As the 2025 Masters gets underway at the famous August National Golf Club, competitors and other attendees at the first major of the year will be expected to abide by the clubs notoriously strict rules.
The Masters has been held at Augusta since 1934 and more than a few controversial moments have occurred in its nine decades.
Augusta's rules cover obvious standards like not sneaking under security ropes to scoop bunker sand into a beer cup as well as some very particular expectations around mobile phone use around the Georgia club, the course, and its grounds.
Several golfers have found themselves on the wrong side of Augusta's army of security personnel and vigilant green-jacketed members but upsetting them once and then going back years later to do it again is a special kind of provocation.
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Provocation, of course, is a strong suit of 49-year-old English golfer Ian Poulter.
His friend and one-time practice partner Graeme McDowell recalled the pair getting a flea in the ear during one Augusta warm-up round.
"I remember one of my first Masters I was with Ian Poulter and we were posting a few pictures on Twitter and stuff, and someone came out and told us to cease and desist,” said the former US Open champion.
"Mobile phones are not permitted at all for spectators on entry to Augusta National or for the media outside their designated building," reported The Guardian.
"Coaches are allowed them under strict guidance, which pertains largely to the capture or filming of swing work during practice sessions on long- or short-game ranges."
Poulter threw in his lot with LIV Golf, the breakaway tour backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), in 2022.
But the larger-than-life Englishman caused a stir at Augusta again last year. Invited to play at the club in the spring by an unnamed member, Poulter posted an incriminating selfie from the course.
Amid speculation that he might take part in the 2024 Masters after playing a full round the week before it began, Poulter clarified his position in typically forthright fashion.
"For clarity I will not be playing The Masters this year," he confirmed a year ago.
"I was invited to play by a member and it was in incredible condition. I last played the tournament in 2021. And that will be my last competitive Masters."
Topics: Golf
Chris Nee