, this was a less good rule. Do you want to talk about caddies? Yeah, I can do. Give your voice a rest. You're

doing an excellent job so far. Well done. This is a slightly more negative tradition and obviously goes back to the history of the area, the history of America generally. So until 1983... All the players in the Masters were required to use the services of an Augusta National Club caddy, which obviously on the face of it sounds fine. But by club tradition, those caddies were always black, which is a very questionable policy for a club which, as mentioned, didn't invite any

black members until 1990. Obviously, this being Georgia, historically in the south of the country, historically. one of the places that resisted desegregation for a long time being a private members club and getting to make their own rules you could argue it is a persistence of that however it it was sort of reinforced by the the founders co -founder clifford roberts is reputed to have said as long as i'm alive golfers will be white and caddies will be black yeah um it is is yeah

That is what that is. But however, since 1983, which is six years after Robert's death, which may or may not be a coincidence, players have been allowed the option of bringing their own caddy to a tournament regardless of the race of that caddy. So again, I don't hate the idea of providing of caddies. I guess it would be an equaliser, but that is just incredible that that was something that persisted into, well, into the 1980s. But a handful of years before

our birth, Ben. And to the credit of some other players, when that rule was changed, I think quite a few of them employed the club caddies. And one of those guys that did that was Jack Nicklaus, I think. Which is a nice touch, obviously. But perhaps it shouldn't have... Well, not perhaps. What am I saying? It should not have been necessary for them to have done so. Yeah, again, the issue I have is completely not with the club providing the caddies. Just reiterate that point. Yeah,

exactly. But I mean, in more modern times, I think the caddies are pretty iconic at Augusta. Yeah, it's an iconic look. I mean, obviously, even to this day, they wear the white jumpsuit, green master's cap, white tennis shoes. They all look the same, player's name on the back. Obviously, certain players have certain caddies they bring to every tournament and the caddies are rewarded handsomely if they're with a good

player with a percentage of the winnings. It is a good job to be a caddy and they do work hard for it. They have to know the course better than they know themselves and better than the player knows it and allow their player to focus on the game, psychological battle against themselves and not worry about yardage or choice of club. or any silly things like that. Didn't Tigers Caddy used to be the highest paid sportsman in

New Zealand at one point? Quite possibly, given most sportsmen in New Zealand tend towards rugby and cricket and sports which aren't historically. Obviously, that's changing, but on historically well -renumerated. So yeah, he was making even 5 % or 10 % of what Tiger Woods' winnings were. Tiger Woods won $99 million between 1997 and 2008. $99 million. So 5 % or 10 % of that, whatever it is, cha -ching. Yeah, it's good money. There's some pretty cool stories about caddies, or funny

ones at least, associated with the role. Not just good on the course, good value off it as well, occasionally, I think. Bert Yancey might have had one of those experiences. Bert Yancey himself had an interesting life. He had bipolar back in the day, perhaps before it was recognised as a mental health condition. He'd spent some nine months in a psychiatric hospital at West

Point whilst he was serving. Went on to record back -to -back third -place finishes in 67 and 68, but had one interesting experience at the Masters with one of his caddies when he lent his caddy his car the night before, which, you know, questionable judgment. And the car also had Yancey's clubs in it. And when he came to play the next day... The caddy was nowhere to

be seen. So the assistant caddy master was tasked with finding this young man and thought long and hard about where this caddy might be if he wasn't at the club. Interesting choice of words. But his instincts were spot on and he found the caddy in a local brothel and the car and the clubs were recovered and returned to Yancey just in time for his tea time. Needless to say, the caddy was sacked. Fair enough. I think that's probably the right side of the disciplinary action.

