When Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters Champions Dinner menu was released earlier this week, the hype was immediate. Was it the greatest Masters Champions Dinner menu of all time?
Matusyama honored his home country of Japan by selecting a menu that included sushi and sashimi appetizers, miso-glazed black cod and A5 Wagyu beef ribeye entrees and fluffy Japanese strawberry shortcake for dessert. It sounded incredible, and according to accounts from the champions who were present, it tasted just as good as you could imagine.
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But there were factors other than the food that made Matsuyama’s dinner one of most memorable in history, and on this week’s bonus episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, Harmon explained what he heard first-hand from 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman.
“When Hideki got up and gave his speech, everyone in the room gave him a standing ovation,” Harmon said, explaining that Matsuyama generally uses an interpreter but addressed the dinner guests without assistance, in English. “Trevor said, listen, I’ve been coming to every one of these since [2009] and I’ve never seen that happen.”
Harmon said that as he hung out on the Augusta National driving range on Wednesday, the day after the dinner, he noticed all the past champions on site stopping to to shake Matsuyama’s hand and congratulate him.
“The traditions that this tournament and this experience have been able to make, to me, is what makes this tournament so, so special,” Harmon said.
For more from Harmon, check out his entire bonus episode from Augusta below.