Golfers who win the Masters don't personal the inexperienced jacket — they usually don't get to maintain it

• Jon Rahm received the Masters and the well-known inexperienced jacket.
• Rahm will get to carry on to it for a 12 months, however he should ask permission to put on it in public.
• The jacket stays the property of the Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership and may by no means be bought.

Jon Rahm rallied to win the Masters and his first inexperienced jacket, however now comes the laborious half — following all of Augusta Nationwide’s guidelines for the enduring blazer.

The Masters inexperienced jacket is among the most recognizable awards in sports activities, and successful one is each golfer’s dream. However the event winners do not truly personal it, they usually get to maintain it for under a brief interval.

Rahm will get to maintain the jacket for under a 12 months

Probably the most well-known rule pertaining to the inexperienced jacket is that the winner will get to carry on to it for under a 12 months. On the finish of his 12 months because the reigning champion, the winner should return the jacket to Augusta Nationwide, and subsequently, Rahm will be capable to put on it solely whereas on the course.

Moreover, one nameless previous winner of the Masters informed Evan Rothman of Golf that throughout the participant’s 12 months with the jacket, any public appearances have to be permitted by the membership. 

“You must request permission to do this,” the golfer mentioned. “You don’t need it to be seen in locations that do not slot in with Augusta’s traditions. It is a image.”

Rahm not too long ago defined to Golf.com that he needed to signal paperwork agreeing to the principles of the jacket, such because it can’t be worn with shorts or denims, and he cannot drink alcohol whereas carrying it.

“It is difficult,” Rahm mentioned. “The jacket cannot make a public look with out [the club] understanding. They do not wish to be shocked so they should give approval for the whole lot. I can not be photographed with the jacket and having alcohol. It simply goes on and on.”

Presumably, Patrick Reed didn’t get permission earlier than carrying his inexperienced jacket to Chick-fil-A in 2018.

The jacket given to Rahm on Sunday was only a placeholder

Whereas it has develop into a well-recognized spectacle in sports activities to see any person shortly engraving names on a trophy seconds after a championship is sealed, it is far more tough to tailor a jacket for the Masters winner that shortly.

As an alternative, throughout the ceremony instantly after the event, a first-time winner is introduced with the jacket of a member who’s about the identical measurement, in keeping with Golf. The membership then crafts a jacket for the winner that he’ll take house.

Rahm doesn’t personal the jacket

Whereas the brand new inexperienced jacket will all the time be Rahm’s, within the eyes of the membership, it is without end its property.

The corporate that owns the golf course has efficiently stopped jackets from reaching the public sale block, arguing that they had been faraway from the membership with out permission.

In a single lawsuit filed by the membership in 2017, it outlined its case for possession of the jackets in court docket paperwork seen by The Augusta Chronicle:

The jacket is probably not faraway from the Augusta Nationwide grounds besides throughout the first 12 months after it’s introduced, in keeping with the lawsuit. After that first 12 months, the jacket have to be saved on Augusta Nationwide premises and may solely be used on the grounds and throughout the annual event. Augusta Nationwide mentioned it owns the jackets, and the champions have “possessory rights” after they’re on Augusta Nationwide grounds.

As well as, in keeping with a 2019 submitting with the US Patent and Trademark Workplace, Augusta Nationwide declared that the jackets “can’t be bought or given to 3rd events beneath any circumstances.”

The final inexperienced jacket efficiently auctioned off was the one belonging to Horton Smith, the primary winner of the Masters, in 1934. His jacket went for $682,000 in 2013.

Rahm will nearly actually by no means get one other inexperienced jacket

And if Rahm goes on to win one other Masters, he will not get a second inexperienced jacket, regardless of what the headlines will say. As an alternative, he can be introduced along with his first jacket once more.

The Masters media information says, “A number of winners could have just one inexperienced jacket except his measurement drastically modifications.”

For instance, Tiger Woods has received the Masters 5 occasions, however he seemingly nonetheless has only one inexperienced jacket.

Rahm does get to maintain a duplicate of the Masters trophy, which incorporates the names of each winner and runner-up, in addition to a 3.4-inch-diameter gold medallion.