Masters Golf Tournament

Masters Golf Tournament
The Masters Tournament, which is commonly referred to as The Masters or The US Masters, is one of four major championships in men's professional golf and the first of the four to be played each year. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held every year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA.

The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones, who designed Augusta National with legendary course architect Alister MacKenzie. The final round of the Masters is always scheduled for the second Sunday in April.

The Masters is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour and the Japan Golf Tour. In line with the other majors, winning the Masters gives a golfer several privileges which make his career more secure. Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, the Open Championship (British Open), and the PGA Championship) for the next five years, and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to the Players Championship for five years. In 2007, the prize fund was US$7.25 million.

The first Masters Tournament was held on 22 March 1934, and was won by Horton Smith. Bobby Jones saw his involvement in founding the tournament as a service to golf, but demurred at calling it the Masters Tournament, preferring the more modest Augusta National Invitation Tournament. That name was used for five years before Jones relented and the present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second, then reversed permanently to its famous layout for the 1935 tournament.

In accordance with typical golf tournament formatting, the Masters Tournament is a 72-hole tournament held over four days. It is held under the rules of golf, as defined by the United States Golf Association and is also be subject to special rulings and regulations set by the Masters Tournament Committee. Because the Masters has a relatively smaller field compared to other golf tournaments, groups are set to a size of three players for the first 36 holes (typically Thursday and Friday). After 36 holes have been played by all players, a cut is made. Players who 'make the cut' are in one or both of the following two categories: (1) Lowest 44 scores plus ties, (2) Within 10 strokes of the lowest 36-hole score (set by the leader). From 1957 to 1960, it was the low 40 plus ties and those within 10 strokes of the leader. Before 1957, there was no 36-hole cut.

More recently, the club was targeted by Martha Burk, who organized a failed protest at the 2003 Masters to pressure the club into accepting female members. The 2003 tournament was won by Mike Weir, who became the first Canadian to win a major championship, and the first left-hander to win the Masters. The following year, another left-hander, Phil Mickelson, won his first major championship by sinking a 15 foot putt on the 72nd hole to beat Ernie Els by a stroke.

As with many other courses, Augusta National's championship setup has been lengthened in recent years. In 1998, the course measured approximately 6925 yards from the Masters tees. It was lengthened to 7270 yards for 2002, and again in 2006 to 7445 yards; 520 yards longer than the 1998 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the three most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course". After a practice round Gary Player defended the changes saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it.... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]".

In some years, an honorary opening tee shot is made at the first hole. This honorary tee shot has typically been hit by some of golf's most legendary players. The original honorary starters were Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod; this twosome led off every tournament until 1973, when bad health prevented Hutchison from swinging a club. McLeod continued on until his death in 1976. Sam Snead made the opening tee shot from 1984 to 2002. Until 1999, he was joined by Gene Sarazen and until 2001 by Byron Nelson. In 2007, Arnold Palmer took over as the honorary starter.

Before 1983, all players were required to use the services of an Augusta National Club caddie. Since then, players have been allowed the option of bringing their own caddie. However, the Masters maintains the standardizing of a full caddie uniform. The complete uniform consists of a white jumpsuit, a green Masters cap, and white tennis shoes. The surname, and sometimes first initial, of each player is found on the back of his caddie's uniform. While the caddie uniform is original to the Masters Tournament, it has also been instituted into the Memorial Golf Tournament. The defending champion always receives caddie number "1": other golfers get their caddie numbers in the order in which they arrive at Augusta National and register for the tournament.

Officially known as the "Masters Club," it includes only past winners of the Masters, although selected members of the Augusta National Golf Club have been included as honorary members, usually the chairman. The defending champion, as host, selects the menu for the dinner. Over the years, one of the most notable entr?es was haggis, served by Scotsman Sandy Lyle in 1989.

The Champions' dinner is held each year on the Tuesday evening preceding Thursday's first round. The dinner was first held in 1952, hosted by defending champion Ben Hogan, to honor the past champions of the tournament. At that time fifteen tournaments had been played, and the number of past champions was eleven (including Hogan).

The Masters Golf Tournament is among the major professional golf championships around the globe. Bobby Jones, a former golf player was the mastermind behind the tournament. Throughout his career, Jones took part in 21 competitions, winning 13 of them, and was included in “World Golf Hall of Fame” in 1974. Jones had the idea of making a golf course after he retired. Together, with Clifford Roberts, he created The Masters, arranging the inaugural match on March 22^nd 1934. Roberts contributed many innovative ideas to The Masters. The “Augusta National Golf Club” course was designed together by Jones and famous British architect Dr. Alister Mackenzie.

 
The Masters Golf Tournament was at first called the “Augusta National Invitational Tournament”.  Five years later, the tournament was given its current name. The very first tournament was won by Horton Smith. Jones offered U.S Open to arrange the tournament at Augusta National Club, but the offer was rejected, keeping in mind the warm climate of Augusta, Georgia. During World War II, the club served as a breeding farm for turkeys and cattle, and the tournament wasn’t arranged for two years.

 
From 1960 – 1978, The Masters Gold Tournament was a reign of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, known as ‘The Big Three’. The trophy kept rotating between these three champions, not letting another one in for about two decades. In the next two decades, from 1980 – 2000, there were eleven victories scored by non-Americans. At the age of 46, Nicklaus won the championship sixth time and became the oldest golfer to win the tournament in 1986. Tiger Woods, a twenty-one year old player won The Masters in 1997, and kept on winning till 2005, becoming the third player in history of The Masters to have won these many consecutive games.

 
The Masters Golf Tournament was won by a Canadian for the very first time in 2003, by Mike Weir. He was also the very first left-handed golfer to win a championship in The Masters. The championship was defended by another left-handed golfer, Phil Mickelson the next year. The tournament was won by him again in 2010. Charl Schwartzel, a South African won the tournament of 2011.

 
The Masters Golf Tournament has been broadcasted in United States annually since 1956. The first network to broadcast the tournament was “USA Network”. In 2008, the rights were transferred to “ESPN”, in collaboration with “CBS”. The commercial time during the tournament is very limited and currently is of only four minutes per hour. The radio broadcasting has been provided by “Westwood One” since 1956. The Master’s tickets are known to be very hard to grab, while not being expensive at all. It is said that even the practice tournament tickets are hard to get. If you wish to attend the tournament of 2012, now is the right time to get hold of The Masters Golf Tournament tickets from us!