At the Masters, a $1.50 pimento cheese sandwich steals the show
Why it matters: Golf fans who are lucky enough to score a badge to the Masters don't just rave about the drives and putts. They love the absurdly affordable food that has become legend.
Catch up quick: Augusta National is one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world, but its menu at the Masters is priced for the masses.
At the very top of the pyramid of culinary excellence: the $1.50 pimento cheese sandwich that comes with its own green jacket (a green plastic wrapper).
How it works: The tradition of affordable food at the VIP event dates back decades and is fairly simple, Clifford Roberts, a former Augusta National chairman, wrote in his 1976 history of the club.
"We believe that one of the reasons the Masters is popular with patrons of the game is because they can obtain good food and drink at reasonable prices."
Fun fact: When Augusta National changed caterers in the early 2010s, the new vendor needed six months to finally recreate the closely guarded original recipe, Golf Digest reported in 2022.
The other side: Not everyone's a fan. The AJC's Ken Sugiura, who's covering the tournament all week, likened the rarified experience to "eating mushy cheddar cheese."
Make it at home: Unfortunately, the tournament's official packages that include pimento cheese, egg salad and other foods to host your own Masters party are sold out.
However, the internet has plenty of recipes mimicking the famous sandwich. Give it your best shot while watching the tournament at home — and use Duke's Mayonnaise.
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USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Ian Baker-Finch to sign off from CBS today at Wyndham Championship after 30 years in TV
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After 30 years of broadcasting the PGA Tour, Ian Baker-Finch signing off from CBS Sports on Sunday with the network's final broadcast of the season at the Wyndham Championship. 'Since I made the decision, it's the best I've felt in a long time,' he said. Baker-Finch said he began wrestling with the decision last year at the Masters and RBC Heritage when he realized it represented his 40th year either playing or announcing at those events. 'That's what sort of got me thinking, what's next?' he explained. During his playing career, his powerful swing and competitive spirit was his appeal. Later, his charming personality and soothing voice added to his legacy. The Australian won the 1991 British Open at Royal Birkdale as a player and after he lost his game just a few years later, he made a successful transition to announcing, spending the last 19 years with CBS. Coincidentally, his remarkable story is detailed in a fascinating authorized biography, Ian Baker-Finch: To Hell and Back, which is to be released officially on Monday. Baker-Finch was introduced to golf by his father, who along with his fellow farmers helped build Beerwah Golf Club, a nine-hole course built on 100 acres of pine forest in the Sunshine hinterland of Queensland a mere six miles from the family farm. Baker-Finch received his first clubs – a 2-wood, 3-, 5- and 7-iron and a putter – on his 12th birthday, and was the only student in his school to play the game. He worked at local farms to earn enough money to build a full set at $15 a club. He got his first matched set at age 14 and a year later, in 1975, he received Jack Nicklaus's instructional book Golf My Way, which became his golf bible, as a birthday present from his parents. From those humble beginnings, he left school at age 15 to pursue a career in the game. 'I had this dream of being a club pro, giving lessons and being part of the fabric of a club,' Baker-Finch recalled. 'I never thought I'd be an Open champion.' For many golf fans, the 1984 Open at St. Andrews represented Baker-Finch's first real splash on the world stage. He held a share of the 54-hole lead and played with Tom Watson in the final pairing before skying to 79. Jim Nantz, who would become his longtime friend and broadcast partner at CBS, remembers being dazzled by Baker-Finch's play. 'He was just 23 and you could tell he was going to be a star,' Nantz said. Baker-Finch would surpass his wildest dreams by winning the 1991 Open at Royal Birkdale. In the final round, Baker-Finch sank a 15-foot birdie at the par-3 seventh to go 5 under for the day. He looked up at the leaderboard as he walked to the eighth tee and realized he held a five-shot lead. 