MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2021

Fred S. Ridley

Press Conference

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Good morning, everyone. My name is Fred Ridley, and I serve as Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. For the second time in five months, it is my privilege to welcome you to Augusta National.

I thank you for your interest in the Masters, as well as our amateur events which took place last weekend. In the short time since we were last here, we have remained focused on our commitment to making meaningful impact on the local Augusta community. In November, Augusta National and our partners at AT&T, Bank of America and IBM donated $10 million to support the redevelopment and advancement of the Harrisburg and Laney Walker neighborhoods.

Yesterday, we celebrated one of the first milestones in this long-term commitment at the groundbreaking and construction for the HUB Community Center and the new local Boys & Girls Club headquarters. These facilities will unlock wonderful opportunities for the residents they serve, including in education, health care and much more. We look forward to sharing additional details as these projects move forward.

Also on the community front, we have continued our efforts to assist Augusta in facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. These endeavors have included donating use of the property owned by the Club on Washington Road to serve as an in-kind donation and as an Augusta University Healthcare vaccination center.

In addition to this donation, we contributed $2 million jointly with the Community Foundation to support this vaccination center as well as local pop-up clinics and mobile vaccination units in underserved communities.

As of this past Monday, AU Health and East Central Georgia Department of Health have administered over 20,000 vaccinations. Their critical work carries on today, and we at Augusta National are grateful for the ongoing efforts of our local medical community and all health care providers who are working around the clock to vaccinate and protect the public.

Our efforts, along with the sports community at large, has shown that we all have a role to play in overcoming this pandemic. In addition to providing vaccination sites and embracing other opportunities to support the medical community, these efforts have extended to the successful staging of sporting events despite the challenges of the pandemic.

Sports brings communities together, and I commend the leadership of this important segment of our society who have contributed to this effort.

As it relates to our events at Augusta National this week, we hoped it would be possible to welcome back all of our Patrons in 2021. Based on current conditions, however, we concluded the right course of action was to limit patrons this week, and we have done that with appropriate health and safety protocols in place.

We are optimistic that conditions will continue to improve, and we look forward next year to the full return of the signature roars that have been a part of Masters history.

Last weekend, we resumed two important annual traditions leading into the Masters: the Augusta National Women's Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. We were excited to provide these special opportunities for the players who have waited and worked so hard for this moment.

I want to congratulate Tsubasa Kajitani on her 2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur title and all the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals champions and finalists. I have no doubt we will be seeing much more of these aspiring golfers in the future of the game.

Turning now our attention to this week's Tournament, the 85th Masters features a field of 88 players from 23 countries, three of whom are amateurs and six first-time participants. Our defending champion and World No. 1, Dustin Johnson, returns after his record-setting victory in November, and I can personally attest that Dustin is in great form, having played with him here just last month. I'm sure Dustin will be highly motivated to win back-to-back titles for the first time since Tiger Woods accomplished that feat almost 20 years ago.

On the subject of our five-time champion, like all of you, I was deeply saddened when I learned of Tiger's tragic car accident in February. Tiger Woods is one of the greatest competitors in the history of all sports, and he is and forever will be a part of the fabric of Augusta National and the Masters Tournament. Our thoughts are with Tiger and his family and loved ones with whom he shares such a close bond. He is greatly missed this week, and we continue to hope and pray for his recovery.

To those of you here today in person, I hope you have been able to walk the course to see that, once again, Augusta National's golf course and nursery teams have outperformed themselves. This talented and dedicated group of people face the unprecedented test of having only 20 weeks from Sunday of the 2020 Masters to prepare our course and grounds to the standard the world has come to expect. The turf condition is excellent. The course is playing firm and fast, and the azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom. In short, we are ready to go.

The topic of the golf course, understandably, leads to a discussion of distance and its impact on golf. In early February, our sport's governing bodies announced two areas for research as well as three proposed changes to current equipment standards. Now a conversation will begin to determine the best path forward.

As I have stated in the past each year, we look at every hole of our golf course. Fortunately, we do have the ability to make any number of changes to protect the integrity of the course. At the same time, we hope there will not come a day when the Masters or any golf championship will have to be played at 8,000 yards to achieve that objective.

