The Trophy Masters Winners Get Along With Their Green Jacket

In 1993, though, Augusta National embraced the idea of a replica trophy and abandoned the cigarette boxes and bas-reliefs. Tournament organizers decided that the replica trophy would look much like the one on display in the clubhouse. Reflecting the cigarette box tradition, though, they also decided its base would include the signatures of the field. Organizers collect the signatures when players arrive for the tournament.

“You’re at Augusta, so you always make sure you do a nice signature, and I’m sure if it wasn’t nice, they’d probably have you redo it,” Dustin Johnson, the 2020 winner, said with a laugh. If only, Scott suggested: “Not all of them are legible, of course, and some you have to guess at, but it is a nice touch.”

Mickelson has his Masters trophies, along with the prizes from other major tournaments, together. Watson has installed his first trophy at his office, and his second is at the University of Georgia, his alma mater. When Scott is away from his Australia home, his parents usually keep his. Reed had his in a living room before moving it to an office.

“That thing shines like no other,” he said. “It’s a reminder of all the hard work, how it’s paid off. But it’s also a reminder that you want that feeling again, so I actually use it as motivation to try to practice harder and try to get back to that point.”

And it turns out that people do not try to touch it. He sometimes does, though.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/sports/golf/masters-trophy-green-jacket.html