'I thought, 'Bloody hell, do not stuff it up from here. I will not be allowed back home,' ' he wrote in his biography. Pete Bender compared caddying for Baker-Finch that week to riding Secretariat, the champion thoroughbred racehorse, and all he had to do was hold on. During his victory speech, Baker-Finch said, 'The pain of the other couple of times when I had a chance to do it gave me the strength to do it today. I will cherish this trophy forever.' Within three years of his Open conquest, his game was in tatters. The 1993 Australian PGA Championship was the last of his 17 wins as a professional golfer. In 1995, he played in 15 tournaments on the PGA Tour and missed every single cut. He hit rock bottom at the 1997 Open at Troon, shooting 92 in the opening round and withdrew. At age 36, six years after being hailed as the Champion Golfer of the Year, his playing career was over. To this day, he regrets playing that round at Troon because the scar tissue became too deep. 'Had I not played that day,' he mused, 'I may have come back to playing but then that was the sliding door moment to the TV career.' Baker-Finch had dabbled in TV the year before while nursing injuries back home in Australia and served as the lead analyst for all four networks in his native land during the summer portion of the schedule as well contributing to the Open Championship for ABC. Its producer at the time, Jack Graham, called him and said, 'I know you would love to get back to playing but if you don't, you've got a job with us.' As a broadcaster, he was a gifted storyteller and determined to follow the principles of 'less is more.' He made a point to glean fresh information from players. 'There was always a warmth quotient,' said CBS's play-by-play commentator Jim Nantz. 'Everyone loves Ian. His genuine kindness always shone through.' 'Everything Finchy said had meaning and purpose,' said CBS executive producer of golf Sellers Shy. 'As our mate steps away, he leaves 19 memorable years at CBS Sports defined by integrity, excellence and kindness. Retirement is a fitting reward for someone who gave so much to the game – and to all of us.' Calling the fifth Green Jacket for Tiger Woods in 2019 and Rory McIlroy completing the career Grand Slam are among the highlights of his broadcasting career. When Adam Scott became the first Australian golfer to don the Green Jacket, Nantz threw the called to Baker-Finch, Scott's fellow Queenslander, who famously said, 'From Down Under to on top of the world, Jim.' Baker-Finch turns 65 in October, and his latest contract was set to expire. His desire to do the preparation required to broadcast at the highest level 23 weeks a year had waned. 'I don't ever want to get to the point where the producer and the team have to sort of legacy protect, if you will. I'm not there yet, but at nearly 65 you start feeling that way,' he said. Baker-Finch looks forward to traveling and enjoying various wine regions and playing more golf, 'and working on my game a little bit because that's what I love to do,' he said. He'll spend more time with wife Jenny and his daughters and grandchildren. The month of March he'll go to New Zealand as he and Jenny enjoyed this year plus three months in Australia, playing a bunch of golf in the Melbourne Sandbelt region while doing it all at his own pace. He'll keep his hands busy doing some golf course design work and still travel to several of golf's biggest events for meetings in his role as chairman of the board of the PGA of Australia. He expects his final broadcast to be an emotional one as the CBS broadcast team has become a second family and for three decades he's been one of the integral voices that make up the soundtrack of the game. 'I hope people saw me as someone who loved the game and respected the players and brought a calm and honest perspective to the coverage,' he said. 'It's never been about me. I'm sort of uncomfortable when something's about me. The love and support I've received since I went public with my retirement has been overwhelming. I do think there may be some on social media that'll say good riddance, we didn't like the accent, or we didn't like him or he was never tough enough on the players but that doesn't worry me. I think the majority will say, 'Hey, he did a good job. He loved the game. We'll miss him.' "
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Scottie Scheffler's role in ‘Happy Gilmore 2' is an unexpected gift for golf fans
