What do you get for winning The Masters? It’s more than just a green jacket!

Mark Townsend
Masters flag

The familiarity and colour of The Masters makes it the most memorable of the Majors.

It has its own traditions like no other tournament in the game and the winner, with his arms aloft on the 18th green in front of the iconic scoreboard, will receive a huge pay-out as well as a bundle of perks that money can’t buy.

1) The Green Jacket
The most famous piece of clothing in sport. This has been awarded since 1949 and is the reason why players give their jacket size when they register for the week. The jacket is a mix of wool and polyester and the jackets are actually made in Cincinnati. The shade is ‘Pantone 342’ or ‘Masters green’ and is single-breasted and single-vented with logo-stamped custom brass buttons made in Connecticut.

There is a logo on the left breast pocket and the owner’s name is stitched in the inside lining. Each jacket takes a a month to produce and costs around $250 – the winner is allowed to take the jacket with him and previous winners will receive a replica.

2) The Masters Trophy
There is actually a trophy for the winner and this depicts the Augusta clubhouse and, again, there is a silver replica to keep. The permanent trophy, which was made in England, was introduced in 1961 and consists of over 900 separate pieces of silver. There are bands of silver with space to engrave the champion’s name.

Scottie Scheffler with The Masters trophy

The runner-up receives a silver medal and salver.

3) A gold medal
Less well known is that the champion also receives a gold medallion (3.4 inches in diameter, 2.3 ounces) which features the Founders Circle in front of the clubhouse.

There is also an inscribed gold locket and Ben Crenshaw, the host of the Champions Dinner, will present it on the Tuesday before eating.

“My favorite thing to do is to award the defending champion this beautiful locket, a solid gold locket that the club gives to the defending champion. It’s a pendant that is supposed to go to your wife. It’s a beautiful gold locket that opens up three ways and you open it up and it has a silhouette of the Augusta National clubhouse and Bobby Jones. It’s just a beautiful piece of art.”

4) The winner’s cheque
This has absolutely rocketed in recent years and has actually doubled since 2016.

Total prize money and the winner’s cut
2024 $20m – $3.6m
2023 $18m – $3.24m
2022 $15m – $2.7m
2021 $11.5m – $2.07m
2020 $11.5m – $2.07m
2019 $11.5m – $2.07m
2018 $11m – $1.98m
2017 $11m – $1.98m
2016 $10m – $1.8m

2004 $6m – $1.17m (Phil Mickelson)
1997 $2.7m – $486k (Tiger Woods)
1986 $785k – $144k (Jack Nicklaus)
1934 $5 – $1.5k (Horton Smith)

The US Open remains the biggest prize fund – in 2024 Bryson DeChambeau pocketed $4.3m.

5) Dinner host
The Champions Dinner gets to select the food on the Tuesday evening of Masters week. The room consists of all the Masters winners who are able to attend and the chairman Fred Ridley.

The evening is a chance for some of the old timers to tell a few stories and for everyone to catch up. There is no seating plan as such but supposedly the players tend to sit in the same places year after year.

Tiger Woods famously served cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries amd milkshakes while Vijay Singh is often quoted as offering the best dinner. This year Scottie Scheffler will again play host.

6) The exemptions
Win the Masters and you will be coming back to Augusta for the rest of your life. You’ll know (or be told quietly) when to stop playing in the tournament but there will also be five-year passes into the other three Majors.

7) The locker
You are now a member and, as such, you are given a locker in the Champions’ locker room on the second floor of the clubhouse. Not even the Augusta members get to use this room.

We rarely get to see inside here but we did get a sneak peek when Tiger won in 2019.

READ MORE: The 5 most astonishing Tiger Woods records that will never be broken