Big names make a meal of it at Champions Dinner
Ernie Els is at the Masters, but not where he would really love to be tonight. Nor is Sergio Garcia. Nor Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie nor Darren Clarke.
When it comes to the Tuesday evening of Masters week it’s meal or no meal. No need to guess who’s coming to dinner in the Augusta National clubhouse - everybody knows.
This is the Champions Dinner and only green jackets are allowed.
So until Els, Garcia, Goosen, Montgomerie, Clarke and the rest win the Masters they have to make other arrangements.
Europe will still be well represented, of course. Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal all have invitations and Seve Ballesteros would have been there too but for deciding his game is still not in good enough shape to make the trip.
As defending champion Tiger Woods plays host for the fourth time and chooses the menu. After serving up burgers and shakes the April after he first won there is a Mexican theme to the meal on this occasion – for no other reason than he likes it.
Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, no longer competitors but outspoken critics of the latest changes to the course, will be present, but for the first time since the inaugural dinner in 1952 Byron Nelson, now 94, did not feel able to attend this year, while 1969 champion George Archer died last September aged 69 after a year-long battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma.
It is not only the dinner which highlights the Augusta haves and have-nots. When Els, Garcia, Goosen, Montgomerie, Clarke and all the wannabes enter the clubhouse to get ready to play they turn right. The champions head upstairs to their own locker room.
It was there a year ago that Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh were involved in “Spikegate”.
During a rain delay the two superstars had what was reported as “a heated exchange” after officials had come out onto the course to inspect Mickelson’s spikes.
Singh, playing in the group behind, had complained about marks being left on the 12th green.
Mickelson said in a statement: “Two officials approached me at two different times. They were sent by Vijay to check my spikes because he felt they were unduly damaging the greens.
“However, I was extremely distracted and would have appreciated if it would have been handled differently or after the round.
“After sitting in the locker room for a while, I heard Vijay talking to other players about it and I confronted him.
“He expressed his concerns. I expressed my disappointment with the way it was handled. I believe everything is fine now.”
A year on and the two were not expected to be sitting side-by-side tonight.
World number five Els makes his 13th attempt to join the exclusive club this week – and ever since he finished eighth on his 1994 debut (just two months before he won the US Open) everybody has been expecting him to have at least one victory to his name by now.
Second to Singh in 2000 and to Mickelson in 2004 – the left-hander made an 18-foot putt to deny him a play-off – Els was lowly a 47th last year and has not won anywhere in America for almost two years now.
World number three Goosen was second in 2002 and joint third a year ago. And he arrives now on the back of finishing runner-up at the Players Championship and fourth in Atlanta.
Garcia has played seven Masters, Montgomerie 13 – he missed out last year - and Clarke eight.
They have all had their moments, but between them have mustered only four top 10s, and they know what that means tonight. No wins, no Champions Dinner.