This is a story about a movie that saved a sport. OK, that's a stretch, but only a little one. Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 golfer in the world. Has been for a couple of years. He has won two Masters titles, one PGA Championship and the recent British Open, as well as an Olympic gold medal. He is so good that somebody ought to check his golf balls for tiny magnets that hook up to the cups on the greens. So far this year, by slapping a little white dimpled ball around in the grass, he has won $19.2 million. He has yet to turn 30, but his overall income, just from golf tournaments, is around $90 million. This guy is so good that his caddie, Ted Scott, is estimated, at the normal 10% of winnings, to have pocketed about $5 million. For carrying a bag. So, what's the problem? Scheffler is so good that he might also be sparking a trend called remote remorse. You really want to watch, but once he gets ahead by a couple of shots, there is nothing left. No drama, no possible twist and turn, no chance of any excitement. Other players in those tense, title-on-the-line final holes, dunk a shot into the water or bury one so deep in the sand that their only choice of club is a shovel. Not Scheffler. He is a 6-foot-3 human robot whose veins circulate ice water. When the going gets tough, Scheffler yawns. So, you see this and you know what is coming next — final putt, arms raised in satisfaction, a hug for his multi-millionaire caddie, the mandatory TV interview with the apparently mandatory British-accent female sportscaster, who will always start with, 'How does this feel?' You, and millions more, click the button on your remote for something more interesting, like HGTV or the Gardening Channel. When Scheffler gets ahead in the final round like that — which is almost always — it is game over. He can squeeze the drama out of a golf tournament like Bill Belichick could out of an NFL postgame interview. Certainly, you say, Tiger Woods used to win lots of tournaments by lots of big margins and that never seemed boring. That's because it wasn't. Tiger was animated, angry, annoyed, analytical, fed up with some part of his game, charged up over another part, mad at a reporter, upset with his agent. Tiger could win by eight, occasionally did, and it was still must-see TV. When Tiger was at his best, nobody could beat him and the public loved him and just wanted more. Scheffler is currently at his best and the public certainly is terribly impressed and, sadly, kind of meh. Tiger was a pound-on-the-table-and-shout-at-the-TV kind of player. Scheffler is a nod and a shrug. But there is hope. Hollywood has intervened, as only Hollywood can. Twenty-nine years ago, an up-and-coming comic named Adam Sandler made a movie inspired by one of his New England friends, who was a great hockey player and could also hit a golf ball a long distance with a hockey stick. Sandler called the movie 'Happy Gilmore' and found a wide audience that loved it for its irreverence about a game that flaunts hushed reverence. Among the highlights was an on-course fistfight between Happy Gilmore (Sandler) and aging TV game show host Bob Barker. Barker won by KO. The movie was hilariously overdone slapstick. It was a gut-laugh-a-minute. It was so stupid and wacky that it was wonderful. Now, Sandler has made 'Happy Gilmore 2,' and it is again a must-see for all the reasons that the original was. Plus the cameo appearances. Especially one by Scheffler. In the movie, Scheffler is good, funny, fun. He doesn't have a lot of lines, but he has perfect timing. He punches a guy out on the green and the cops come and haul him away. 'Oh, no. Not again,' he says. Remember, earlier this year, when Louisville cops hauled him away and put him in an orange jail suit, when he was accused of making a wrong turn while driving into the golf course at the PGA Championship, a tournament that he would eventually win? Well, Sandler and his writers made hay out of that, but more significantly, Scheffler played to it perfectly. After the movie punch-out, Scheffler is pictured in a jail cell, in an orange jail suit, as a guard asks, since he has been in that cell for three days, if he wants to get out. Scheffler replies, 'Ah, what's for dinner?' When he is told chicken fingers, he says, 'I think I'll stay another night.' Now, of course, none of that is knee-slapping stuff, but it is Scheffler, and the self-effacing comedy is a perfect image-enhancer, even if it is only in a stupid movie. It is so much better for golf fans to see Scheffler as a roll-with-the-punches fun guy, than an emotionless, ball-striking robot. Neither is totally accurate, but in this media world of image-is-everything, 'Happy Gilmore 2' has done wonderful things for this wonderful golfer. Even moreso, for his sport He will be all over your TV screens for the three-week FedEx playoffs. It starts Aug. 7 with a tournament in Memphis, followed by the next week in Baltimore and the grand finale Aug. 21 in East Lake, Ga., near Atlanta. For the playoffs, the PGA will distribute $100 million in prize money and the winner will receive $10 million. Scheffler, a likely winner, would then certainly be invited to appear on TV, especially the late-night shows such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon. This would present another great image-building opportunity. He could show up in an orange jump suit.
