Monday brought the first day of 2026 Masters week. Eager patrons entered the gates excited to experience Augusta National’s hallowed grounds, all while on their best behavior. That is except for one ticketless Masters fan, who was arrested after refusing to leave the property.
He hoped to find himself watching the pros at Amen Corner, but he ended up spending the day in jail.
Here’s what you need to know.
Man arrested for refusing to leave Augusta at 2026 Masters
According to a report from the Augusta Press, Matthew Stroud, a 36-year-old from Easley, Ga., arrived at Augusta National’s North Gate on Masters Monday “intoxicated.”
Once there, Stroud allegedly walked up to Masters patrons waiting to get into Augusta and requested their tickets for Monday’s practice round. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies first asked Stroud to leave the premises at 11 a.m. ET.
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But the incident was not over. Richmond County Sheriff’s Captain Scott Gay told the Augusta Press that Stroud initially agreed to their commands and left. Sometime later, though, Stroud returned and “continued the behavior” of harassing patrons for their Masters tickets.
Officers again told Stroud to leave, but this time he refused. At that point, officers placed Stroud under arrest for criminal trespassing.
From there, he was taken to the local Charles B. Webster Detention Center. Stroud was released on a $285 bond later in the day.
You can read the full Augusta Press report here.
Masters ticket scheme leads to charges for Texas family
Masters tickets are one of the hottest commodities in sports, and one of the hardest to come by. Most tickets are awarded via the Masters ticket lottery, and reselling tickets is strictly prohibited by Augusta National.
But in the past, multiple people have been arrested over Masters ticket schemes.
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In 2019, a Texas family was convicted of conspiring to commit mail fraud in relation to an illegal Masters ticket venture.
The four relatives arrested in the incident bought mailing lists to obtain the names and addresses of people, which were used to create fake accounts for the online ticket lottery for the Masters, according to court documents. The fake accounts were entered into the lottery using email addresses belonging to the family.
“These profiteering con artists thought they had succeeded in hijacking the Augusta National’s generous ticket lottery system to satisfy their own greed,” said Bobby Christine, who then served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, in a statement at the time.
