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Rory McIlroy finally gets his chance to host a Masters Champions Dinner.
McIlroy is the defending champion this week at the Augusta National Golf Club and by tradition (over the last 74 years), he will host a dinner for the past champions at the Augusta National Clubhouse on April 7.
It's another ceremonial step for McIlroy, who finally conquered his Augusta National demons last year when he beat Justin Rose in a playoff to complete the career Grand Slam.
McIlroy released his menu on March 18 and no one in the room should go away hungry, with four appetizers, a first course of Yellowfin Tuna, filet mignon and salmon for the main course, four side dishes, ice cream with toffee sauce and four wine selections.
McIlroy said the elk sliders are a nod to a game he likes because of its low fat and high protein and the bacon-wrapped dates are one of his mother's specialties.
The "Irish Champ" is a side dish of creamy mashed potatoes mixed with milk, butter, and chopped scallions, which he said was one of his favorites as a kid and he also followed recent champions by offering health-conscious colleagues a fish option to the usual red-meat main course.
The wine list comes from Augusta National's cellar, which is famed for its selections that rival any high-end restaurant in the U.S. The 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild is a dessert wine McIroy sampled the night he won The Masters and he called it "liquid gold."
The first evidence of the void at the 2026 Masters Tournament without Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be their absence at the Champions Dinner.
Woods announced he was "stepping away" from golf in the wake of his arrest on March 27 for a DUI and Mickelson stated on April 2 he wasn't playing because of a "personal health matter." It's the first time since 1994 that neither one have played in The Masters.
They would have been free to attend without playing. All past champions are invited to the dinner, regardless of whether they tee it up or not, and 15 Masters champions who did not play last year still came to Augusta for the dinner.
Woods didn't play in 2018 because of injuries and still attended the dinner.
Woods served steak, chicken fajitas and sushi as his last hosting in 2020. Woods has, for the most part, stuck with a menu that includes fajitas and sushi for the five times he has hosted.
Mickelson has shown as much creativity in hosting The Masters dinner as he has in his short game. In his last hosting, in 2011, he paid tribute to Seve Ballesteros by serving paella, Machado-topped filet mignon, tortillas and apple empanadas. Ballesteros was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time and passed away two months later.
Mickelson is also believed to have been the only Masters champion to host an Italian-themed dinner. Lobster ravioli was the main course at his first hosting in 2005. In between, he served barbecue in 2007.
Ben Hogan got it all started.
After winning his first Masters title in 1951, Hogan wrote Augusta National chairman Clifford Roberts before the 1952 tournament, indicating he would like to host the past champions for a dinner. It originally was on Friday night, after the second round, but has since been moved to Tuesdays, two days before the first round.
For Hogan's first Champions Dinner, he was joined by 10 past champions.
At the time, there were only 11 past champions, counting Hogan, who won in 1951. At last year's Champions Dinner hosted by 2024 winner Scottie Scheffler, 32 past champions attended. The only other person at the dinner who did not win the Masters is the Augusta National Chairman. This year, Fred Ridley will attend his ninth Champions Dinner.
Most of the American winners have leaned toward variations of steak and barbecue. Woods and Mark O'Meara are the first to have brought sushi and sashimi into the mix.
The choice of beef is often Ribeye (Patrick Reed, Scheffler's first dinner in 2023) or Wagyu (Hideki Matsuyama in 2022 and McIlroy this year).
The menu can be simple. Bubba Watson served grilled chicken breast, green beans, Caesar Salad, mashed potatoes, cake and vanilla ice cream in 2015.
Nick Faldo thought Watson's menu was too simple.
“You had a year to decide on grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni cheese!!!” Faldo said in a tweet.
On another occasion, Faldo referred to Watson's menu as "Chuck E. Cheese."
This was from the guy who served tomato soup, fish and chips and a side dish referred to as "mushy peas," for his third Masters dinner hosting in 1997.
