– The Masters Green Jacket, the symbol of supremacy at Augusta National, is among the most coveted items of clothing in sport – and one of the hardest to obtain.
Rory McIlroy became the most recent recipient of the iconic blazer in 2025, when he ended a 10-year Major drought with a career-defining victory in a sudden-death play-off – to secure a career grand slam.
Unless the Northern Irishman retains the title, he will return on April 12 to take part in one of golf’s most closely observed rituals – helping slip the jacket onto the shoulders of the new champion.
For McIlroy, the past year has underscored both the rarity of the garment and the responsibility that comes with it.
“The overwhelming feeling of having this jacket for a year is just how honoured and grateful I am I was able to do it, and how grateful I am I’ve had so much great support along the way,” he said.
“As time goes on, it becomes normal and it has been normal for me to go into my closet and see the Green Jacket hanging there. Hopefully it’s not the last time I get to bring (it) off property.”
McIlroy has worn the Green Jacket to India and Australia, as well as his homeland among other global stops.
Only the reigning champion is allowed to take his Green Jacket off the club property, and only until he returns to defend it the following year. An exception to the rule was Gary Player, who took his first Green Jacket home to South Africa in 1961 but did not bring it back.
Tom Watson won in 1977 and was presented an oversized jacket.
“It came down below my fingertips,” he said. “Did I care? Not in the least. I’d wear a tent, as long as it’s the Green Jacket.”
Players are asked for their jacket sizes each year now when they register at Augusta National.
Jack Nicklaus wore a loaned 46-long after the first of his record six Masters wins, then a right-sized loaner for his other triumphs.
He told then chairman Jackson Stephens in 1998 that he did not have his own jacket and soon received a note saying, “You will go to the pro shop and you will be fit for your Green Jacket.”
Billy Casper, the 1970 Masters winner, and Gay Brewer, the 1967 champion, were buried wearing their Green Jackets.
Sam Snead, who claimed the title in 1949, was the first champion to receive a Green Jacket and one was then presented to all prior winners retroactively.
When Nicklaus won the Masters for a second year in a row, he put the Green Jacket on himself. When Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods won back-to-back titles, the current Masters chairman helped the winner into his jacket.
According to the Masters website, the jacket is a classic three-button, notch-lapel design with a single vent in the colour referred to as masters green. The cloth is a tropical wool and manufactured in the US.
Each jacket features gold buttons embossed with the Augusta National logo and an embroidered patch with the club logo on the left breast pocket.
Zach Johnson, the 2007 winner, called donning the Green Jacket “the highest privilege in golf” and wore his at the Empire State Building, using a garbage bag to cover it.
“We don’t have a garment bag,” his wife Kim said. “We didn’t plan on winning the Masters.”
JJ Spaun might have more designs on the Green Jacket than he did before last week’s Texas Open.
The 2025 US Open champion heads to the April 9-12 tournament in fine fettle, as he hunts a second Major title and first Green Jacket.
He bagged a sensational eagle on the penultimate hole to secure a dramatic one-shot victory at the Texas Open on April 5.
Spaun carded a five-under 67 at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course to finish the tournament with a 17-under total of 271. That was enough to vault the American, who had started the final round tied for fourth, to the top of the leaderboard ahead of Englishman Matt Wallace (68), Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (70) and American Michael Kim (69), who all finished on 16 under.
“This game is so crazy,” said Spaun, who won his first PGA Tour victory at San Antonio in 2022. “I haven’t been feeling at the form that I wanted to be based off of last season. Just trying to take each day as it comes and accepting what I have.
“Just means a lot to come back and win here at a place that’s been so good to me.”
Four golfers in history have won a PGA Tour event the week immediately preceding their Masters victory and Spaun hopes to be the fifth.
Scottie Scheffler put to rest any concerns that he might miss the Masters for the birth of his second child, as the two-time champion was at Augusta National on April 5 with his wife and two sons. His second son was born just last week.
According to the PGA Tour’s website, the world No. 1 warmed up for an afternoon practice round as his wife Meredith and first child Bennett watched on, while the golfer’s parents had newborn Remy in a stroller nearby.
Scheffler pulled out of his Masters tune-up event in Houston due to family reasons, leading some to wonder if the wait for the newest addition to his family could get in the way of his bid for a fifth Major title.
Prior to the 2024 Masters, he said he would leave the tournament if he got the call that his wife went into labour. He proceeded to win that year for his second Masters triumph after earning his first Green Jacket in 2022.
With his 2022 Green Jacket on, the Dallas resident threw the ceremonial first pitch before a Major League Baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros in April that year. AFP, REUTERS
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