Green jacket mystique endures as Masters looms

AUGUSTA (AFP) — The Masters green jacket, the symbol of supremacy at Augusta National, is among the most coveted items of clothing in sport — and one of the hardest to obtain.

Rory McIlroy became the most recent recipient of the iconic blazer last year when he ended a 10-year major drought with a career-defining victory at Augusta National in a sudden-death playoff.

Unless he successfully defends his title, McIlroy will return next Sunday to take part in one of golf's most closely observed rituals: helping slip the jacket onto the shoulders of the new champion.

For McIlroy, the past year has underscored both the rarity of the garment and the responsibility that comes with it.

"The overwhelming feeling of having this jacket for a year is just how honored and grateful I am I was able to do it, and how grateful I am I've had so much great support along the way," McIlroy said.

"As time goes on, it becomes normal and it has been normal for me to go into my closet and see the green jacket hanging there. Hopefully it's not the last time I get to bring (it) off property."

McIlroy has worn the green jacket to India and Australia as well as his homeland of Northern Ireland among other global stops.

Only the reigning champion is allowed to take his green jacket off the club property, and then only until he returns to defend it the following year.

An exception to the rule was Gary Player, who took his first jacket home to South Africa but didn't bring it back.

Player recalled telling then-Masters chairman Clifford Roberts, "Why don't you come and fetch it? He did see the funny side of it. He said to me, 'Don't ever wear it in public.'"

Tom Watson won in 1977 and was presented an oversized 44 long-sized jacket.

"It came down below my fingertips," Watson said. "Did I care? Not in the least. I'd wear a tent, as long as it's the green jacket."

Players are asked their jacket sizes each year now when they register at Augusta National.

Jack Nicklaus wore a loaned 46 long after the first of his record six Masters wins, then a right-sized loaner for his other triumphs.

He told then-chairman Jack Stevens in 1998 that he didn't have his own jacket and soon received a note saying, "You will go to the pro shop and you will be fit for your green jacket."

Billy Casper, the 1970 Masters winner, and Gay Brewer, the 1967 champion, were both buried wearing their green jackets.

Sam Snead, the 1949 winner, was the first champion to receive a green jacket and one was then presented to all prior winners retroactively.

When Nicklaus won the Masters for the second year in a row, he put the green jacket on himself.

When Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods won back-to-back Masters titles, the current Masters chairman helped the winner into his jacket.

By 1937, Augusta National club members wore the green jackets so patrons with questions knew who could help them.

According to the Masters website, the jacket is a classic three-button, notch lapel design with a single vent in the color Masters Green. The cloth is a tropical wool, and they are manufactured in the United States.

Each jacket features gold buttons embossed with the Augusta National logo and an embroidered patch with the club logo on the left breast pocket.

American Zach Johnson, the 2007 winner, called donning the green jacket "the highest privilege in golf" and wore his at the Empire State Building, using a garbage bag to cover it.

"We don't have a garment bag," wife Kim Johnson said. "We didn't plan on winning the Masters."