Augusta & # 39; s Green Coats: For Winners, Members (and Buyers) Only

Court records show that the case ended in a settlement where Augusta took possession of the coat with a transfer in New York City on Halloween in 2013.

Augusta turned to similar aggressive tactics later in the decade when it sued Green Jacket Auctions in Federal District Court for its plans to sell three blazers. (The club also objected to an auction that would "release its own silverware to the trade".)

That case was also settled on undisclosed terms. Green Jacket Auctions, now known as Golden Age Golf Auctions, cited "certain relationships and arrangements we have made" when it declined to comment on this article.

However, at times, Augusta National effectively agreed to the jackets that did not stay behind its gates, especially if a blazer was owned by a former Masters winner.

Player, a three-time champion, this year remembered running to the airport with the jacket after he won his 1961 win. After his second place finish the following year and with his blazer not returning, Clifford called Roberts , Augusta National & # 39; s co-founder and former president, to ask about the jacket and finally to tell Player it was supposed to be back at the club.

"With a tongue in the cheek, I suggested that if he wanted it back, he should personally come and get it in South Africa," Player said in an email. "We had a good relationship, and he just laughed and asked me not to wear it in public, which I never did."

But, he admitted, "I did have several dinners at my place. Wear it with great pride."

Seve Ballesteros, who won in 1980, forgot his back to the United States from his home in Spain. Ballesteros died in 2011, and his children consider their father's coat there a permanent fixture.