4 days ago
Tom Brady responds to Scottie Scheffler's sentiments on family over winning
Scottie Scheffler and Tom Brady are not in the same season of life, but the two athletic titans have clashing opinions on how they view the balancing act of parenting and professional sports. Earlier this month, world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler made very clear where his priorities lie -- first as a family man for his wife and son, second as a professional golfer -- just days before winning his fourth major championship of his PGA career. In a July 15 press conference before the tournament began at Royal Portrush Golf Club, Scheffler delivered a deeply honest speech on success, sharing his poignant perspective that underscored the duality of motivation and fulfillment that he said is "something I wrestle with on a daily basis." "At the end of the day it's like -- this is not a fulfilling life," Scheffler said at the time, referring to winning at golf. "And all of a sudden you get to No. 1 in the world, and you're like, 'What's the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?' Because if I win -- it's going to be awesome for about two minutes." In May, at just 29 years old, Scheffler, a two-time Masters champ in 2022 and 2024, won the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club. After his July 15 press conference, he also secured his first Open Championship title at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Scheffler now only needs a U.S. Open win to complete the PGA career grand slam. Speaking to that success, he told reporters, "If my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or with my son, that's gonna be the last day that I play out here for a living. This is not the be-all, end-all. This is not the most important thing in my life. And that's why I wrestle with, 'Why is this so important to me?' Because I would much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer." Brady, regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time with seven Super Bowl titles and countless stats in the football record books, had a few thoughts about Scheffler's comments, which he expanded on in his weekly newsletter, 199, on Tuesday. "Scottie said he'd rather be a better father and husband than a good golfer. And my question is: why are those mutually exclusive?" Brady wrote in his newsletter. "Sure, they're different blocks on the pyramid, but they're part of the same pyramid. They're connected! For instance, I think part of being a great father is being a great example of doing what it takes to take care of your family. I chose to do it by playing football." He then argued that giving his all to his job was synonymous with being a great dad and family man. "The hours of practice, the moments when I was laser focused -- those were times when I believe I was doing the best possible thing for my family and my kids, by prioritizing my profession and teaching, by example, what it takes to be really good at your job," he wrote. Brady and his ex-wife, supermodel Giselle Bündchen, were married for 13 years and share two children. Brady also shares a son with actress and model Bridget Moynahan. Both Brady and Bündchen spoke candidly during their marriage about the impact his career had on the family dynamic. In a 2021 episode of his podcast, "Let's Go," Brady, then the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said, "My wife has held down the house for a long time now, and I think there's things that she wants to accomplish. You know, she hasn't worked as much in the last 10, 12 years, just raising our family and kind of committing to being in a life in Boston and then moving to Florida." In 2022, Bündchen told British Vogue that Brady's "focus is on his career, mine is mostly on the kids. And I'm very grateful that he lets me take the reins when it comes to our family." In February 2022, after two seasons with the Buccaneers, Brady announced his retirement from the NFL, then 40 days later flipped the script and unretired to return for his 23rd season in the league. At the time, Brady missed 11 days of training camp as the team gave him an excused absence to attend to personal matters. In October 2022, during what was Brady's final NFL season, Brady and Bündchen announced their divorce. Sports psychologist Dr. Leah Lagos told "Good Morning America" that "there's no one size fits all where every athlete has to prioritize their family over sport, or every athlete has to prioritize their sport over their family." "But knowing which kind of prioritizations and your preferences and just being very authentic about those and harnessing those with truth becomes very powerful," she added. "GMA" co-anchor and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, who played for the New York Giants for 15 years, also weighed in on Brady's and Scheffler's comments, as well as the balancing act that comes with being a professional athlete. "I don't know why it's an argument. Different things work for different people," he said Thursday. "I honestly think the sports are different. Golf, you go for a week and a lot of time they take their family. Football, you're in and out." "I think they're both at different stages of parenting as well. I do think, regardless of how great you are at your job, you are an example to your kids. I see both arguments. Neither is wrong. Both are great," Strahan added.