Others pay homage to the winner's background. In 2000, Jose Maria Olazabal served a meal in Spain honoring his Basque heritage, featuring tapas, Solomillo de Buey, and Salsa Bordelesa. Angel Cabrera flew in steaks and grouper cerviche from his home country in Argentina in 2010. Jon Rahm, also from the Basque region of Spain, had crab salad and ribeye from that area.
Then there was Sandy Lyle's infamous 1989 dinner from Scotland, Haggis (sheep organs, along with oatmeal and onions, cooked in the shee's stomach lining).
Lyle's Scottish delicacy was famously disdained by some of the old-school American champions, but if a dish isn't to anyone's liking, they have the option to order off the club's usual dinner menu.
That's never a bad choice. In a Golfweek poll of players on the best spots to eat in Augusta, Ga., the week of The Masters, players such as Adam Scott, Gary Woodland and Keegan Bradley lauded the food available in the clubhouse and player's locker room dining.
Apparently, what's said in the Champions Dinner stays in the Champions Dinner, because players are either tight-lipped about information or insist all was pleasant.
The biggest controversy over a Champions Dinner remains what was said a year ahead of it. When Woods was marching inexorably to his first Masters title in 1997, Fuzzy Zoeller made his infamous "fried chicken" remark about what Woods might serve at his first Champions Dinner.
Woods eventually released a statement later saying there was no animosity and as it turned out, they were grouped the following year, and it was cordial, by all accounts.
Even the PGA Tour vs. LIV controversy of the past several years has apparently not boiled over in the Champions Diner. Six past Masters champions are playing in the LIV Golf League, Mickelson, Garcia, Reed, Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Dustin Johnson, but one past champion said they've left their differences at the door to the dining room.
"It couldn't have been more congenial," said Charles Coody about the ambiance of the 2024 champions' dinner.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Masters Tournament: Rory McIlroy hosts the annual Champions dinner
Continue reading...
McIlroy is the defending champion this week at the Augusta National Golf Club and by tradition (over the last 74 years), he will host a dinner for the past champions at the Augusta National Clubhouse on April 7.
It's another ceremonial step for McIlroy, who finally conquered his Augusta National demons last year when he beat Justin Rose in a playoff to complete the career Grand Slam.
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What will Rory McIlroy serve at the Masters Champions Dinner?
McIlroy released his menu on March 18 and no one in the room should go away hungry, with four appetizers, a first course of Yellowfin Tuna, filet mignon and salmon for the main course, four side dishes, ice cream with toffee sauce and four wine selections.
McIlroy said the elk sliders are a nod to a game he likes because of its low fat and high protein and the bacon-wrapped dates are one of his mother's specialties.
The "Irish Champ" is a side dish of creamy mashed potatoes mixed with milk, butter, and chopped scallions, which he said was one of his favorites as a kid and he also followed recent champions by offering health-conscious colleagues a fish option to the usual red-meat main course.
The wine list comes from Augusta National's cellar, which is famed for its selections that rival any high-end restaurant in the U.S. The 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild is a dessert wine McIroy sampled the night he won The Masters and he called it "liquid gold."
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson will be dinner no-shows
The first evidence of the void at the 2026 Masters Tournament without Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be their absence at the Champions Dinner.
Woods announced he was "stepping away" from golf in the wake of his arrest on March 27 for a DUI and Mickelson stated on April 2 he wasn't playing because of a "personal health matter." It's the first time since 1994 that neither one have played in The Masters.
They would have been free to attend without playing. All past champions are invited to the dinner, regardless of whether they tee it up or not, and 15 Masters champions who did not play last year still came to Augusta for the dinner.
Woods didn't play in 2018 because of injuries and still attended the dinner.
What did Woods and Mickelson serve at their last Champions Dinners?
Woods served steak, chicken fajitas and sushi as his last hosting in 2020. Woods has, for the most part, stuck with a menu that includes fajitas and sushi for the five times he has hosted.
