Cover Golfers who win the Masters become honourary members of Augusta National and receive that coveted Green Jacket (Photo: Instagram / @themasters)
Golfers who win the Masters become honourary members of Augusta National and receive that coveted Green Jacket (Photo: Instagram / @themasters)
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The Green Jacket is not just a fashion statement. It’s a symbol of mastery, exclusivity and golf aristocracy
Golf has no shortage of rituals. You have the polite claps, hushed broadcasters and bunkers referred to as “trouble”. But perhaps no tradition is more delightfully eccentric than the coveted Green Jacket, awarded to the winner of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. It is, quite literally, a blazer. It’s not made of panda or unicorn mane. Rather, the material is tropical wool, unmistakably green and monogrammed discreetly on the inside. However, it represents something far grander than its modest form suggests.
Just ask Rory McIlroy. In April 2025, the Northern Irishman finally slipped into Augusta green after years of near-misses and heartbreak, completing his career Grand Slam in spectacular fashion. The image of him receiving the jacket—all misty-eyed, humbled and impeccable in his posture—reignited global interest in the sartorial holy grail of golf. It was a moment of sporting redemption wrapped in a very expensive-looking lining.
Also read: 10 best sports movies about oddball sports
Above Watch Rory McIlroy receive the coveted Green Jacket.
First issued in the late 1940s, the Green Jacket has become golf’s most iconic piece of clothing. It is a badge of exclusivity, worn not just by champions but by a secretive group of Augusta members, and guarded with a reverence more akin to royal regalia than country club couture. And yes, it has its own vault with humidity control.
Let’s take a walk through the Green Jacket’s origins, its unusual rules and the quietly mad tradition that keeps it at the pinnacle of golfing prestige.
The inspiration: A British tailoring tradition, Americanised
The idea was brought to Augusta by Bobby Jones, the co-founder of the Masters and a man known for his fastidious sense of golf and decorum. On a visit to Royal Liverpool Golf Club, he noticed the club captains wore matching jackets, partly as a uniform, partly as a quiet flex. Jones imported the concept to Georgia in 1937, commissioning green jackets so Augusta members would be easily identifiable during tournament week and presumably avoid being mistaken for well-dressed fans.
From uniform to trophy: the Champion’s Jacket
In 1949, Sam Snead became the first player to receive the Green Jacket as a prize. It was a stroke of genius in branding, really. Past champions were retroactively honoured, and thus began a new tradition: win the Masters, earn the right to wear Augusta green. But there's a caveat: the jacket stays at the club. Winners can take it home for a year, like a borrowed crown a la Ms Universe, but it must be returned before the next tournament.
The ceremony, held in the Butler Cabin and again outside near the 18th green, includes the previous year’s winner slipping the jacket onto the new champion’s shoulders. If a player defends their title, the Augusta chairman steps in to assist with the awkward self-jacketing.
Threads of security: the Jacket’s vault and mystery
The jackets are housed in a highly controlled vault at Augusta, known among insiders as the “Green Jacket Experience”. Behind an unmarked door, the club stores historic jackets dating back to the 1930s, along with a few hundred spares in various sizes. There’s even an in-house tailor for last-minute fittings, and yes, it’s all kept under meticulous humidity controls, which befits a garment of such elite ceremonial weight.
One anecdote speaks to the jacket’s near-mythic status: Gary Player, a three-time Masters champion, accidentally took his jacket home in the 1960s only to be gently reminded years later to return it. He never did. It remains the only known Green Jacket out in the wild.
Also read: What you need to know about the prestigious Masters Green Jacket
The perks of a Masters champion
Winning the Green Jacket also unlocks an enviable suite of privileges. Champions receive:
- a gold medal
- a replica of the Masters trophy (the real one stays at Augusta)
- a gold locket at the annual Champions Dinner
- lifetime invitation to the Masters
- access to a private, champions-only locker room
- a five-year exemption to all major tournaments and PGA Tour events
- While the monetary rewards are considerable, it’s the tradition—and the whispered reverence that surrounds it—that gives the Green Jacket its true value.
Tailored legacy
In a sport where decorum is part of the uniform, the Green Jacket manages to be both absurd and sublime. It’s not just a fashion statement. It’s a symbol of mastery, exclusivity and golf aristocracy. While other trophies collect dust, this one demands dry-cleaning. It’s not just about winning. It’s about earning the right to belong to an elite club.