Yancey went on to win seven PGA Tours for what it's worth and became an advocate for mental health, which is nice. Oh, that's good. Probably. when that wasn't such a common thing as well I imagine given this was the 60s when he was playing so that's good yeah exactly and not a caddy but a caddy is another good story Sammy Bird do you want to you heard about him oh this Babe Ruth caddy yeah this is the guy uh so he was a Former Major League Baseball player for

the Yankees. He used to pinch run for Roof and take over defensively in late innings. If anyone knows about Babe Roof, obviously legend of baseball. Going to be on anyone's GOAT argument for baseball. But towards his later career, perhaps the waistline was getting a bit large, so needed a pinch runner and a defensive substitute from time to time to let him get an early finish. But he used to play golf with Babe, hence the nickname. So Bird went on to have a golf career and entered the

Masters five times in 1948. He entered the history books for shooting one of the worst single hole scores on the course with a 10, which sounds like one of my scores for a hole. It's my average, I reckon. He's a two -sport professional and the only person to have played in a World Series, which he won in 1932 and the Masters. and also achieved a career -high finish at third at the Masters and six PGA Tour wins. So let us not

mug him off too much, Ben. Yeah, geez. That is fairly impressive, although I'm sure that probably about an hour of his life when he was slugging 10 on a hole probably is not one he wants to be remembered for. Pretty funny that you have that kind of career and you're just known as Babe Bruce Caddy. Yeah. I think, if anything, that just shows what a big deal Babe Ruth was. That's true, actually. That's fair. And we will get to baseball. I can't wait to get to baseball.

It's going to be a while, but we will get to it at some point. We will. And the Babe will get a mention. It's inevitable, since we're following the calendar. October, baby. Probably should doff a cap, actually, to the ladies, because we haven't mentioned them yet. Whilst we're on caddies, first female caddy, I think, 1983, a lady called Elizabeth Archer, her dad, George Archer, was a champion in 69. And she caddied for him. And I think she was the first female

caddy. And female caddies are pretty rare, actually, to be fair, at the Masters. But they do, you know. The ladies do do their bit. And I think there have been some pretty big names with female caddies in the past. Like Henrik Stenson, I think, comes to mind. I can't remember off the top of my head all the others. But staying on the theme of the girls, the women's amateur has just finished, I think. It started in 2019 and it has just finished today. And it was won by... Carla Bernat Escuda

from Spain in short of 12 under. Very good. So that's at the Augusta National on the same course, presumably just off slightly shorter tees as per tradition. So it's a bit odd. The final round is played at Augusta. Okay. Yeah, the first two, I think, might be held at another club, Champions Retreat Club. In Evans, Georgia. I might be getting this slightly wrong. I'm not overly familiar with the entire round format. No, no, you're

correct. Yeah, it's a 54 -hole tournament. Yeah, first two roles at the Champions Retreat Golf Club and the final round at Augusta, which presumably is maybe after the cut. Fair enough. But it is an amateur event, so it's not on the women's PGA. I think a lot of the women playing in it are collegiate. But not all. They come from all around the world, but most of them are at university in the States. But it's pretty cool. And it's obviously a decent development. I mean, it's

come a bit late in the day, hasn't it? Like 2019 is pretty barbaric. Well, when you bear in mind that the first female members of Augusta National was only in, was it 2012? Yeah, man. Yeah. Condoleezza. Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice, yeah. Who's also black. And Darla Moore. So that tells you what. She is, but she was also a Republican member of George Bush's cabinet. So I guess that would adhere her to some of the traditionalists of the course. But yeah, Condoleezza Rice and Darla

Moore were the first female members. In 2013 it was. Oh, 2013. Jesus. Which is 12 years ago. There you go. That's pretty mad. It's pretty funny when, like you say, let's not get too political, but when Tiger found himself in, let's call it a pickle. Pickle, that's one way of putting it. Yeah. And his personal issues and private life were quite publicly ventilated in around 2010. I think the chairman of the club was like hammering him. And it's like, I'm not sure you've got the

moral high ground here, guys. I mean, I know Tiger, let's not make any excuses for Tiger, but yeah, if you've got no female members in a female tournament yet, maybe wind your neck in. Yeah. Get your own ducks in a row. Maybe, yeah. Yeah, I don't think with its history, let's just say it's always been a little bit behind the times, so I'm not necessarily sure. I'm sure

there are people more who would have more. oomph behind that particular statement then maybe they should leave it to someone else to comment on well yeah especially such matters I think they quite heavily resisted some campaigning in the early 2000s the club as well about the no women membership to the point where I think it might have even I mean there's a bit of innuendo here and I couldn't possibly back this up but golf's obviously now an Olympic sport and quite recently

