Jon Rahm doesn't personal the inexperienced jacket for successful the Masters — and he doesn'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 yr, 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 arduous 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 match winners do not really personal it, and so they get to maintain it for under a brief interval.

Rahm will get to maintain the jacket for under a yr

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 yr. On the finish of his yr because the reigning champion, the winner should return the jacket to Augusta Nationwide, and subsequently, Rahm will have the ability to put on it solely whereas on the course.

Moreover, one nameless previous winner of the Masters advised Evan Rothman of Golf that in the course of the participant’s yr with the jacket, any public appearances should be permitted by the membership. 

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

Rahm just lately 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 sporting it.

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

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

The jacket given to Rahm on Sunday was only a placeholder

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

As a substitute, in the course of the ceremony instantly after the match, a first-time winner is introduced with the jacket of a member who’s about the identical measurement, in accordance with Golf. The membership then crafts a jacket for the winner that he’ll take residence.

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 perpetually 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 in the course of the first yr after it’s introduced, in accordance with the lawsuit. After that first yr, the jacket should be saved on Augusta Nationwide premises and may solely be used on the grounds and in the course of the annual match. Augusta Nationwide mentioned it owns the jackets, and the champions have “possessory rights” once they’re on Augusta Nationwide grounds.

As well as, in accordance 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 below 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 virtually 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 a substitute, he could be introduced together with his first jacket once more.

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

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

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