{"id":529569,"date":"2026-04-14T02:13:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/529569\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T02:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:13:22","slug":"masters-champion-banned-from-playing-at-augusta-as-golf-row-emerges-golf-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/529569\/","title":{"rendered":"Masters champion banned from playing at Augusta as golf row emerges | Golf | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Another Masters champion is set to be crowned, with the 2026 tournament coming to an end. As well as being remembered as a Masters victor for the rest of time, there are a number of perks that come with winning a green jacket.<\/p>\n<p>From hosting the following edition\u2019s Champions Dinner, as well as an invitation to the event each and every year, to an exclusive golden locket and a lifetime exemption from qualifying for the tournament. The perks are plentiful, but perhaps the best of the lot is an honorary Augusta National membership.<\/p>\n<p>It grants winners the privilege to play one of the sport\u2019s greatest-ever courses at their leisure. But legendary golf ace Gary Player, who won the Masters three times, raised eyebrows when he revealed his request for a round was denied.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.golfmonthly.com\/news\/i-accept-it-with-sadness-gary-player-on-augusta-national-refusing-family-fourball\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Golf Monthly<\/a> earlier in the year, Player explained: \u201cI have been an ambassador for Augusta for all these years, yet they won\u2019t let me have one round of golf in my life with my three grandsons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth noting that Player isn\u2019t an official ambassador for Augusta National, but his relationship with the club does stretch back decades. It helps explain why Augusta might\u2019ve refused his request, not least because Player isn\u2019t an official member either, and they\u2019re the only ones able to invite guests along for a round.<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cAll the golf courses that have hosted The Open, the US Open and the PGA would oblige, but they won\u2019t do it at Augusta. It is just this current management there, but these are the times we live in, and I accept it, but I accept it with sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The golf icon believes his role in helping increase the global appeal of the Masters, alongside Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, should have been enough to grant the request. He added: \u201cThere are a lot of things that have made Augusta what it is, but the part [the Big Three] played was a prevalent part of my career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I go there I feel I am walking onto a golf course in Heaven. I tread very carefully and I love Augusta so much but I don\u2019t like all the rules. Then Arnold, Jack and I came along and we fought it out every year, and then we made Augusta thanks to the coverage and publicity we generated around the Masters, whether the club likes to admit it or not. They won\u2019t admit it, but we made Augusta.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another Masters champion is set to be crowned, with the 2026 tournament coming to an end. As well&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[14664,10274,5904,6670,6590,183438,76309,101,10509,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-529569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-augusta-national","9":"tag-gary-player","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-golf-news","12":"tag-masters","13":"tag-masters-champion","14":"tag-masters-tournament","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-the-masters","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}