remade Olympic sport I think went back in in 2016 in Rio And there's some suggestion, though, that the club's policy and their reaction to people lobbying for a change in that policy may have been taken on board by the IOC and delayed golf's readmittance to the Olympics. Well, I'm not saying it's necessarily definitely the case, but it is a fact that the first time it was admitted as an Olympic tournament came. just after they

admitted female members for the first time. Whether or not that's coincidence or not, I don't know. But it is good to see golf moving, or the International certainly, and just golf in general, moving in the right direction. It is just the lag compared to the rest of the world and the rest of the sport is noticeable, shall we say. Slow and steady doesn't win this particular race. No. But yeah, anyway, we've digressed slightly. As we do. Yeah,

as we do. Rounding off the traditions in the week, honorary tee shot, that's a fun thing. Past champs, basically, invited to hit an honorary tee shot in the morning of the first round to commence play. Nice. In the past, they've included Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, the aforementioned Lee Elder, Tom Watson, which is... Quite a nice tradition. Only introduced in 63, maybe? Yes. Well remembered. Then you've got the awards. Most of these are, you know,

not irrelevant. That's unfair. Nice to haves, but aren't the one that you're there for. The

lowest score on each. round receives a crystal vase players who score a hole in one or a double eagle win a large crystal bowl uh leave it to the listeners to decide whether they'd rather a vase or a bowl um yeah eagle gets you a pair of crystal goblets um there must be a crystal manufacturer like around the corner oh god there's a lot of crystal going on here silver cup to the lowest scoring amateur to make the cut runner -up receives a silver medal which is only introduced

in 51 but But the winner, well, what does the winner get, Jack? Legendary status, remembered forever. Yes, true, true. A master's trophy. A master's trophy, but more importantly. the winners get the green jacket. They have the name engraved on the actual Silver Masters trophy, but they don't care about that. All they're really after is that green jacket. So the green jacket is presented to that year's winner by the previous

year's winner. I believe if it's a back -to -back win, I think the chairman of the club presents it. I think that's right. On the rare occasion that that happens. So yeah, the green jacket, introduced in 1949 and awarded to the champion. Previous champions were retroactively awarded it, so every champion ever of the Masters has been awarded a green jacket, some just not at the time. It's the official attire worn by members of the Augusta National, but only while on the

club grounds. So each Masters winner essentially becomes an honorary member of the club. So yes, the jacket is presented to him, the winner, inside the butler cabin as soon after the end of the tournament as possible in a televised ceremony. And the presentation is then repeated outside the 18th green for the hoi polloi to enjoy. The one in the cabin is a bit contrived, I think. Yes. It's always quite awkward, I think, when you watch it. I think they just want the jacket

on. Get a few pictures with the family. Exactly. Apparently it's not a hard and fast rule, but generally speaking, only a first time and the current reigning champion may remove their jacket from the club grounds. and the champions must then return it to the clubhouse one year after their victory. There's got to be people who've taken it. Oh, I'm certain. It remains a personal property, their personal property, but is stored with the other champion's jacket in a specifically

designed cloakroom. And a golfer who wins the event multiple times will use the same green jacket, so they won't just get... Jack Nicklaus doesn't have six green jackets. He will have one green jacket unless he has to get refitted with one later. That's a bit rubbish. I mean, yeah, terrible. I think they could afford it. I can't imagine what their fees are. And also, if it's the thing that is synonymous with the

win, you want it, don't you? I don't know. Give the man his jackets, is what I'm trying to say. To reward a multiple winner, keep giving them jackets and just say, oh, you only have to leave one at the club. Take the rest home with you. That's a nice way of putting it, actually. Earn the right. I can't even imagine what the old white guys who run the Augusta National would think about someone going out and wearing an Augusta jacket to, oh God, like a concert or

a football match or something like that. A nightclub. Goodness gracious me. Could you imagine? I know. Yeah, I don't like that. I think give the men their jackets when they win. But yeah, it's a pretty... What can you say about the Green Jacket? The Green Jacket and the Masters. The Masters is the Green Jacket. The Green Jacket is the Masters. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, we haven't really spoken about the course. Probably should. No, no. I mean, is anyone interested in the grass?

Is anyone interested in the grass? Yeah, they might be, I guess. Tell me. Maybe I'll be interested.

