The winner of the Masters Tournament receives a green jacket, an elegantly engraved trophy, and a lifetime invitation to play in one of the most revered events in professional golf.
He’ll also have the opportunity to plan a dinner for other Masters winners next spring (and get a check for one of the most special evenings in sports).
“How rare is it to get all those people in a room with just us?” Scottie Scheffler spoke hours before dinner with 32 of his teammates from last year’s Masters and Fred S. Ridley, president of Augusta National Golf Club, site of the event.
“There is no one else.” Scheffler continued. “There is the president, and then there are us.”
And in a tournament where concessions are legendary, the new champion is forever under pressure to choose the right menu for the moment. Tiger Woods has been serving cheeseburgers and milkshakes since his debut Masters win in 1997, but over the years he’s created a menu that includes sushi, porterhouse steak and chocolate truffle cake. Sandy Lyle stayed with Huggies after winning the title in 1988. Vijay Singh’s choice of Thai food impressed some players and surprised others.
When 2023 winner Jon Rahm attends dinner Tuesday night, his meal will start with six tapas and pintxos, including “Mama Rahm’s Classic Lentil Stew,” a recipe passed down from Rahm’s grandmother. This is followed by Basque crab salad, a choice of ribeye steak or halibut, and a dessert of Milhojas de crema y nata. — A puff pastry cake with Chantilly cream and custard that was essentially Rahm’s wedding cake.
Spanish-born chef José Andrés helped the Spanish-born golfer develop. menu.
Last month, Lam said she called her grandmother to ask for the recipe for lentil stew. “If someone doesn’t like it, please don’t say it. Actually, don’t tell anyone. It means a little bit to me to hear that.”
“I wanted to add a little more of my and my family’s heritage to this dinner, which will make it even more special,” he added. “I wish I could do it again, but I wanted to make sure the Basque heritage was there.”
Dinner wasn’t always so personalized. For many years, the menu included steaks, baked potatoes and unlimited wine – offerings that reflected the habits, homogeneity and not-so-daring personalities of many professional golfers. Tommy Aaron recalled in a 2020 interview after winning the 1973 tournament that he called Augusta National officials to inquire about the menu and found the spread to be somewhat predictable. He decided to serve a beef platter, lobster bisque and crab meat salad.
“After dinner, two guys said, ‘I’m glad you got to eat something different from a strip steak,’” Aaron remembered. Instead of a cup-out entree, Aaron ordered everything the champion had planned, forever.
Scheffler recalled brainstorming the menu with his wife and agent. They started with the basic premise of Scheffler’s favorite food and began narrowing down the list from there. After consulting with Augusta National chefs, they settled on a menu that, as the golfer puts it, “would never be in any nutritionist’s plan.”
When Augusta National welcomed The New York Times into its kitchen last April, its team of chefs was preparing what might be the most scrutinized meal of the year. It included dozens of dishes that had to be customized and reheated on time.
There were starters of cheeseburger sliders prepared with precision that would avoid most home cooks, firecracker shrimp, and a bowl of tortilla soup. Next came Texas ribeye steak or blackened skate, reflecting the decades Scheffler lived in the state, with macaroni and cheese, jalapeño cream corn, fried Brussels sprouts and French fries. For those who had room for dessert, there were warm skillet chocolate chip cookies with milk and cookie ice cream.
“I ate the soup and I got sweaty and had to wipe the top of my head with a cotton swab.” Lyle said just before mocking the delicate-looking taste buds of 1992 winner Fred Couples.
“I like hot food. I’m used to things like curry, so it’s not a bad thing,” Lyle said. “But I think Couples was holding him by the neck. ‘Oh, my God.’ So that surprised some people.”
Scheffler didn’t seem to mind. His menu, his rules.
The next day he reported that “everyone enjoyed the food.”
