If a first-time winner is crowned on Sunday at the Masters, they're going to slip on the green jacket for the first time in Butler Cabin with Augusta National chairman Billy Payne and CBS' Jim Nantz. Then the winner gets the green jacket slipped on again by the defending champion in a ceremony on the practice putting green after the TV broadcast.
You've got to be wondering how Augusta National manages to find jackets for the new winners so quickly. And, while they do, it's not quite as precise as you might expect.
New champions aren't immediately fitted for a green jacket, and the club doesn't have an infinite stock of the jackets lying around to cover every possible winner's jacket size. Rather, Augusta National tries to make do with the green jackets they have on the property, giving the winner an approximation to slip on in the green jacket ceremonies.
Eventually, Augusta National asks the Cincinnati company that makes the green jackets -- at a cost of about $250 -- to create a custom-fit jacket for the winner. Meanwhile, the reigning champion gets to enjoy their jacket for a year anywhere they go. However, once that year is finished, the winner must bring the jacket back to Augusta National to keep it there until they might win it again. If they win another Masters, their jacket is simply slipped back on them in the presentation ceremonies.
The green jacket concept debuted in 1937, four years after Augusta National opened. The idea was to give members something that made them easily identifiable to tournament patrons who might have questions. Then, when Sam Snead won in 1949, he was awarded the first winner's green jacket.