There might be some farmers. There might be some... horticulturalists all right well for the grass enthusiasts out there um it was originally wide bladed bermuda which you know is one of my personal favorite um brands of grass bit old -fashioned personally but it was uh it was replaced by the short bladed bermuda um common sense yeah but now it's the bent grass um and i don't really not what i'd have done but you know each to their own i don't know what any of this means mate

other than the fact that the putting greens are lightning um yes like literally so fast that um many of the greens had to be reshaped and on occasion entirely redesigned because they changed the grass um which is excellent pretty you know well i guess it means there's something in the grass but uh yeah and the bunkers if we're interested in sand it used to be might be some geologists i don't know common beige sand uh yeah replaced with the now signature apparently

white feldspar um it's a quartz derivative um of the mining of feldspar and is shipped in from north carolina so you know who gives a shit basically Yeah. Couldn't have put it better myself. Yeah. I mean, the course itself has been through a few changes. I think the first hole used to be, the 10th hole used to be the first hole. They reversed the nines, which now means that the

first was the 10th and vice versa. Been a few, you know, bunkers have been added, water hazards extended, tee boxes have been built, like shit loads of trees. Obviously it's in the woods. and I don't know, some undulation put in there. The fun thing about those changes in all seriousness is that back in the day they used to make the changes covertly. to make it harder. So they'd lengthen the fairway to make a drive more likely to find the sand. Without telling anyone. Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, which is kind of fun. But you can't get away with that in the modern day, right? Because the players get so many practice rounds. See, this is why you need your caddies. This is what you need your caddies for. Right, exactly. The sneaking in changes. But yeah, I mean, to sort of give it some context, the current course

is currently 475 metres or in golfing. money 525 yards longer than it was in 2001 and i guess that's to take into account the fact that guys are hitting absolute bombs now so yeah um yeah and equipment changes as well oh yeah good point technology etc um i think the first was the second most difficult hole on the course um so you know you're just in for a a tough start to the day uh no escaping that uh and then yeah a couple of the more famous features amen corner is the

most famous part of the course, right? I mean, again, without wanting to annoy anyone north of the border, possibly the most iconic stretch in all of golf as well. Certainly in terms of consecutive holes. You could make the argument, couldn't you? But yeah, most think it's the 11th, 12th and 13th. But in fact, it's the second shot at the 11th. all of the 12th, and then the first two shots of the 13th. Oh. Yeah. Well, I say

that, right? That's unverified. But when I was looking it up and doing a little bit of digging and stuff, the origins of Amen Corner are a bit odd. I think it all stems back to the 1958 Masters. It was the site of an argument between Arnold Palmer and Ken Venturi. I think Palmer was allowed a drop or a leaf for a plug ball. Venturi was arguing with him, claiming that Palmer had not followed protocol. The ball was unplayable. I read about that today. Yeah, it's pretty funny.

On the 12th? Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then Venturi was leading at the time, I think, of the argument. But then Palmer went on to win. And then Sports Illustrated basically... came up with the phrase and then the origins of where it came from, like the Amen Corner, I think it's disputed, but it's sort of accepted that there was a jazz record in the 30s by a group led by Chicago's Mezro called Shouting in that Amen Corner. And the shouting, the arguing between Venturi and Palmer

is what coined its name. Fair enough. There we are. Pretty weird, huh? And the Eisenhower tree? It's another... It was. Yeah, it was, yeah. Gone. Forever. Located on the 17th. Basically named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who some might know as a former president and a fairly influential bloke in World War II. He just kept hitting it. Fair enough. So they just called it the Eisenhower tree. The tree so many times. No, they just called it, they named it after

him. And apparently, like in 1956 at a club meeting, he proposed that it get cut down. Because he kept hitting it. Yeah, exactly. Used his presidential influence. But the club's chairman, which was Clifford Roberts, who we've spoken about previously, didn't want to offend his friend and the president of the entire country. So instead of answering his question or even dealing with it, he just found an excuse to adjourn the meeting. You have

no jurisdiction here. Exactly. And then I guess another one of the... I mean, there's a lot you could say about the course, Augusta, but the Sarazen Bridge is another pretty fun... point on the course uh it's a flat stone footbridge covering the dam to the left of the pond on the front of the 15th green and in the fourth round of the 54 edition um gene sarazen hold a double eagle uh to tie with craig wood and force a 36 hole playoff which he then went on to to win

