AUGUSTA — On the afternoon of April 10, 1949, Sam Snead won his first Masters Tournament after firing his second consecutive round of 67.
The Slammer, his nickname for his powerful, athletic style of play, accepted congratulations from his competitors and Bobby Jones, the co-founder of the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club.
And then he slipped into a green jacket.
A photo in the next morning’s newspaper shows Snead in the jacket with the club’s iconic logo on the left breast. It was the first time the tournament had awarded the garment to the winner.
Augusta National’s members had been wearing the green coats since 1937; it was believed that patrons could spot a member and they would be a reliable source of information.
Now, 75 years later, the green jacket is among the most recognizable trophies in all of sport.
“Essentially, it's the only trophy you can't really keep at home,” defending Masters champion Jon Rahm said earlier this week. “You do get a trophy, but the one that we all care about is the jacket.
“I think it's something really special to know, when you win, that the only jacket that ever leaves Augusta National is that one. I think that's the most special part of all.”
History of the jacket
Augusta National originally placed an order with Brooks Uniform Company in New York for the original jackets.
They were made of heavy wool material, which wasn’t comfortable on a warm April day. It didn’t take long before a lightweight version was available that could be custom-ordered from the club’s pro shop.
The jacket today features the Augusta National logo on the left chest pocket and the brass buttons.
Traditionally, according to the club, the champion takes his jacket home with him for one year, returning it when he comes back for the next Masters. The jacket is then stored at the club and is available whenever the champion visits.
Near the conclusion of the Masters, several jackets are selected that could fit the possible winner during the presentation ceremony. The winner gets his measurements taken at the club’s Golf Shop, or he may provide measurements so that a custom-made green jacket can be tailored. Typically, a multiple winner will have only one jacket unless his size drastically changes.
Tournament tradition dictates that the defending champion help the new winner into his green jacket at the presentation ceremony held after the final round. That posed an interesting challenge in 1966, when Jack Nicklaus became the tournament’s first repeat winner.
How would he get his green coat?
The issue was put to rest when Bobby Jones spoke.
“Cliff (Roberts) and I have discussed the problem, and have decided you will just have to put the coat on yourself,” Jones said.
Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, the only other golfers to repeat as Masters champions, each had help from the chairman at the time.
Return the jacket
Ah, the rules. As Rahm eluded to, the green jacket is supposed to be kept at Augusta National at all times. Unless you are the reigning Masters champion.
Gary Player became the first international player to win the Masters in 1961, and the South African took the jacket home with him for the following year.
In 1962, Player lost a three-man playoff to Arnold Palmer. But he wasn’t aware of the rule about returning the jacket to the club. He packed it up and it went back to South Africa with him.
That led to a call from Clifford Roberts, the club and tournament chairman who was known for being a rules stickler.
“I didn’t know you were supposed to leave it there,” Player said. “Next thing you know, there was a call from Mr. Roberts.”
According to Player, here’s how the exchange went:
“‘Gary, have you got the jacket?’ Roberts asked.
“I said, ‘Yes, I do.’
“He said, ‘Well, no one ever takes the jacket away from here.’
“And I said, ‘Well, Mr. Roberts, if you want it, why don’t you come and fetch it?’”
Roberts didn’t lose many arguments when it came to the Masters, but he agreed to a compromise.
“He kind of chuckled and said don’t wear it in public,” Player said.
Delayed fitting
Nicklaus has theoretically won more green jackets than anyone — a player receives only one jacket, no matter how many they have won — but he didn’t have one of his own until 1998.
That was more than a decade after he won the last of his six Masters titles.
As Nicklaus has told many times, Augusta National had to scramble to get a coat that fit him when he won for the first time in 1963. He was given the jacket that belonged to Thomas Dewey, the former governor of New York, and he was a 46 long.
“I was 43 regular and didn’t quite fit,” Nicklaus said. “The next year I came back and Tom Dewey, former governor of New York that ran for presidency, his was in my locker, and fit me perfectly,” Nicklaus said on Thursday at Augusta. “I won the Masters a few times after that, and I kept wearing Tom Dewey’s coat.”
But he kept wearing it and wearing it, even as the Masters wins piled up.
In 1998, Augusta National honored Nicklaus on the occasion of his 40th Masters appearance. The chairman at the time, Jack Stephens, heard about Nicklaus’ lack of a jacket over lunch before the tournament.
“I told him the story that I didn’t have a green jacket and never had a green jacket,” Nicklaus said. “He said ‘What?’ I said, ‘No, I’ve won the tournament five times, six times, and nobody has ever given me a green jacket.’ So I went home, came back over the weekend, and there was a note in my locker that said: You will go to the pro shop and you will be fit for your green jacket.”
Jacket adventures
From the time Snead won until the early 2000s, you rarely heard of any green jacket sightings beyond the confines of Augusta National.
Masters winners are now encouraged to do a media blitz after their win, and take the green garment with them.
Sometimes the green jacket shows up in unusual places.
After Phil Mickelson won the Masters for a third time in 2010, the next day he took his courtesy vehicle through the drive-thru at the Krispy Kreme on Washington Road.
He calmly ordered a sampling of doughnuts while wearing his green jacket.
"When I opened the window I see the green jacket," a Krispy Kreme employee told The Augusta Chronicle. "I said: 'You won yesterday,' and he started smiling and said, 'Yeah.'"
When fellow left-handed champion Mike Weir won in 2003, the native of Canada was invited to a playoff hockey game. Weir dropped the puck before Toronto took on Philadelphia and received a 90-second standing ovation.
Rahm, who played collegiately at Arizona State, was invited last fall to throw out the first pitch at Game 4 of the World Series. Standing in front of the pitcher’s mound, Rahm threw a bit outside before the Arizona Diamondbacks took on the Texas Rangers.
In 2016, Danny Willett of England sported his new green jacket at Wimbledon. And when Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters in 2021, he was spotted the next day traveling through the Atlanta airport with the green jacket.
And, for some, the attachment to the green jacket can be a bit more permanent. 1970 Masters winner Billy Casper died in 2015, and his wife, Shirley, asked for and received permission to bury him in his green jacket.
But for current champions, slipping on the green jacket is a tradition that never gets old.
“Yeah, it's usually the first thing we do here Sunday when I get in,” 2022 winner Scottie Scheffler said. “I'm usually doing something for the Drive, Chip & Putt, so it's always a reason to go out there and put on the jacket. It's kind of fun walking around the grounds and being able to put it on.
“It was a lot more fun getting to wear it for a whole year. But, yeah, it's a special feeling.”
