Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth have opened up on the Masters dinner (Image: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images)
Adam Scott has echoed the sentiments of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth regarding their reluctance to sit next to Tiger Woods at the annual Masters dinner. As part of the long-standing tradition at Augusta National Golf Club, a Champions Dinner is held two days before the tournament gets underway, with the 90th edition of the major kicking off on Thursday.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy is responsible for hosting this week’s dinner, which brings together former Masters winners spanning several decades. However, when it comes to the seating arrangements on the night, things are rather less formal, at least on the surface. While there is no official rule dictating where guests should sit, it is widely understood that certain spots are reserved for a select few, namely the likes of Woods and 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus.
Adam Scott – who claimed the Masters title in 2013 – will be in attendance at the prestigious dinner on Tuesday, and during his appearance on The Rick Shiels Golf Show, he confirmed Scheffler and Spieth’s assertion that it is an unwritten rule not to sit beside Woods and Nicklaus.
The Australian golfer said: “There are a few seats that are like absolutely reserved. You don’t sit in Jack’s seat, don’t sit in Tiger’s seat. Everyone else kind of ends up in a similar place year after year and the year that you win and you’re hosting the dinner, you’re [at] the the head of the table for that one time.
“Then, you’ve got to find your seat which is also daunting and I just ran down the left side to Trevor Immelman. We’d been buddies since junior golfers, so I was like, ‘Right, I’m going to sit next to my mate for the rest of our lives at this dinner.'”
Two-time Masters winner Scheffler shed light on the seating arrangements during a press conference at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, saying: “Zach [Woods] and Jordan [Spieth] always sat next to each other, and I definitely didn’t ask Jordan to sit by him, because he would have done something to make sure that I didn’t have a place to sit.”
The Masters Dinner takes place each year (Image: The Masters)
“So I kind of looked at Zach, I was like, ‘Hey, where are you sitting this year?’ And he told me, and he was nice and let me join him. But I definitely wasn’t going to ask Jordan for that because he would have messed with me.”
Scheffler acknowledged that while seats are not formally assigned, a degree of unwritten etiquette does exist, explaining: “There’s a little protocol. Guys have, like, I would say, sections where they sit. But you move around a little bit. There are no necessarily assigned seats, but I’m definitely not going to sit in the area where Tiger and Jack sit.”
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“Like, there are kinds of spots where you feel you’ll naturally flow into.” 2015 champion Spieth likened the seating situation to schooldays, conceding that the area occupied by Woods and Nicklaus is strictly off limits.
“It’s kind of like 6th, 7th grade,” the 32-year-old said. “If the teacher they have assigned seats you get all bummed, and if they let you sit wherever you want you end up sitting in the same spot anyways. It’s kind of the same deal.
Adam Scott has discussed sitting by Tiger Woods at the dinner (Image: Getty)
“Sit with Scottie [Scheffler], but then when Scottie wins, you know, he’s done that twice in the last three or four or so. There’s a certain section on the far side from where we sit where you don’t sit, because it’s Jack and Tiger. And that’s where Arnie [Palmer] was.”
Woods’ place will remain empty this week, however, after he confirmed his decision to take a break from golf following his car crash.
The golfing legend was arrested and charged with driving under the influence earlier this month after striking a truck and overturning his vehicle, but entered a not guilty plea.