um there you go 36 hole playoff yeah um yeah which he won but anyway the shot is referred to um as the shot heard around the world and i think it's because it was a forward from 235 yards what he hold it yeah yeah like second shot on a par five maybe it was anyway it's like you know it's like an insane shot um and it just yeah just dropped man so you got you got bridge named after him that seems fair enough that seems fair yeah well we mentioned eisenhower earlier

and we always talk about the war so you know always 100 % of the time so far well i mean i say always not in the context of um the almanac the podcast yeah yeah but in the in the context of me and you chatting uh generally um and i do have a fun war story If you'd like to hear it. You've got a story? Yeah. Excellent. You want to hear it? Yeah, go on. Why not? We've got time. We've got time. All right. Well, our hero this time is Lloyd Eugene Mangrum, also

nicknamed The Icicle. Nice. Joined the PGA Tour in 1937. Went on to win 36 events. Good player. He also played on four Ryder Cup teams in 47, 49, 51, 53. On the last occasion that I just mentioned there, he was actually playing as a playing captain of the Ryder Cup team. Oh, cool. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Decent career. Anyway, Lloyd,

what was his relationship with the Masters? So he finished in the top 10 at the Masters 10 consecutive years, and he never won it, but he entered in the history books when he shot 64 in the opening round in 1940. which was basically a Masters record at the time, and it stood for 46 years. So that's what he was famous for in the context of the Masters, just shooting unbelievably low scores. But Butch Jack, he wasn't just being shot at, or he wasn't just shooting, rather,

on the course. He was being shot at just a few years later. He actually joined General Patton's Third Army. as America joined the war. And the 1942 Masters was the last until the end of World War II, and it was only a couple of months after Pearl Harbor. Mangrum wasn't the only guy to serve. Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Sam Sneed, I think, all joined. And Bobby Jones became an intelligence

officer in the Army Air Corps. And I think he might have been involved in the planning for D -Day and landed in France on D -Day plus one. But anyway. I digress because there are obviously many stories one could talk about in respect of World War II. But our guy Lloyd, let's get back to him. He was sent to the Ardennes, which... Bomb draw. The trees are exploding. Yeah, exactly. You know, anyone who's seen Band of Brothers.

And he was involved in the Battle of the Bulge and he was injured there and he received a Purple Heart and he won four battle stars. But when he got home, and I think this makes this story all the better, really. When he got home, he went on to win his one and only major, which was the US Open in 1946. And he did tie second again in 49 in the Masters. Very nice. Yeah, Lloyd Mangrum from Augusta to the Bulge and back, which I think is a really cool story. Yeah, that

is cool. The Bulge features again in Masters history. That's where General Dwight Eisenhower, as he was known at the time, was. When he was introduced to the bloke, they would eventually go on to introduce him to the club, which I think is a really weird symbiosis. It was a journalist. I can't remember the newspaper he was working for. I say he was a journalist. He might not have been a journalist, but he was working for

a newspaper. Yeah. And he had a reason to meet Eisenhower during the war, which is all to do with regulations in France, to do with commerce, relatively dry stuff. But the two guys got on really well. And then when, I think Eisenhower goes on to become the president of Columbia University and he leaves the army to take up that position.

And he has a... career gap for want of a better phrase probably just taking some time off after winning World War II and the guy he met essentially helps him write his memoirs and then as a present or a thank you or you know what have you invites the future president for a golfing away day and takes him to Yeah, I was going to say, where would that be? Exactly. Takes him down to Augusta. And yeah, there we are. That's how Eisenhower became familiar with the Masters. Well, not just

the Masters. Very nice. But yeah, those are the World War II stories I have for you this week. Jack, I'm sure you'll have more for us next week. But yeah, anything else you wanted to raise? Eisenhower is an interesting one because obviously he became president in 1953, 1961. He never attended the Masters while he was president because he didn't want to be too much of a distraction, essentially. But he always made sure he was there on the Monday to play around with the winner.

Is that right? Yeah, one of the perks of being president. But yeah, his love for the Masters was so entrenched that the Major League Baseball season was shortened by eight games and the season started later to allow Eisenhower to both partake in his traditions around the Masters and throw the ceremonial first pitch of the Major League Baseball season. Jeez, the influence. It's nice being Prez. Yeah, that is... Yeah. Nice for some, isn't it? That's unreal. But yeah, I don't know.

