The Masters 2026

[Arthur Wedge]

One of the privileges of the membership must be that you have the top pros begging you to play with them.


Is it right that they only have 300? One of them is Bill Clinton? If I got it correct he was rejected for many years before finally being accepted.
Other presidents have also tried and failed.

Its very much a secret squirrel list

There are some very high profile members like Bill Gates , also seem to have a number of CEO’s of big US companies get in

Also a number of sports stars - the Mannings etc

The ones they tell everyone are the lady members

 

[Swango1980]

Faldo doesn’t get the credit (as a golfer) he deserves - and when he talks about what he is seeing on the course as an analyst - I think he’s v good too

Won The Open 3 times at the two best venues - TOC and Muirfield - and won 3 Green Jackets. Impressive RC record and did well at other big national opens…certainly if I had to pick a player to ‘ go round in less than 72 for my life’ it would be him

There isnt much need to give him.credit, as he does that for us

 

[Crazyface]

Faldo doesn’t get the credit (as a golfer) he deserves - and when he talks about what he is seeing on the course as an analyst - I think he’s v good too

Won The Open 3 times at the two best venues - TOC and Muirfield - and won 3 Green Jackets. Impressive RC record and did well at other big national opens…certainly if I had to pick a player to ‘ go round in less than 72 for my life’ it would be him

At his peak. Not now surely?

 

[The Squirrel]

Its very much a secret squirrel list

There are some very high profile members like Bill Gates , also seem to have a number of CEO’s of big US companies get in

Also a number of sports stars - the Mannings etc

The ones they tell everyone are the lady members

Bill Gates was reportedly a 25 capper and that s with the ‘generous’ American handicap interpretations in play and he can afford the best coaching on the planet, so clearly being good at golf isn’t one of the requirements there

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

I met someone once who has played at Augusta National. He was something like Chairman of Kelloggs and as his retirement present, someone pulled strings for him to play there! Must be nice...

 

[D-S]

The best course ‘name drop’ I’ve ever heard was when chatting with an American who I was playing with and we were discussing various courses we’d played and one was quite hilly and he said ‘ Yes - a bit of a surprise, a bit like when you play Augusta the first time’.
He was from a wealthy Atlanta family so it was more than probably true.

 

[Highfade]

The best course ‘name drop’ I’ve ever heard was when chatting with an American who I was playing with and we were discussing various courses we’d played and one was quite hilly and he said ‘ Yes - a bit of a surprise, a bit like when you play Augusta the first time’.
He was from a wealthy Atlanta family so it was more than probably true.

The current elite exclusivity is a far cry from more humble begins and a period soon after the depression when in desperation to make ends meet and to keep the club and the tournament going, one method was resorting to creating a scheme to sell lifetime transferable passes ‘badges’ to attend the tournament to local investors and wealthy families.
now those that have inherited the original passes ‘loan’ them to travel agents and charge thousands to punters.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Bill Gates was reportedly a 25 capper and that s with the ‘generous’ American handicap interpretations in play and he can afford the best coaching on the planet, so clearly being good at golf isn’t one of the requirements there

Yeah that sums it up - lots of the members are token and very rarely play there

I have met one person that’s played it


You can also tell someone who has been to Augusta to watch the Masters

 

[PaulMdj]

I’ve got a friend whose Dad played Augusta a couple of times, he was once Captain of the R&A.

Played a round in “his” year as a guest and was invited back afterwards.

Him and his wife would get invited to attend the Masters every year as an official guest after his tenure had finished, he sadly passed away a few years back but his widow still gets invites every year, which is a nice touch and she’s been back a few times.

Closest I’ve ever got was the souvenir travel washbag she got me a few years back.

 

[moogie]

I only know 1 person thats played it
Local lad
Member at a previous club of mine
Hes Bob Mcintyres caddie

 

[Burnsey]

Totally understand it’s the same for everyone

But IMO no one who’s stats are near the very bottom of driving accuracy should be winning the thing

Rory is THE bomber. His distance IS a skill. But IMO the best course in the world should test all parts of this game

The only stats needed are the final leaderboard.

His skills to recover from poor driving was so good to watch and as an amateur, made it feel more real if that makes sense.