This is an important crossroads; so we will continue to urge the governing bodies and all

interested parties to put forward thoughtful solutions as soon as possible.

In 2019, we announced plans for a new state-of-the-art complex designed to serve as the nerve center of our broadcast and digital coverage. I am pleased to share that the first phase of our new Content Center on the north side of Washington Road is completed and operational this week, right on schedule. This year our domestic broadcast partners, CBS and ESPN, are operating from this location, with all international broadcasters and the Masters Digital team joining them in 2022. We believe this Content Center will be a catalyst of further innovation in our efforts to bring the Masters to the world.

As in November, this week's broadcast will feature sweeping drone views and aerial views of the golf course. In addition, we have added a second fly cam at the 12th tee which will provide a unique perspective of Amen Corner.

As a complement to our television broadcast, we will again be featuring My Group on masters.com and on the Masters app. As you know, My Group allows fans worldwide to watch every shot on every hole from their favorite players. The My Group feature also will be integrated into our new Masters fantasy game, which also will be on masters.com and the Masters app. Fans can now create their own fantasy team and compete against family and friends. These digital offerings are another example of providing content to our fans in a way they would like to view it.

Before we leave the subject of Masters content, I want to share our reentry into the video game space as we have again partnered with EA SPORTS in their return to the golf world. With Road to the Masters, you'll see on the screens to your left and right will show the video game's cover and illustrate the prominent role the Masters Tournament and Augusta National will play within the game. We believe the attention to detail surrounding the course and our traditions will be world class and will provide new and current fans around the globe with a fun and interactive way to look at Augusta National.

The Road to the Masters is scheduled for release ahead of the Tournament next year. All proceeds to Augusta National will be contributed to the Masters Tournament Foundation and our work to grow the game both here in the US and around the world.

As we prepare for the opening round tomorrow morning, we look forward to the historic occasion that we announced in November. Lee Elder, the first Black man to compete in the Masters, will join our great champions Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus for tomorrow's Honorary start to the Tournament.

This week marks 60 years since Gary became the first international Masters Champion. It also is the 35th anniversary of Jack's record sixth green jacket. And tomorrow morning we also will reflect on the moment at Augusta National in 1975 when Lee Elder bravely broke barriers as his name was announced on the first tee. And I cannot wait to have the honor of introducing Lee and celebrating his inspiring legacy with our patrons and viewers worldwide.

Before I close, I want to speak about an issue that presently is of great public interest: The recently enacted Georgia voting law. I believe, as does everyone in our organization, that the right to vote is fundamental in our democratic society. No one should be disadvantaged in exercising that right, and it is critical that all citizens have confidence in the electoral process. This is fundamental to who we are as a people.

We realize that views and opinions on this law differ, and there have been calls for boycotts and other punitive measures. Unfortunately, those actions often impose the greatest burdens on the most vulnerable in our society. And in this case, that includes our friends and neighbors here in Augusta who are the very focus of the positive difference we are trying to make.

Yesterday's groundbreaking for the community center was a joyous occasion. It reminded us that our mission to serve Augusta and its citizens is where we can and will make the greatest impact.

I want to thank you again for being here. Tom, I'm ready to take a few questions.

Q. I wanted to talk to you more about the vaccination site you set up with Augusta University. It has, as you referenced, made an incredible impact on this community and its ability to distribute the vaccine, and so thank you for doing that. My question is how did that concept come about, and have other cities, possibly states, reached out to you all to try to implement a similar model?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Thank you for those comments. We've had a long history of working with the community of Augusta, and that includes Augusta University and in this case AU Health.

I would have to say that all the credit on this should go to AU Health because they have done an unbelievable job in this community of vaccinating our citizens.

We were very interested and, quite frankly, interested about the opportunity to have a part in this initiative here in Augusta. As you know, we do own quite a bit of property on Washington Road and elsewhere, and we felt that the shopping center, the former Stein Mart shopping center, was an excellent place to stand up this vaccination center. So it was a joint effort, as many things we do.

