Jon Rahm signed his first under par at Augusta at the Champions Dinner

This Tuesday, January 9, 2024 the ‘one & only’ and always remembered Seve Ballesteros turned 67 years old. As is traditional The Champions Dinner was held at the Masters where the current champion selects the menu. And this time it’s not just any menu. The Basque Jon Rahm was advised by prestigious Spanish chef José Andrés, and it was a total success. Jon’s first round under par at Augusta.

Sitting at the table on the first floor of National Augusta, the 32 champion recipients, including President Fred Riley, to a new member, Jon Rahm, before celebrating an agape with countless conversations and anecdotes. And also in the sincere memory of the first European winner of the Masters (in 1980). “It was a great night, an emotional night,” he said. Larry Mizewinner in 1987.

Jon Rahm (white shirt and pink tie) sits at the head of the table, elbow to elbow with Ben Crenshaw (double champion), the first time a golfer from the controversial LIV served as host at the dinner. “We’re brothers,” said Crenshaw, host of the annual dinner.

Tom Watsonalso double champion and confirmed ‘Honorary Starter’ (he will deliver the symbolic opening of the tournament this Thursday) along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Playerhighlighted at the end of the dinner how happy he was to see “the camaraderie within our group. What a wonderful evening.”

It was Ben Crenshaw, with his Texas accent, who welcomed Rahm to the Masters Club; He then presented the Spaniard with a gold medallion with the emblem of Augusta National. Two years ago, at the 2022 Champions Dinner, Hideki Matsuyama wowed the table by delivering a speech in English, prompting Gary Player to make a toast in Japanese.

When asked earlier this week about the possibility of greeting Jon in Spanish, Crenshaw said, “I studied French in high school” (laughs). From there, stories about Seve flooded the room.

Bernhard Langer He told a story about the 1983 Ryder Cup at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, when Seve played a 3-wood from a bunker more than 200 yards from the green. “No golfer, except Ballesteros, would ever get to the green.”

Crenshaw also remembered Jack Burke, the 1956 champion, who died Jan. 19, 10 days before his 101st birthday.

Dinner with Spanish details

Thirty-three former champions attended the dinner. The only two absent are the Argentine Angel Cabrera and the scotch Sandy Lyle.

As the defending champion, Rahm chose a menu where he paid homage to his Basque roots. It started with six choices of tapas and pintxos, before offering two main dishes: Grilled Steak, with piquillo peppers, or Turbot al Pil-Pil, with white asparagus. For dessert, cream and cream millefeuille. And all this is washed down with txakoli as a white wine option and a 2017 Imperial Gran Reserva as a red wine, a Rioja with a very special value for the Barrika champion.

Augusta National honored José Andrés with a special chef’s jacket for the occasion, personalized with his name.

The oldest of all diners is Gary Player, who is believed to be 88 years old. They don’t disappear either Sergio García and Txema Olazábal, who served as the perfect companion for the master of ceremonies.

In addition to the food, which has a marked Spanish character, and especially Biscay, there is a Spanish presence in the table decorations, with the colors red and yellow present. The use of red carnations to decorate the dinner also did not go unnoticed.