Major champion 'removed from Masters venue' for breaking strict policy

A former winner of The Open Championship was removed from Augusta National by security ahead of The Masters, it has been reported.

The Masters has been held at Augusta every year since its opening edition back in 1934.

It has a number of strict rules in place for patrons, including no running, no shouting out after a player has played their shot, and no autographs while players are on the course.

Those rules are even in place for current and former players - as happened to one ex-major champion on Tuesday.

That's according to Golfweek's Adam Schupak, who reports that 1989 Open winner Mark Calcavecchia was escorted from the grounds of Augusta National by security on Tuesday.

He is said to have breached the club's no-phone policy by using his cell phone while at the course.

Mark Calcavecchia pictured in 2023 (Image: Getty)

A partnership between The Masters and AT&T allows patrons to use a phone to make calls, from a bank of phones provided.

However, cell phones and other electronic devices are strictly banned 'to maintain a traditional atmosphere'.

Calcavecchia did not deny the circumstances behind his removal, telling Golfweek: "I've got nothing negative to say about Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters, so I think we should literally hang up right now."

SPORTbible have contacted Augusta National Golf Club for further comment.

Calcavecchia, 65, won 13 titles on the PGA Tour during his career.

The American's greatest success came at the aforementioned Open in 1989, where he defeated Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a play-off hole at Royal Troon Golf Club, Scotland.

A year earlier, Calcavecchia had finished as runner-up by one shot to Sandy Lyle at The Masters.

The pair were level as Lyle approached the 18th and final hole, before the Scotsman sensationally recovered from finding the fairway bunker with his first shot to secure birdie and win his maiden Masters.

Now 68, Lyle continued to play at The Masters for many years as a former champion, with his most recent appearance coming in 2023.

Recalling his memories of the 1988 near-miss, Calcavecchia told Fairways of Life in 2024: "The conditions were pretty tough that year. We were shooting pretty low.

"I was trying to get another birdie, but I figured as long as I kept making pars, I'd be in pretty good shape. It's kind of what happened in the last four or five holes.

"I don't think about Sandy Lyle too often. But every April I do, I can tell you that! It would have been great to have a green jacket hanging in my closet.

"But he hit one of the greatest shots out of that fairway bunker in Masters, or any major history, really. To make the putt on top of it was something else."