The 10 Best Perks Golfers Get By Winning The Masters

The Masters might be the youngest of golf’s four major tournaments, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming its most anticipated, and golfers don’t really need any extra motivation to win it aside from the prestige that comes with beating the rest of the field. However, the victory is also accompanied by plenty of perks that make it that much sweeter.

The golfers who win The Masters join one of the sport’s most exclusive clubs after reigning supreme at one of the world’s most exclusive country clubs, but golf immortality is far from the only upside.

The player who wins The Masters earns the right to take advantage of a number of envy-inducing perks, and it’s hard not to be especially jealous of those benefits.

The Green Jacket

This is one of the more obvious ones, but you can’t talk about The Masters without talking about the green jacket that’s traditionally presented to the winner by the person who won it the previous year.

There are a few rules governing the green jacket, which members at Augusta National started wearing in 1937 before Sam Snead became the first victor to get one in 1949.

The champion is allowed to take it home with them after the tournament wraps up. However, they need to bring it back with them the following year, and it must remain on the grounds at Augusta National from that point unless they receive explicit permission.

A Replica Of The Masters Trophy

In 1961, Augusta National commissioned a trophy for The Masters in the form of a replica of its clubhouse made of more than 900 pieces of silver.

The player who wins gets their name etched on the piece of hardware that (like the green jackets) permanently resides on the grounds, but they’ve also been allowed to take home a sterling silver replica of the replica since 1991.

The Gold Medal

The gold medal was the original keepsake for the golfers who won The Masters, as it’s been handed out since the tournament’s inception in 1934.

The medal in question measures 3.4 inches in diameter, weighs 2.3 ounces, and features an image of the clubhouse in front of the Founders Circle located at the end of Magnolia Lane.

The Right To Put Together The Menu At The Masters Champions Dinner

In 1952, Ben Hogan ushered in a new tradition at The Masters when he organized a dinner for all of the golfers who’d won the tournament that took place on the Tuesday before the event got underway.

A twist was eventually introduced that gave the person who won the previous year the opportunity to pick which dishes are served, which has resulted in plenty of mouth-watering menus as well as the sad, sad selection of food Bubba Watson forced everyone else to eat on multiple occasions.

You do have to foot the bill, but that’s a small price to pay for what is more often than not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A Permanent Invite To The Masters Dinner

There are a number of lifetime perks you receive if you win The Masters, and it’s only natural to mention this one first.

You may only get to pick the menu if you head into the tournament looking to defend your title, but every person who’s earned a green jacket gets to don it at the dinner where they get to rub shoulders with their fellow members of golf royalty and, perhaps more importantly, take advantage of the expansive wine cellar with more than 30 pages of options.

A Golden Locket

This is one of the more unheralded traditions to the point where I couldn’t even track down a picture I could use, but a golden locket in the shape of The Masters logo that opens up to reveal a picture of Bobby Jones is also presented to the winner at the Champions Dinner each year.

According to two-time winner Ben Crenshaw, the lockets are unofficially designated for the wives of the players who get them, and many of them wear them on the grounds while attending the tournament each year.

An Honorary Lifetime Membership To Augusta National

One of the best parts of earning an invite to The Masters is the chance to simply play at Augusta National given the wildly exclusive nature of a club where you need to survive a rigorous member evaluation process just to earn the right to pay an initiation fee that’s reportedly in the $40,000 range (the annual membership is surprisingly rumored to be just a few thousand dollars per year).

However, the golfers who win The Masters are granted an honorary membership that allows them to hit the hallowed links whenever they want to.

Access To The Champions Locker Room

It probably goes without saying that every golfer who competes at The Masters has access to the locker room, but the guys who’ve won get to take advantage of an exclusive space reserved for green jacket recipients.

That oasis, which first opened in 1978, features a dedicated wooden locker usually shared by two golfers with a plaque documenting the year(s) they’ve won the tournament.

A Slew Of Exemptions

Every golfer who wins The Masters never has to worry about qualifying for the major again, as a victory grants them a lifetime exemption to the tournament.

They’ll also get an automatic invite to the U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship for the next five years, which certainly takes a little bit of pressure off.

A Whole Bunch Of Money

When The Masters was played for the first time, there was a grand total of $5,000 up for grabs with $1,500 of that purse designated for the winner (close to $35,000 when adjusted for inflation).

The stakes are a bit higher more than 90 years later, as Scottie Scheffler walked away with a cool $3.6 million last year (the purse for 2025 hasn’t been revealed as of this writing, but it’s safe to assume it will be even more based on trends from the past few years).