Mickelson has shown as much creativity in hosting The Masters dinner as he has in his short game. In his last hosting, in 2011, he paid tribute to Seve Ballesteros by serving paella, Machado-topped filet mignon, tortillas and apple empanadas. Ballesteros was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time and passed away two months later.
Mickelson is also believed to have been the only Masters champion to host an Italian-themed dinner. Lobster ravioli was the main course at his first hosting in 2005. In between, he served barbecue in 2007.
When did the Masters Champions Dinner begin?
Ben Hogan got it all started.
After winning his first Masters title in 1951, Hogan wrote Augusta National chairman Clifford Roberts before the 1952 tournament, indicating he would like to host the past champions for a dinner. It originally was on Friday night, after the second round, but has since been moved to Tuesdays, two days before the first round.
For Hogan's first Champions Dinner, he was joined by 10 past champions.
At the time, there were only 11 past champions, counting Hogan, who won in 1951. At last year's Champions Dinner hosted by 2024 winner Scottie Scheffler, 32 past champions attended. The only other person at the dinner who did not win the Masters is the Augusta National Chairman. This year, Fred Ridley will attend his ninth Champions Dinner.
What have other past Masters champions served?
Most of the American winners have leaned toward variations of steak and barbecue. Woods and Mark O'Meara are the first to have brought sushi and sashimi into the mix.
The choice of beef is often Ribeye (Patrick Reed, Scheffler's first dinner in 2023) or Wagyu (Hideki Matsuyama in 2022 and McIlroy this year).
The menu can be simple. Bubba Watson served grilled chicken breast, green beans, Caesar Salad, mashed potatoes, cake and vanilla ice cream in 2015.
Nick Faldo thought Watson's menu was too simple.
“You had a year to decide on grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni cheese!!!” Faldo said in a tweet.
On another occasion, Faldo referred to Watson's menu as "Chuck E. Cheese."
This was from the guy who served tomato soup, fish and chips and a side dish referred to as "mushy peas," for his third Masters dinner hosting in 1997.
International winners honor their country's cuisine
Others pay homage to the winner's background. In 2000, Jose Maria Olazabal served a meal in Spain honoring his Basque heritage, featuring tapas, Solomillo de Buey, and Salsa Bordelesa. Angel Cabrera flew in steaks and grouper cerviche from his home country in Argentina in 2010. Jon Rahm, also from the Basque region of Spain, had crab salad and ribeye from that area.
Then there was Sandy Lyle's infamous 1989 dinner from Scotland, Haggis (sheep organs, along with oatmeal and onions, cooked in the shee's stomach lining).
Masters dinner guests have options
Lyle's Scottish delicacy was famously disdained by some of the old-school American champions, but if a dish isn't to anyone's liking, they have the option to order off the club's usual dinner menu.
That's never a bad choice. In a Golfweek poll of players on the best spots to eat in Augusta, Ga., the week of The Masters, players such as Adam Scott, Gary Woodland and Keegan Bradley lauded the food available in the clubhouse and player's locker room dining.
Masters dinner controversies
Apparently, what's said in the Champions Dinner stays in the Champions Dinner, because players are either tight-lipped about information or insist all was pleasant.
The biggest controversy over a Champions Dinner remains what was said a year ahead of it. When Woods was marching inexorably to his first Masters title in 1997, Fuzzy Zoeller made his infamous "fried chicken" remark about what Woods might serve at his first Champions Dinner.
Woods eventually released a statement later saying there was no animosity and as it turned out, they were grouped the following year, and it was cordial, by all accounts.
Even the PGA Tour vs. LIV controversy of the past several years has apparently not boiled over in the Champions Diner. Six past Masters champions are playing in the LIV Golf League, Mickelson, Garcia, Reed, Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Dustin Johnson, but one past champion said they've left their differences at the door to the dining room.
"It couldn't have been more congenial," said Charles Coody about the ambiance of the 2024 champions' dinner.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Masters Tournament: Rory McIlroy hosts the annual Champions dinner
Continue reading...
