Who Runs The Masters?

Many golf fans may believe that The Masters, and the other three men's Majors, are run by the PGA Tour - but that isn't the case.

In fact, the PGA Tour doesn't run any of the Majors, with its flagship event being the 'unofficial fifth Major': The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

The Masters is run by Augusta National Golf Club and its members. The invitational tournament dates back to 1934 and wasn't officially deemed a Major until 1960 when Arnold Palmer and journalist Bob Drum essentially coined golf's four professional Majors.

The Masters had the largest prize money of the four and has subsequently seen almost all of golf's greats win around the hallowed turf of Augusta.

Augusta National members are synonymous for their Green Jackets and you'll see them everywhere during Masters week - as it is the members who essentially run the tournament. The chairman, Fred Ridley, assigns the members with their roles for the week.

Are they a starter? Who stand on first tee and announce 'Fore please, now driving: xxxx' or are they a media liaison officer? Ensuring that players are transported to the media center or mixed zone. Some will act as scorers and rules officials while some will even run the press conferences.

As The Masters has grown, so has Augusta National's stature in the game.

The club sits on the Official World Golf Ranking board and has also worked with the R&A to create some of the world's biggest global amateur tournaments. Augusta National has a huge respect for elite amateur golf, as Bobby Jones, arguably the greatest amateur golfer of all time, founded the club, designed the course and co-founded The Masters.

It's why there are always a number of amateurs in The Masters field, including the US Amateur winner and runner-up, the British Amateur Champion, the US Mid-Am winner and both the Asia Pacific and Latin America Amateur champions.

The Asia Pacific Amateur Championship and Latin America Amateur Championship were both started by Augusta and the R&A, and the club also founded the Augusta National Women's Amateur in 2019.

It has quickly grown into one of the biggest events in women's golf and has Major winner Jennifer Kupcho and US star Rose Zhang as past champions.

As well as events for elite amateurs, Augusta National has an eye on the junior game, too. It founded the Drive, Chip and Putt championship for junior golfers in 2013 along with the USGA and the PGA of America. The finals take place at Augusta National each year in the week before The Masters.