AUGUSTA, Ga. — Even at Augusta National, sorry really is the hardest word.
Over nine decades of Masters Tournaments, we’ve learned a couple of things about Augusta National. One of those things is that the chairman alone speaks for the club — which does not grant on-the-record interviews with reporters and holds precisely one press conference per year, at around 11 a.m. local time on Masters Wednesday. Another one of those things? The chairman almost never apologizes.
Sincere moments of reflection and regret are almost unheard of in Masters history. Over the years, Augusta National has consistently framed its thinking and its actions around reverence for the past and optimism for the future, even as the club has altered or outright reversed course on policies that have fallen out of favor with the times, like female membership.
And yet, on Wednesday afternoon of this Masters Tournament, an apology (of sorts) is precisely what Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley offered.
Speaking on the topic of Augusta National’s consistently evolving approach to media and entertainment, Ridley delivered a rare moment of contrition on a media evolution gone wrong: A deal with the popular YouTube trick-shotters Dude Perfect that brought the troupe to Amen Corner for a video with Bryson DeChambeau in 2023.
“A few years ago we had Dude Perfect playing frisbee at Amen Corner,” Ridley said with his trademark dry wit. “In retrospect, I like those guys, but that may not have been the best idea.”
Ridley’s intent wasn’t to broadside the popular YouTubers, who were spotted on site earlier this week at Augusta National and have been in attendance at the Masters for years. Rather, it was to illustrate his commitment to ensuring that the Masters maintains its relevance even as the media moment continues to evolve.
“It does point out that we try things every once in a while that are a little bit nontraditional,” Ridley said. “I think thematically, we’re certainly willing to look outside the box every once in a while.”
The latest sign of that evolution arrived in slightly more traditional fashion in 2026, when Augusta National will air the first year of its first-ever streaming partnership with Amazon Prime.
As we wrote at the time of the Prime announcement, the Masters’ deal with Amazon represents much more than a toe in the streaming waters. Augusta National picks new broadcast partners about as often as the United States sends astronauts to the moon, and the club typically enters those efforts with a clear goal in mind. Seventy years ago, with CBS, the goal was to bring the Masters to the world. Twenty years ago, with ESPN, it was to expand the access of the event to the largest sports audience in the world. And today, with Prime, it is to ensure that the Masters remains on the forefront of television’s continued push toward streaming, where behemoths like Prime and Netflix are beginning to dwarf their traditional TV counterparts.
Given this information, it was particularly noteworthy to peek at Ridley’s comments addressing the Masters’ newest broadcast partner on Wednesday, particularly his final sentence.
“We look forward to a long relationship with Prime Video.“
No frisbee involved this time. And likely no apologies, either.