As far as other communities, I think that we weren't unique in this effort. There have been a number of institutions and organizations that have contributed in a similar manner that we have, and I think the sports community is a great example. I know the NFL has used their stadiums in a number of cities as vaccination centers, and they have worked really, really well.

It's just an effort of people working together. It's been good here in Augusta. We have had great success. Obviously could always do better, but we have just been honored to be a part of this joint effort.

Q. The Distance Insight Report was met with some blow-back from PGA TOUR players. I'm curious if the USGA or The R&A decide not to make any changes that you mentioned so it doesn't have to be 8,000 yards, could you see the Club deviating from those rules and coming up with its own regulations to protect the golf course?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: I know there's been some talk in the past of possibly a Masters golf ball or something like that. I would think that would be highly unlikely and would, in my view, be an absolute last resort.

We have had a long-standing position of supporting the governing bodies. I was very encouraged when I saw the areas of interest that were published by the USGA and R&A recently. I know there have been varying opinions among players and others, other stakeholders in golf, and that's really how the process should work.

I would add that as far as I understand what is being studied, that part of the study would be -- would not be intended to make it more difficult or to impose regulations that would make it more difficult for higher handicappers to play.

We are concerned about that issue. Growth of the game is a big issue. But our position would be to support the governing bodies, and then if there is no action taken, for whatever reason, then we need to look at other options with regard to our golf course and what we can do to continue to challenge these great golfers and maintain the design integrity that was initially adopted by Mr. Jones and Mr. MacKenzie.

Q. You noted early on about the limited patrons this year. Just wondering if you can say to what maybe percentage are you at that you would be normally, can you give an idea, and how did you decide who got to come? And then if I could follow that, please.

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Sure. I wouldn't speak to percentages. It clearly is a limited number, as everyone can observe just by watching what's going on out there.

We really sort of came -- are backed into a number or a percentage based on advice we were getting from medical experts and other healthcare authorities, and the key was that, you know, how many people could we have on the grounds and still safely conduct the Tournament.

We have a number of protocols in place, as you know. We call it a Swiss cheese approach. It's a layered approach. We are still requiring that people wear masks. Clearly being outdoors is great, but we still feel that's something we should do. When it's practical, we are certainly expecting people to social distance. We have signage and other communication, managed capacity in various venues.

When you take all those together, we felt really good about the numbers that we have here.

Q. It appears that you are not allowing people to put their chairs out and leave them, which has been a tradition. Is that a one-year thing due to the COVID situation, or will that be an ongoing policy?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: No, that's strictly in response to the health issues that we perceive and we believe are valid. That is a great tradition, and we would expect that would return in 2022.

One thing I want to answer, I don't think I answered the second part of your question, and that is that every traditional group of credential holders, whether it be daily ticket holders, badge holders, Berckmans Place holders, all were represented in the tickets that were distributed this year. And we also were very pleased to be able to provide local healthcare workers, quite a few local healthcare workers, with credentials to watch the Tournament.

Q. Following up on the Georgia voting law, just to be clear, are you for the law or against the law? And if you are against it, what does the Club, with its considerable power, plan to do about it? Thank you.

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Christine, I don't think that my opinion on this legislation should shape the discussion. As I stated in my previous comments, I believe and I am confident that every member of this Club believes that voting is an essential fundamental right in our society and that -- as I stated, that anything that disadvantages anyone to vote is wrong and should be addressed.

I'm not going to speak to the specifics of the law, but I do know that the best way for -- I think there's a resolution, and I think that resolution is going to be based on people working together and talking and having constructive dialogue because that's the way our democratic society works.

And while I know you would like to -- for us to make a proclamation on this. I just don't think that is going to be helpful to ultimately reaching a resolution.

And so we would like to encourage people to talk, to communicate, to let the democratic process work. And hopefully, these fundamentals that I've stated are so important to us and I think everyone in this room, can be achieved.

Q. As you've had time to reflect on November and what you've learned the last six or eight months, what have you learned about the Club or yourself that you can apply going forward?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Well, I think, first, I guess I would say that just for the Masters to be able to be played in November was really a coming together of what we refer to sometimes as the golf ecosystem, and that is there was a lot of give and take, a lot of compromise.