Is there anything else to discuss on the Masters? I think the only thing we need to finish on is I think we need to discuss a couple of the big names in a bit more depth. I think we've already mentioned them, but I think you and me need to decide once and for all, right here, right now, who the greatest golfer of all time is. Not just the greatest player at the Masters. Let's use this opportunity. Let's talk about who the greatest golfer of all time is. I would like to propose

some nominees. In fact, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I'm going to propose two nominees. We know who these are. You say this to anyone, there's only two people in contention for this title. It is the golden bear himself, Jack Nicklaus, or the man who changed the sport. I don't think either of us would be as interested in golf as we are if it wasn't for Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods... Not only was he brilliant, but he was very marketable, obviously. He was very unlike anything we've

ever seen before. And one of the most amazing things about Tiger Woods is the Tiger effect, as they call it. The effect that he had on the sponsorship in the game, the money going into the game, the earnings that the players made. It's ridiculous. Someone did a study on it, and

as I mentioned before, between... 1997 and 2008 no one made more money on the tour as you would imagine than tiger woods he was full dominant in that time he won 14 majors i think in that period um 14 of the 15 he's won uh we're obviously one during that period um just the 2019 one otherwise and uh he made just shy of 100 million dollars um from the tour and uh next on the list was um one vj singh who i love Vijay Singh who I think won about 69 million dollars during that

period if I remember the numbers correctly someone did a study and worked out that if it wasn't for Tiger Woods Vijay Singh would have made a not paltry but a much less significant 33 million dollars during that period Tiger more than doubled his earnings by the amount of eyes that he turned upon golf and the amount of people you got playing golf and if you think about it the video games the the nike deals the merchandise and just just the fact we used to love the aura mate like we

were we were 10 year old kids watching golf because of tiger woods and you could not name a single other golfer in the world you knew tiger woods was um so yeah as they say tiger woods he'd beat you but he'd make you rich I mean, am I supposed to try and come up with a counter -argument to that? Because that's difficult. I've actually... Ben, please. I'm prepared. I've got a pros and cons list for Jack Nicklaus and CycleWords. I'll take over from here. Don't you worry. I know

some of the basics. You listen to this and you make a decision. Because I genuinely put my hand on my heart and say I think you can go either way with this. So Jack Nicklaus, the case for the majors. Jack Nicklaus won 18 major championships. That is the gold standard. No one's beaten it. And probably with the levels in today's game, it would be likely no one is ever going to beat it. There's too many good players nowadays. Tiger's three back? Yeah, Tiger 15. So 19 runners up

as well to go with that. He was in the mix for decades. So his longevity, he won majors across 24 years, 1962 to 1986. And his 1986 Masters win being one of the most iconic moments in golf history. His strength of mind, he was known for his composure, his course management, his clutch putting under pressure. He out -fought his opponents, not just outplayed them. And he played in an era of change as well. So he played against,

at the start of his career. the likes of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and by the end of his career, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, fantastic players, but he consistently came up top. Obviously, Sebi Ballesteros as well, consistently coming out on top against these players as Spanderas. The case against him, so he didn't face the global depth of talent like Tiger did. That's a good point. Golf has become, yeah. Golf was very much Britain a little bit, Australia and South Africa

a little bit, obviously, certain players. But in America, it was very heavily American. You didn't get the European players playing at quite the same level. You didn't get the Asian players and African players and players from all over the world that obviously exist in today's game. So, yeah. Also, fitness and athleticism weren't quite as big a deal there. You obviously had people. like Gary Player, who were incredibly fit, and you had other players who were less

so. It wasn't quite the same as it is now. So that's the case for and against the Golden Bear. Tiger Woods, the case for dominance. So Tiger changed the game. At his peak, no one was close to him. He's the only player ever to have held all four majors at the same time. In the year 2000, he won four in a row. Not in the same year, but across two years, he won four in a row. Is that the Tiger Slam? He was a holder. The Tiger Slam. He was a holder of all four at one time.

