A series of tapas, including Iberian ham, gilda (olives, anchovies, and guindilla pepper), chistorra (a tender sausage made with fresh ground pork), black truffle cheese, potato omelette, chicken croquettes, and stewed lentils, will kick off the traditional dinner of champions at The Masters 2024. The menu, strongly influenced by Basque cuisine, has been chosen by Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, the winner of the tournament in 2023. Following in the footsteps of his compatriot Sergio Garcia, Rahm will entrust the culinary experience to the hands of Spanish-American chef and restaurateur José Andrés.
Masters, statements
“It will be a very Nordic dinner,” explained Rahm, the world number 3 who recently joined the Arabian Super Golf League.
After the appetizers, there will be a crab salad followed by grilled turbot with citrus emulsion. Then, a grilled ribeye steak. For dessert, a cream millefeuille. All accompanied by Txakoli, a white wine from the Basque Country, and champagne.
The tournament was born in 1934 as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament at the initiative of Bobby Jones, who was also the designer of the course along with Alister Mackenzie, and Clifford Roberts, a New York investor. In 1939, the tournament changed its name to the current one, and since 1940, it has been held every year during the first full week of April. The event attracts the best professionals from around the world, as well as amateurs holding the titles of champion of the United States and Britain. The selection criteria are very strict, even more so than other majors, resulting in around 100 participants compared to the approximately 160 in other major tournaments. Past Masters champions are eligible, along with winners of the last five editions of other majors, the last three editions of The Players Championship, the top four finishers in each major from the previous year (but the top 12 from the last Masters), the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking from the previous year, the top 50 players of the current year (as of the week before the tournament), qualifiers for the previous year’s Tour Championship, and champions of amateur tournaments.
Among the multiple winners of this tournament are Jack Nicklaus, who won it 6 times (the last in 1986 at the age of 46), and Tiger Woods, who won it 5 times (the first in 1997 at 21 years and 3 months, becoming the first player of color and the youngest ever to win in the tournament’s history).
In 2017, Sergio García, after participating in 73 majors without a win, managed to win the Masters by beating Englishman Justin Rose in a playoff.
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