There were tournaments like ours that had to move their dates, obviously; there were other tournaments that were cancelled and weren't rescheduled. It was a situation where everyone -- or no one had an outcome that was ideal, but everyone worked together to make the best of it.

And so with that in mind, our focus was really maybe two- or threefold. One is to take a position with regard to conducting the Tournament that would keep everybody as safe as possible, and in November we made a decision that that meant no patrons. But notwithstanding the fact there weren't any patrons, there are hundreds and thousands of people it takes to put on the Tournament, whether anybody is on the grounds or not to watch it.

So that was really our focus of keeping all those other people safe.

I think the other thing was to present a golf course that was one that we would be proud of for these great players to compete on. As you know, we are a winter golf course, winter Club with a grow-in process during the fall. So we do everything with regard to conditioning the course to have the best possible golf course in April, not in November.

So our grounds crew did an amazing job, led by Brad Owen, in getting the golf course in excellent condition, and really changed our mowing practices some, mowed more frequently, mowed at lower cuts, which caused, frankly, a lot of stress on the golf course. And it's amazing that we were able to get to November and have a course in as good shape as it was for that time of year and then recover to where I think the course is in the best condition I've ever seen it in the 20 years that I've been a member here.

Q. With regard to the course, which you just referred to a little bit, obviously there was only so much you could do last year in November, softer and whatnot. There's been a lot of talk amongst the players about how fast it is right now, and even Phil Mickelson yesterday spoke to us about how the defense is the greens here and they have not been respected for quite a long time now; that they are among the softer on the Tour. Where do you feel they stand right now, and did 20-under bother you guys at all in November, and where do you want that number to be ideally?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Dustin Johnson's play was spectacular, and he was the champion that week. We don't have any prescribed score. The fact that Dustin was 20-under was a combination of his extraordinary play that at the same time, admittedly, the golf course was soft. We had a lot of rain leading up to the Tournament, and I think the time of year combined with the wet conditions produced an extraordinarily soft golf course.

So it was ready to be played very well with a lot of red numbers. But that really had nothing to do with the way the golf course is playing right now. We have had ideal weather. We had a cool January, we had a little more rain than normal in February, but all of those conditions have normalized, and you've seen the weather the last few days. It's been terrific.

This is probably the first year in the last -- probably going back to -- what year did Adam Scott win? 2013, I think -- when we actually came into the week with the golf course playing firm and fast, as it is right now. Our intention would be to maintain that throughout the week. In the past, we might have started out a little soft and then got firmer as the week went on and vice versa, and last year we were pretty soft all week.

I think we have the golf course where we want it. It's playing, as I said in my comments, firm and fast, and not only the greens but the fairways. The ball really is rolling. You know, Bobby Jones said often he wanted to create an inland links course when he built Augusta National. So when you think about that, we certainly don't look like a links course because we have a lot of trees, but we can have the characteristics of a links course by having the ground play a big part in how the course is played, and that's what we are trying to do.

Q. It's hard to imagine any sporting event that is more associated with food than this one. Last year you may remember Dustin was asked for his favorite tradition and he mentioned the sandwiches. This year you have introduced the new sandwich. A couple food questions. Do you have a favorite food item on the menu here?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Do I have a favorite food item? Well, I like them all, but I try to stay away. We have all these sandwiches that you have on the golf course down in the Tournament meeting room, and I used to wander down there frequently; I try to stay away.

That's one of the great traditions of the Masters Tournament is the pimento cheese and barbecue sandwich and egg salad sandwiches, and we try to provide those at a reasonable price. I think that maybe just sort of adds to the feeling for those. It's a great part of the Tournament. I like them all.

Q. You have hosted and attended many Amateur Dinners and Champions Dinners, and for those of us who have not been there, most of us or all of us, can you give us a sense or is there one story that illustrates what those dinners are all about?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: I have been to quite a few more Amateur Dinners than I have Champions Dinners. I have probably been to 40 Amateur Dinners. I have a picture in my office of the first one I ever attended and in the background if you look very closely sort of between two other heads was Clifford Roberts. That was his last year as Chairman. So that certainly is a memory that I'll always cherish.

