Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler Highlight a Lesser-Known Masters Tradition at Augusta

Mar 30, 2026, 4:30 PM CUT

The Masters Champions Dinner has no seating chart, but when you spend enough time in that room, you quickly figure out how it works.

Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth both pulled back the curtain on the dinner's unwritten seating code this week, and the short version is that one section of the room stays untouched. That part of the room is understood to be theirs. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus sit there, and no one needs to be told to stay clear.

"I'm definitely not going to sit in the area where Tiger and Jack sit," Scheffler said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Spieth, who has had a seat at the dinner since winning Augusta in 2015, didn’t see it any differently.

He said there’s a certain section on the far side from where they sit that players avoid, because it belongs to Jack and Tiger. "And that's where Arnie was."

Scheffler also admitted that seating navigation came with complications at his first dinner. He wanted to sit next to Zach Johnson but wasn’t going to Spieth for help.

"I definitely wasn't going to ask Jordan for that," Scheffler said. He added that Spieth would have messed with him.

Scheffler and Spieth Both Admit the Champions Dinner Takes Getting Used To

First-timers in that room carry a different kind of nerves than anything Augusta's back nine produces.

Scheffler hosted in 2023 after winning the year prior and said walking in, the only thing he knew was where his seat was.

He admitted the nerves of speaking in that room were so great that he still does not remember what he said.

Spieth was 22 when he first sat in that room after his 2015 victory. He’s been back every year since, but that first night still hasn’t stuck with him. Whatever he said to that room is long gone.

Even now, he remembers more about the feeling than the words. Standing up in front of that group, trying to figure out what to say in the moment was enough to rattle him.

This year, both players will sit at McIlroy's table. The menu includes wagyu filet mignon, seared salmon, bacon-wrapped dates, and sticky toffee pudding.

Unlike the Masters, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and PGA Championship don’t bring past winners back into the same room each year. The Champions Dinner isn’t just a meal, it’s a space where history and hierarchy are already understood.

What do you make of the Champions Dinner seating tradition? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav