For a newly minted Masters champion, navigating the seating arrangements at the legendary Champions Dinner can evoke an anxiety similar to that felt by many at a Thanksgiving gathering. Unlike a formal event, there are no assigned seats or place cards; instead, an assembly of golf legends and multiple major titleholders glance up from their drinks and bread rolls, conveying with their gaze, “Are you seriously planning to sit *here*, rookie?”
“It’s not assigned seating, but a lot people sit in the same chairs,” Adam Scott, the 2013 winner, noted in 2023. “I like that, to be perfectly honest. I like the fact that you kind of feel like that’s your spot.”
Indeed, that sense of ownership comes only once you’ve *secured* your place.
The inaugural year poses no challenge, as the reigning champion and host automatically takes the head of the table, flanked by the dinner’s traditional emcee, two-time champion Ben Crenshaw, and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley. The second year, however, presents a more intricate situation. Scott skillfully handled his sophomore appearance by swiftly claiming an unoccupied seat beside his long-time junior-golf companion, Trevor Immelman, in a section of the table often occupied by Nick Faldo.
Other players have naturally gravitated into their own consistent groups: Zach Johnson often sits alongside Jordan Spieth, with Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, and veteran players like Larry Mize and Bernhard Langer nearby. Three iconic figures — Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Tom Watson — consistently prefer seats just to the left of the head of the table. The late Fuzzy Zoeller was known to favor the furthest end of the table, reminiscent of the back of a school bus. This pattern of habitual seating establishes what might be called comfort zones.
While Scottie Scheffler’s dominance in golf might make it seem like he’s been accumulating green jackets for ages, his first Champions Dinner attendance was actually in 2023. “It’s your first time in that room, you don’t really know what to expect,” Scheffler remarked on a Wednesday from Bay Hill. “The only thing I really knew is where I was going to sit. That’s basically the only thing I knew, sitting next to Mr. Crenshaw and the chairman.”
Scheffler shared that he arrived early and managed to “sneak” his wife, Meredith, into the room for a quick look at the dinner setup she had helped coordinate (which included menu items like cheeseburger sliders and tortilla soup).
A year later, at the dinner hosted by 2023 victor Jon Rahm, Scheffler felt less certain about his seating choices. “There’s a little protocol,” he mentioned regarding customary seating, and more importantly, where not to sit. “I’m definitely not going to go sit in the area where Tiger and Jack sit. Like, there’s kind of spots where you kind of feel you’ll naturally flow into.”
Sitting with his Texas friend Spieth might have seemed like a logical choice for Scheffler, but he knew better than to attempt it, quipping with a laugh, “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.” Instead, Scheffler approached Zach Johnson and inquired, “Hey, where are you sitting this year?” Johnson kindly shared his spot and welcomed him to join.