Tuesday is the unofficial start of the Masters each year, with a serious practice round followed by the famed Masters Champions Dinner in the evening. And the 2024 Masters was no different.
On Tuesday night, 2023 champion Jon Rahm hosted the esteemed Masters Club, as it’s officially known, for which membership is restricted to Masters winners and the Augusta National Chairman, a post currently held by Fred Ridley.
The man behind the Masters menu? He’s feeding a hungry world
The Masters Champions Dinner is an extremely private affair, where legends reportedly tell the best golf stories you’ve ever heard, but ones that you will never actually get to hear. The one peek the public gets into the exclusive annual affair is a group photo which is taken during the meal and shared by the club afterward.
The photo for this year’s dinner is a testament to the long, storied history of the tournament. In all, over 30 past Masters champions joined Rahm for his celebratory feast.
They can all be seen in the photo released Tuesday night on social media, with everyone decked out in their green jackets. Jon Rahm sits in the middle of the photo, beaming into the camera. There are old rivals Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, with eight Masters titles between them, standing almost but not quite as far apart as possible from one another.
Mickelson and Rahm’s fellow LIV pros Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel are also present, dutifully smiling for the photographer.
Among the aging legends joining Rahm and Ridley in the front row are Ben Crenshaw, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. The latter pair are honorary starters with Tom Watson, who chose to stand for the Champions Dinner photo.
Interestingly, last year’s Champions Dinner host Scottie Scheffler, who is also the prohibitive favorite to win this year, was relegated to the far back left of the photo.
Check it out below.
As for the dinner, the Masters champs were treated to a truly special feast. Rahm was able to convince world famous chef José Andrés to craft the meal, and he put together a memorable menu.
The extensive meal starts with six options for tapas and pintxos, Spanish words for starters and small snacks.
The options are Ibericos (Acord-fed Iberian ham cured pork loin), Idiazabal con Trufa Negra (Idiazabal cheese, black truffle), Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish omelette, onions with confit potatoes), Chistorra con Patata (Spicy Basque chorizo and potato), Lentejas Estofadas (Mama Rahm’s classic lentil stew), Croqueta de Pollo (Creamy chicken fritters with confit potatoes).
For the main course, Masters winners will get to choose between Chuleton a la Parrilla, a Basque ribeye steak with Tudela lettuce and Piquillo peppers, or Rodaballo al Pil-Pil, a typical fish dish from Basque Country with turbot and Navarra white asparagus, and for dessert the Masters champs will dine on Milhojas de Crema y Nata, a puff pastry cake with custard and chantilly cream.