He hit the range after his worst driving round, started the next with a bomb and for the most part, drove well. His wayward shots were made up by superb approach shots, chipping and putting.

I'll wager the top stats for driving accuracy did not correlate to the final positions. It is a tough course and I enjoyed the whole 4 days immensley.

 

[Neilds]

I came 15th in our medal at the weekend, field of 105. 15th out out 91 in the Masters got $405,000, I got £11 for a 2

 

[larmen]

Rory wins on tee to green as well as off the tee.
As I have mentioned before, Crossfield did the tests a while ago and distance beats accuracy most of the times.



Taken from Google's AI:

2026 Masters Strokes Gained Leaders
The following statistics represent the top performers in key strokes gained categories for the tournament:

• SG: Total:
  Jake Knapp
  led the field with an average of 2.002 strokes gained per round.
• SG: Tee-to-Green:
  Rory McIlroy
  was the top performer in this category, gaining 1.933 strokes per round on the field.
• SG: Off-the-Tee:
  Rory McIlroy
  also led the field in off-the-tee performance with 0.799 strokes gained per round.
• SG: Approach the Green:
  Collin Morikawa
  led the approach category, gaining an average of 1.066 strokes per round.
• SG: Putting:
  Jacob Bridgeman
  was the field leader on the greens, gaining 1.339strokes per round with his putter.
• SG: Around-the-Green:
  Brandt Snedeker
  and
  Jacob Bridgeman
  were among the top performers, with
  Snedeker
  leading at 0.769

 

[Backache]

Rory wins on tee to green as well as off the tee.
As I have mentioned before, Crossfield did the tests a while ago and distance beats accuracy most of the times.



Taken from Google's AI:

2026 Masters Strokes Gained Leaders
The following statistics represent the top performers in key strokes gained categories for the tournament:

• SG: Total:
  Jake Knapp
  led the field with an average of 2.002 strokes gained per round.
• SG: Tee-to-Green:
  Rory McIlroy
  was the top performer in this category, gaining 1.933 strokes per round on the field.
• SG: Off-the-Tee:
  Rory McIlroy
  also led the field in off-the-tee performance with 0.799 strokes gained per round.
• SG: Approach the Green:
  Collin Morikawa
  led the approach category, gaining an average of 1.066 strokes per round.
• SG: Putting:
  Jacob Bridgeman
  was the field leader on the greens, gaining 1.339strokes per round with his putter.
• SG: Around-the-Green:
  Brandt Snedeker
  and
  Jacob Bridgeman
  were among the top performers, with
  Snedeker
  leading at 0.769

This is if done correctly surely untrue. The person with the lowest score must have the highest SG total surely?

The SG in different categories accounts for where they gained the strokes but the person with the fewest strokes must have the highest total SG.

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

Rory wins on tee to green as well as off the tee.
As I have mentioned before, Crossfield did the tests a while ago and distance beats accuracy most of the times.



Taken from Google's AI:

2026 Masters Strokes Gained Leaders
The following statistics represent the top performers in key strokes gained categories for the tournament:

• SG: Total:
  Jake Knapp
  led the field with an average of 2.002 strokes gained per round.
• SG: Tee-to-Green:
  Rory McIlroy
  was the top performer in this category, gaining 1.933 strokes per round on the field.
• SG: Off-the-Tee:
  Rory McIlroy
  also led the field in off-the-tee performance with 0.799 strokes gained per round.
• SG: Approach the Green:
  Collin Morikawa
  led the approach category, gaining an average of 1.066 strokes per round.
• SG: Putting:
  Jacob Bridgeman
  was the field leader on the greens, gaining 1.339strokes per round with his putter.
• SG: Around-the-Green:
  Brandt Snedeker
  and
  Jacob Bridgeman
  were among the top performers, with
  Snedeker
  leading at 0.769

Impressive from Snedeker, I don’t think he’s played in a major for 5+ years?

Good ad for google’s AI…

 

[IanM]

Blooming marvellous few days. Even getting on for bedtime, it wasn't clear who was going to win.

Rory winning despite some really inconsistent play at times. I was rooting for Rosie as the local lad, maybe his chance of a Masters is now past?

Entertaining thread, Fraiser Crane would have had a field day in places.