One of the bonuses of winning the Masters is the opportunity to set the menu for the Champions Dinner prior to the next year’s tournament.
The 2023 winner, Jon Rahm, already has his priorities straight. He’s been preparing for this specific meal with some ideas in mind.
“I think this is the part of the week that I’ve given the most amount of thought already,” Rahm told Golf.com.
Yes, the man who was eating a sandwich on the greens during the Masters is ready for dinner. While he doesn’t know specifics, he’s already getting the wheels turning, including who he wants to work with.
“I don’t know exactly,” Rahm said. “Chef Jose Andres is a really good friend of mine, so I’ll be working with him. I also want to talk to Ollie [Jose Maria Olazabal], because we’re from the same part of Spain, to see what he did in his dinner, see if I can go a different route.”
With the menu paying homage to the winner’s heritage, Rahm wants to pay tribute to his Spanyard background.
“I think I have one of the appetizers down — which would be ‘jamon,’ Spanish ham — the dessert, which I won’t be disclosing, and the wine. Everything in between is still up in the air. Those three things, I think I have down for now.”
The dinner is held at Augusta National Golf Club on the Tuesday night before the Masters’ Par 3 Contest. Those attending are required to wear their ceremonial Green Jacket, slacks, dress shirt, and tie. What goes into the menu selection usually reflects the winner’s taste and origin. The menu wasn’t made public until 1986.
Scheffler, last year’s winner, had a pretty delicious menu himself.
He started off with cheeseburger sliders and firecracker shrimp. For his main menu, those in attendance had a choice of Texas ribeye steak or blackened redfish. They finished up with a warm chocolate chip skillet cookie with milk and cookies ice cream for dessert.
As long as Rahm has the wine and dessert taken care of, he’s on the right track.