He won the 2000 US Open by 15 shots. And as we mentioned, he won the 1997 Masters by 12 shots. He wasn't winning. He was obliterating people at that point. He's tied for the most tall wins ever, 82. Obviously, there is a chance, a small chance, a chance that he might come and beat

that. he's obviously had a lot of injuries and he's got 15 majors so he's only he had a legion a shot of beating Nicholas's 18 before injuries and certain life choices derailed him somewhat and obviously he didn't just a flawed genius yeah transcendence he didn't just dominate he brought golf to the masses he's the reason prize money exploded he's the reason kids of all backgrounds took up golf there's going to be people who are in the pj tour now who are only in the pj talks

they saw tiger woods on golf uh tiger was playing golf on tv age you know 10 when they were 997 2005 that kind of time and fell in love with the sport because of tiger uh and he also the strength of the field he faced a globalized ultra comparative bunch of athletes not just golfers a proper athlete by the time he was playing and everyone raised their game to try and beat him and technology kept improving to try and match him and the most at that point failed now the

case against him did he make the most of his talent you could say um he's obviously had injuries you could argue whether or not that's his fault he's had consistency issues later in his career and of course what happened in 2009 2010 infidelity issues um being on the front page of newspaper not the back pages um it it all is things you can hold against him i was gonna ask i was gonna ask sorry to interrupt but yeah go ahead to what extent would you place an emphasis or a weight

on the personal lives because jack nicholas is undoubtedly a really nice guy um and i'm not saying tiger's not a nice guy but tiger's obviously had his fair share of controversy is that relevant It depends. I mean, if your argument is who is the most talented, maybe not. If the argument is who is the overall best, maybe it is. Because if Tiger had been in a better place in his actions and his mental state and his decisions he made in 2009, 2010 kind of time, would he have gone

on to win majors in 2009, 2010, 2011? And would he be... I mean, if he had done, there'd be no debate, I don't think. I think it would be Tiger all the way. I think the fact that there is a debate is on account of that plus injuries. I mean, can he take injuries into account? Don't know. It's why it's a debate. It's fun. It's fun. You can also say about Tiger, he never really dominated the game because of injuries, because

of obviously the things we've mentioned. He never dominated the game into his 40s like Nicholas did. Although, of course, he did win the 2019 Masters when he was 43, 42, 43 at that point. So yeah, there you go. So if your measures longevity, major championships, it's probably Jack. If it's dominance, cultural impact, peak performance, it's probably Tiger. So what do you reckon? You make the decision, Ben. I'm on authority on this stuff. And what I say is clearly therefore binding

on everyone. So yeah, no pressure. Such is the significance of my opinion. I think it's Tiger on balance. I knew you were going to say that. Yeah, I know. It's hard to remove yourself from everything you've experienced. The modernisation of the game, the professionalisation of the game, the money and the increased scrutiny and pressure

that comes with that. The extracurricular, and I don't mean his personal circumstances, I mean brand awareness, sponsorship, obligations, all of that stuff, carrying that burden, plus the fact that he's gone past the guys from the bygone era on PGA wins. He's in touching distance on the slams, if not beyond all of them except one. Yeah, he won more, like you say, internationalization

of the game. And he's an athlete. Like, I'm not saying that the guys in the 60s, 70s, you know, and perhaps even 80s weren't athletes per se, but, like, there's a requirement now. I mean, you only have to look at, like, full swing or something. These dudes are, like, you know, they can bench, like, football players, like, you know, American football players or, I mean, I'm obviously being slightly hyperbolic there, but,

like, they're in the gym. smashing balls further than anyone's hit before like but they've still retained that precision and that accuracy and that finesse that's required in the short game uh i just yeah i think when you put it in that context and who you who you have to beat in order to rack up those wins it's probably gotta be tiger and that's not to diminish the fact that Jack Nicklaus has you know we read out his stats in his career some of his career highlights earlier

like you know he's incredible yeah yeah like to say Tiger's the best is not to say that Jack Nicklaus isn't nearly the very best do you know what I mean like it's not yeah the debate doesn't need to descend into the likes that you see in football where it's like you're great or shit like yeah I mean Can we just make that sort of the mantra of this podcast? Exactly. But yeah, anyway, I don't want to bleat on about it. I'd say Tiger. Those are the reasons. I would agree

