“Phil sat near the end of the table” – Ex-Masters champions reveal what happened at the Masters Champions Dinner 2023
Prior to the 2023 Masters Champions Dinner, there was speculation of this year's ceremony being filled with tension amidst the LIV-PGA Tour rift. However, as per the several past champions who attended the Champions Dinner, nothing related to LIV vs PGA was addressed on Tuesday evening.
"We’re just 33 past champions in a room, all trying to get along,” 1979 winner Fuzzy Zoeller was quoted saying via GolfWeek. “Nobody said a word about it."
He added that three-time Champion Phil Mickelson didn't say anything throughout the evening.
"Phil sat near the end of the table and kept to himself. He didn’t speak at all.”
The Champions Dinner was started by Ben Hogan in 1952 to honor the former winners at the Augusta National ahead of the new edition of the first of the four major events.
This year, it was the turn of 2022 Champion Scottie Scheffler, who was honored alongside 32 other past winners, all wearing the prestigious green jacket, which is given to the winner of The Masters.
The 2023 Champions Dinner portrait. #themasters https://t.co/4cLriTv8sO
There was a lot of talk about this year's dinner considering it was the first time several Masters were featuring at the tournament as LIV Golf professionals and not as PGA Tour ones. Notably, six of the former champions have defected to the Saudi-backed league: Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, and Bubba Watson.
While the other five LIV defectors were conversing and talking to the other guests, Mickelson seemed quiet.
1973 champion Tommy Aaron was quoted via Fox Sports:
“I wished him [Phil] good luck, but I couldn’t believe how quiet he was. Phil took a very low profile. He didn’t say a word.”
Three-time champion Nick Faldo, who was recently very vocal against Saudi-backed circuit professionals, stated there was no tension between the two divisions.
He tweeted:
"I’m sure you’re all wondering about the temperature in the room, it was all calm and cool."
twitter.com/themasters/sta…
I’m sure you’re all wondering about the temperature in the room, it was all calm and cool. Only the tortilla soup was spicy hot! 😅 twitter.com/themasters/sta…
As per tradition, the reigning champion gets to decide on the menu for the dinner. Scheffler started the dinner with cheeseburger sliders served “Scottie-style” alongside firecracker shrimp.
This was followed by a tortilla soup with the main course being Texas ribeye steak or blackened redfish. To conclude the meal, a warm chocolate chip skillet cookie was served with a scoop of milk and cookie-flavored ice cream.
What's next on Masters 2023 week schedule?
Following the conclusion of the Masters Champion Dinner, Augusta National Golf Club will host a Par-3 contest on Wednesday, April 5. The Par-3 is a 'family affair' contest in which family members join the professionals as caddies, wearing white caddie jumpsuits.
The Par-3 contest was started by Augusta National Chairman Clifford Roberts. He thought of it as a pre-tournament attraction. Despite resistance from other members of the club, he was successful in starting something which has become a tradition now.
The first ever Par-3 contest was held in 1960 and was won by Sam Snead in 1960
The 2023 Masters Par 3 Contest will be streamed live on Masters.com starting at 2 pm ET.