But the Amateur Dinners are special. You know, every year we have either a past champion or a player who had played as an amateur come and give what we call a pep talk, talk about his experience playing the Tournament. I think all the amateurs enjoy that.

This year it's going to be a little different because we only have three amateurs, based on the fact that three of our criteria were champions that didn't place last year. As relates to the Champions Dinner, I said last night, and I really believe this, that there is no tradition at Augusta National that's any more important than the Champions Dinner. What really struck me was the affection and the respect that each one of those gentlemen have for this place, and how proud they are to wear the Green Jacket.

And also the camaraderie and the affection among themselves. It's a group like none other, and Dustin Johnson was great last night. I mean, he is so happy and so proud to be a part of the Masters Club, and we had a great turnout last night. We had 31 past champions, several that were not here in November. It was just a really great celebration and one that I was very honored to be a part of as a guest.

Q. In the context of the discussion of diversity and inclusion, there's a history here of Latin American and Spanish champions. There's more and more Latinas and Latinos taking on the game, young kids, and there's a lot of Hispanics in the backstage in the golf industry. I was curious, what is Augusta's vision about Hispanics both in the U.S. and in the region, not only in the Americas?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Thank you, that's a very important subject.

We have had – some of the most exciting and historical moments that the Masters have been provided by Hispanic golfers. Of course, starting with Seve and now with Sergio and in between José Maria and really some great Masters moments. As you know, we, along with the USGA and The R&A, are very involved in golf in Latin America with our Latin America Amateur Championship. We now have had six of those and look forward to resuming that championship in January.

We think that as was the case in Asia, that we are seeing almost a predictable progression as we did in Asia of the quality of those players and more of those players. We've seen Sebastián Muñoz, and Joaquin Niemann, who won in Chile, who has done great on the Tour, are both here this week.

On the competitive side, we are seeing a lot of progress. You referenced the golf business, and I think I would really commend the PGA of America and the many, many initiatives that they have undertaken with regard to Hispanic and Latin golfers. I saw a list of those recently. It was very impressive, and I would be happy to find it and provide it to you, but I was really heartened to see how they have really undertaken that segment of our society, and I think they are making a lot of progress. So I would really commend them for what they are doing.

Q. I'm curious now that you've had two Augusta National Women's Amateurs to look at, if you've seen anything in these two installments that maybe will lead you to try to make some changes to tweak or improve it or the familiarity some of the women can have with the golf course in the future?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Yeah, I think that's a good question. We would certainly like to be able to provide more opportunities for them to become familiar with the golf course. The only time that it's practical to have a championship of that magnitude is right up against the Masters. We've been asked in the past about an LPGA event; that's a great idea but it would be very difficult to do that.

So we felt that having an amateur championship just preceding the Masters was our best opportunity to do that, and to do something for women's golf. I think part of what you saw on Saturday was what the players are commenting about right now, and that is the firm and fast greens. I don't think in 2019 that it was quite as big of an issue. I acknowledge what you're saying, and I wish that there were more opportunities, but I guess I would just say that one round here in the Masters changed my life, so hopefully that experience despite some of the challenges is one they are going to always remember and will take with them. But we were just happy to have them.

Q. As much as the surrounds of this Tournament has just grown so much over the years, can you see a day where you provide any type of housing for the players?

CHAIRMAN FRED S. RIDLEY: Housing for the players? I mean, that's an issue, certainly, that we think about, and we have addressed in some respect with respect to our volunteer staff. You know, I think that would be -- never take anything off the table, but I guess my question would be, you know, whether or not there's really demand for it. I mean, Dustin was telling me about the 16-bedroom house that he rented last year when he was here in November; so we might have a hard time duplicating that.

And I think most of these players travel with a contingency that's fairly significant of trainers and nutritionists and all kinds of people that help them with their games, and so that might be an issue, as well.

But I mean, we try to get better every year, and we don't really take anything off the table but that's not one that I've given a lot of thought to.