Golf

Masters digest: Jon Rahm sticks to best of Basque fare for champions dinner

Spanish star justly proud of the culinary delights of his native region

Jon Rahm and his wife Kelley Cahill following his victory in last year's US Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

Philip Reid
Tue Apr 9 2024 - 06:00

We’re still waiting for Irish stew or colcannon to find a way onto the traditional pre-tournament Champion’s Dinner menu at the Masters, although whoever does manage to get the chance – with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry tasked with that aim this time around – will find it tough to match the fare offered by Jon Rahm.

Last year’s champion has stuck to his Basque background with six options for tapas and pintxos for starting snacks – including Ibericos (cured pork loin), Idiazabal con trufa Negra (Idiazabal cheese, black truffles) and Chistorra con Patata (spicy Basque chorizo and potato) getting the juices flowing while the salad course is a Basque crab salad.

The main course offers servings of Chuleton a la Parrilla (seared Basque ribeye) or Rodaballo al Pil-Pil (turbot with white asparagus). And Tiger Woods, nor anyone else, need not bother asking for the beef to be well done.

As Rahm put it, “Most people in northern Spain go about as much as medium rare. If you go past that, you’re going to get a weird look because that’s how we are, very proud people of what we do, and meat is usually of a high quality”.

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And, for dessert, Rahm has opted for a miniature form of the wedding cake at his marriage to Kelley, a puff pastry cake with custard and cream known as Milhojas de Crema y Nata.

“It’s one of my favourites,” said Rahm, a man known for doubling up on his steaks at dinner time.

Augusta prepares patrons for solar eclipse

Clearly the street seller with piles of special sunglasses strapped over each arm hadn’t got the memo that patrons to Augusta National for the first official practice day would be handed complimentary eye protection to view the solar eclipse, with the next one in the USA not scheduled until 2044.

While his foresight was to be admired, he was not doing the business he’d envisaged – ironically, close to a sign advertising mystic readings offered by Angel – as word had obviously reached those headed into the club grounds.

A t-shirt seller waits for customers in Niagara Falls, New York. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the "path of totality" in order to experience a total solar eclipse. Photograph: Adam Gray/Getty Images

The solar spectacles were made of green paper with a Masters logo on each side, which will likely make for quite the keepsake for those who received them.

In a statement issued by Augusta National ahead of the solar eclipse, patrons were warned: “During the eclipse, please do not look at the sun without appropriate solar glasses. We ask that you exercise caution and be aware of your surroundings while wearing the glasses.”

The club also warned its practice round patrons to not point cameras at the sun.

“Optics can magnify the intensity of sunlight, and this can cause damage to your equipment,” added the statement. Although mobile phones are not permitted, cameras are allowed during the practice days but prohibited on tournament days.

Masters Record Fountain moved

A Patron takes a photo of the Record Fountain near No. 17 green during practice for the 2011 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (Photo by Rob Brown/Augusta National/Getty Images)

The moving of the Masters Record Fountain from its former location close by the 17th green to a place close to the driving range and the main entrance represented more than just a physical relocation.

As part of a push towards greater conservation and biodiversity needs, the stone fountain – which has the name of every Masters champion engraved on a plaque along with all of the course records set, from Ed Dudley’s 69 in 1934 to Greg Norman’s 63 in 1996 – now also provides the function of being a water-filling station for patrons at the tournament who can refill their own water bottles rather than purchasing plastic bottles.

The fountain was built in 1959 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the inaugural tournament where it was placed to the left of the 17th green. The move since last year’s tournament to its new location means that more people will have access to its additional function of providing free water to the crowds.

Aside from greener considerations, Augusta National is moving with the times as a cashless payment system is in operation across all the facilities with credit/debit cards the only accepted way of buying purchases at concession stands and merchandise shops.

One thing has not changed, though. Mobile phones – as well as laptops, bleepers and tablets and any device capable of transmitting photo/video – remain banned on all days of tournament week, both practice and tournament days.

By the Numbers: 89

Akshay Bhatia: won the Valero Texas Open following a playoff to become the final member of the field to qualify for the US Masters at Augusta. Photograph: Raj Mehta/Getty Images

There was a wonderful symmetry about the number of players set to play in this 88th edition of the Masters tournament . . . until Akshay Bhatia gatecrashed his way into the field to be the 89th player in the field. Bhatia’s win in the Valero Texas Open earned him the last available exemption, a decade after playing in the Drive, Chip & Putt: “It’s absolutely crazy. It was on my mind all week, but I tried to stick to my game plan. And I have bigger goals than just playing the Masters, I have more goals that I want to achieve.”

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times

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