with you. I think, obviously, this is completely subjective, but I think if you were to pluck one and put it in the other era, notwithstanding the fact that certain issues would arrive from placing Tiger into 1962, but I think if you were to do that... I think Tiger dominates more and I think Nicholas dominates less, simply because of the competition. Not because either of them are going to be the worst players in those tiers. And perhaps, obviously, with the better conditioning

and better equipment, Nicholas raises game. So maybe that wouldn't be the case. It's an immeasurable variable, isn't it? It is. I mean, all of it's immeasurable because their careers didn't overlap. But I will tell you actually one thing, and this

is going slightly off topic. Some of the most legendary... um achievements of nicholas's career um the 1978 open championship at san andrews which completed his third time over um grand slam so that was his third uh open championship he already won the other three at least three times so that was his third only him and tiger have done three um three times over all the major championships um that was how he sealed it so that tournament there as well as seve winning

in 1983 as well as Jack Nicklaus winning in 1986, and then Tiger Woods winning in 1997, all of those events had the same runner -up in them. So if you're talking about bridging the eras, a man named Tom Kite was runner -up in all of those tournaments. Somewhat always a bridesmaid, but he was... I just want to talk about him quickly because I really like this guy. He was probably... He wasn't flashy. He was methodical, analytical,

probably even arguably geeky. He was one of the first players to embrace sort of psychology in golf. He wore glasses when he was playing it. He basically, he popularized the use of an extra wedge, a lob wedge. So he sort of tried new things out. And he, he, it was 1992, bear in mind, obviously 1978 when he was playing Nicholas runner up there.

runner up in a lot of events after that 1992 he won his one and only major championship in the wind and the rain at the US Open at Pebble Beach and the field collapsing around him Yeah, I know. He stayed steady. He stayed smart. He stayed unflappable. Hallmarks of his career. It was a gritty, well overdue reward for a career

that was built on consistency. He won nine million in his career, which was still a big total at that point before Tiger came along and was a respected Ryder Cup player and the Ryder Cup captain as well. And he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. So, yes, he wore the rides made dress maybe one too many times, but he eventually got his walk down the aisle. So there we go. I just want to end by mentioning him just because he, I don't know, he tickled

my fancy. He is someone who I admire. That's a nice way to end it, man. Like, it's not all about the guys that get the green jacket. It's, you know, people like Tom Kite as well. They all play a part in the story and Tom Kite played. Plenty of parts because he was there for all of those big majors, all those big events in these legends' lives. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Savé as well. Nice. Well, okay, let's leave the Masters there. Starts this weekend, obviously,

or this Thursday, rather. Wednesday with the Par 3 contest. True, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think if you are interested in watching it, if you stuck it out this long and you are interested in watching it, you can find it on Sky here in the UK. If you have Sky Sports, the BBC will be showing highlights as well, but it will also be on their website. Five Live, Islander Sky. Canada is CTV, which I'm not familiar with, so forgive me. And then the US is, I think, going

to be CBS and ESPN? It's usually CBS, I think. Yeah, they might both have rights. I don't know. But have a look. Yeah, you guys in America will know better than us if you are even with us and listening. Cool. We've had a few listeners from.

different parts of the world already which is nice thank you if you have been listening yeah um it is hugely appreciated and um yeah i hope i hope you're enjoying so thank you very much and where are we going for episode three jack not not not far especially for me um just down the road for me um we are in sheffield next week for the world snooker championship nice so for for anyone who's not aware of snooker which i think will be it's certainly a british british

centric sport um we will teach you about it and we will teach you about the history of this event and there's one thing you can say about snooker it's never short of a character very true all right well um let's leave it there uh and we'll we'll join again the world snooker champs perfect Well, I'll see you there. Bye, Jack. Bye, Ben. Once again, thank you for listening. This was the Sporting Almanac podcast. If you enjoyed us, give us a like, a subscribe, or a rating

at wherever you get your podcasts from. Or more importantly, tell your friends. There's no better advertising than word of mouth. Our theme tune is Oh Yeah by Harmonia Productions. You can find us on Blue Sky at atthesportingalmanac or drop us an email at thesportingalmanacpodcast at gmail .com. We're always up for episode suggestions or hearing any cool stories you've got. We'll be back next week. And until then, stay curious. Sport is nothing without the stories that make it. Goodbye.