The Masters theme song is iconic. Just hearing those few keys on the piano, golf fans can tell what the song is and that it signifies the Tradition Unlike Any Other is here.
However, there's more to the Masters theme song than just a dulcet piano. The song has a name, a writer and lyrics.
Songwriter Dave Loggins wrote the tune, simply called "Augusta," in 1981 after visiting Augusta National, the home of the Masters, for that April's tournament. Loggins says the lyrics came to him on the par-4 14th hole. Later, in a meeting with legendary CBS Sports golf producer Frank Chirkinian, Loggins piqued Chirkinian's interest in a potential Masters theme song.
The song debuted during the 1982 Masters and has been a part of the telecast ever since. However, it has been changed by Loggins over the years to include lines about Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
We've heard the song less in recent years, with a newer theme that is more upbeat and is used more frequently. That song doesn't have lyrics.
The Masters theme song lyrics
"Augusta" by Dave Loggins
Well, it's springtime in the valley
On Magnolia Lane
It's the Augusta National
And the Master of the game
Who'll wear that green coat
On Sunday afternoon
Who'll walk that eighteenth fairway
Singin' this tune
Oh, Augusta
Your dogwoods and pines
They play on my mind like a song
Oh, Augusta
It's you that I love
It's you that I miss when I'm gone
Well, it's Watson and Byron Nelson
And Demaret, and Player, and Snead
And it's Amen's Corner
It's Hogan's perfect swing
It's Sarazen's double eagle
At the fifteenth In Thirty-Five
And the spirit of Clifford Roberts
That keeps it alive
Oh, Augusta
Your dogwoods and pines
They play on my mind like a song
Oh, Augusta
It's you that I love
It's you that I miss when I'm gone
It's the legions of Arnie's Army
And the Golden Bear's throne
The wooden-shafted legend of Bobby Jones