The Giants

The Masters Trophy

At the first of the PGA’s four major tournaments, the Masters Trophy and Green Jacket are presented to winners at Augusta National Golf Course

The Masters Trophy:

It took 27 years for the Masters committee to come up with an appropriate trophy for the champion of their tournament. When golfing legend Bobby Jones and others founded the championship in 1934, a simple three-inch gold medal and a cash prize was considered enough.

The permanent Masters Trophy was introduced in 1961. Made in England, the trophy features 900 different silver pieces to form the shape of the clubhouse. The trophy sits on a pedestal, banded with silver which is engraved with the names of the winner and runner-up of each Masters. It remains at the club permanently. It's on a 4-foot-wide base and it weighs approximately 132 pounds. The band for the engraved names is 9 feet, 6 inches. Beginning in 1993, the club decided to award a Sterling replica of the trophy to the Masters champion. The replica is 13.5 inches wide, 6.5 inches tall and weighs 20 pounds.

Green Jacket

The Masters Green Jacket was first introduced in 1937. The idea was that Augusta National members would wear these jackets during the tournament to make them stand out to members of the public needing guidance or assistance.

It was an idea borrowed from Royal Liverpool in England when a visiting Bobby Jones attended a dinner. At this dinner there was a collection of club captains who were all wearing matching jackets to denote their position.

From 1937 through to 1948 only Augusta National members wore the jackets, but in 1949 Sam Snead became the first winner to be honoured with the now famous Green Jacket.

After Snead received a jacket, Augusta National retroactively awarded them to each former winner. This included the likes of Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret and Gene Sarazen.

After that tradition more followed, including the ceremony where the new champion is presented with his jacket in Butler Cabin by the previous year’s champion.

The Masters champion can keep his jacket for a year, and then he has to return it to Augusta National where it remains. He will then be presented with a replica tailored to his own size. He can then only wear it when he is on site at the golf club.

Most players rate the moment when the jacket is placed on their shoulders in the stifling Georgia sun and the resulting pictures with the trophy are taken as the highlights of their sporting lives.

Masters Greats:

The player with the most Masters victories is Jack Nicklaus, who won six times between 1963 and 1986. The only player to get his hands on the green jacket in three different decades, he managed to top the field in 1986 at age 46 – more than 20 years after his first triumph in 1965. Tiger Woods has five wins, followed by Arnold Palmer with four, and Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson have three titles to their name.

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