7 Golfers, Reporters and Fans Who Have Reportedly Been Banned or Disinvited from the Masters
7 Golfers, Reporters and Fans Who Have Reportedly Been Banned or Disinvited from the Masters
Jordana ComiterSat, April 11, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC
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Honorary Starter Lee Elder, Wayne Gary, Masters champion Gary Player of South Africa and Masters champion Jack Nicklaus share a moment during the first tee ceremony before Round 1 of the 2021 Masters.Credit: Augusta National via Getty
The Masters Tournament has drama on and off the green.
The annual event brings some of golf's biggest fans to the Augusta National Golf Club every year to watch the pros take their shot at being named champion and earning a green jacket. Being a patron at the tournament comes with a strict set of rules, from cell phones being prohibited to a strict dress code, but they aren't the only ones who must comply with the tournament's guidelines.
In fact, after pro Jason Day made an impression at the 2024 Masters with his bold outfit choices, he was asked to make some changes when he returned one year later.
"With what we're supposed to wear, they said that's a little bit much, but that's OK," he said, per ESPN. "I think I'm on the short list of guys that have to send their scripting in now. I get it."k
While Day got to return for the 2026 Masters, which officially kicked off on April 9, there have been a slew of other incidents throughout the tournament's history that have led to golfers, reporters and fans facing the consequences, whether it be getting disinvited, penalized, or worst of all, banned from Augusta.
Here are seven golfers, reporters and fans who have reportedly been banned, disinvited or penalized at the Masters Tournament.
01 of 07
Frank Stranahan
A crowd of spectators watch as Frank Stranahan from the United States drives off the 14th tee during the 1948 British Amateur Championship golf tournament on May 28, 1948.Credit: Ron Ockinden/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty
In 1948 — 14 years after the Masters was first established — golfer Frank Stranahan was banned from the event after officials at Augusta National claimed he had misinterpreted the course's rules for hitting balls during practice, per The New York Times.
According to the outlet, Stranahan told Sports Illustrated in 1998 that he didn't feel as though fellow players supported him amid the incident, deeming that they might've been "jealous."
"They had every right to be," he continued. "My dad was bankrolling me, and I could play every week without worrying."
02 of 07
Jack Whitaker
Jack Whitaker on Sept. 12, 1978.Credit: CBS via Getty
In 1966, broadcaster Jack Whitaker was working his first Masters telecast when he referred to the crowd coming up the 18th hole as a mob, per Golf Digest.
The following year, one month before the Masters, CBS told Whitaker that he would not be working the telecast not just because of the "mob" incident, but also because he failed to inform viewers of the green jacket ceremony at the conclusion of the play.
"It looked like a mob of people scurrying toward the green, but Mr. Roberts took offense," he told the in 1979 of the co-founder of Augusta National and then-chairman, per Golf Digest. "He said the gallery at the Masters was not a mob. And that was that."
Years later, Whitaker was eventually re-invited to Augusta as a fan in 1972, despite still working for CBS. But, when the network's announcer became ill at the 16th hole, Whitaker stepped in to replace him.
03 of 07
Kenny Mayne
Kenny Mayne attends the screening of go90's 'The 5th Quarter' at UTA Theater on Nov. 1, 2016, in Los Angeles.Credit: Tasia Wells/Getty
SportsCenter anchor Kenny Mayne appeared on the Stugotz and Company podcast in February 2026 and said he was "banned for life from Augusta" for an incident that actually happened away from the Masters.
Mayne claimed he was covering the Players Championship at Sawgrass when he made some "smart ass comment" along the lines of, "We'll see you at the Masters, where we bring four saucy ladies out to play!' "
"Or, you know, just something stupid, right? But mentioning that I’m bringing women to play golf," he added. "And [Augusta National] called into the ESPN truck, like we’re still on the air, and the people in Augusta are literally … they somehow have the inside number to the truck. And they were like, 'He is not coming!' So I was never invited to go by my lords."
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04 of 07
Gary McCord
Gary McCord reacts to a missed putt during the second round of the 2005 SAS Championship on Oct. 1, 2005.Credit: Grant Halverson/Getty
In 1994, Gary McCord was fired from the CBS Masters broadcast team for comparing the smoothness of the green to a bikini wax, and also saying that some of the mounds on the course looked like "body bags."
Nearly three decades later, he opened up about the incident during an October 2024 episode of his show, Kostis & McCord, and shared the letter CBS Sport’s golf producer Frank Chirkinian showed him from Augusta at the time.
"We need to eradicate this lesion on golf. He is the Howard Stern of golf and we need to pay attention to this and what he said," the letter partly read, according to McCord.
05 of 07
Greg Norman
Greg Norman of Australia in action during the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 11, 1999, in Augusta, Ga.Credit: Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty
Although not banned, Greg Norman — the former LIV Golf CEO who was runner-up at the 1986, 1987 and 1996 Masters, per The Sydney Morning Herald — hasn't been invited to the Masters since 2023, when tensions between LIV Golf (which he was then-CEO of) and the PGA Tour were at an all time high. At the time, Masters chairman Fridley said he didn’t want Norman’s presence to pull attention away from the tournament.
"The primary issue and the driver there is that I want the focus this week to be on the Masters competition, on the great players that are participating, the greatest players in the world, which, by our decision in December, we ensured that we were going to honor and be consistent with our invitation criteria," Masters chairman Fred Ridley said of the decision in 2023, per Golf Channel. "It really was to keep the focus on the competition."
06 of 07
Clayton Baker
Clayton Baker's mugshot.Credit: Richmond County Sheriff's Office
When Augusta says you can't take souvenirs from the course, that includes sand — just ask Clayton Baker.
The golf fan was arrested in 2012 for taking sand from Augusta National Golf Course during the Masters. He later recounted the incident to NJ.com, claiming that he had attempted to get some of the sand as memorabilia, but was immediately surrounded by security guards who knocked the cup out of his hand, threw him to the ground, handcuffed him and took him to the county jail. He paid a $285 bond and was released from jail, per NJ.com.
"I did something I shouldn't have done and it cost me $20,000 and a lot of public shame," Baker told the outlet. "That seems like a lot for a handful of sand."
According to the outlet, Baker's charges were eventually dropped on the condition that he forfeit the $285 bond, but the whole ordeal cost him an estimated $20,000 between lawyer fees and a non-refundable Masters badge, per Business Insider.
The incident also had a serious toll on his mental health, as he told NJ.com that he was "seriously depressed for weeks."
07 of 07
Wayne Player
Lee Elder, Wayne Player, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus on April 8, 2021, in Augusta, Ga.Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty
Wayne Player — the son of Masters champion Gary Player — received a lifetime ban from the Masters in 2021. During the Honorary Starters ceremony in 2021, Wayne sparked criticism after holding up a box of OnCore golf balls during a photo opportunity with Lee Elder, a Black golfer who broke the tournament's color barrier in 1975.
In response, Augusta National took away his badge for the rest of the week and determined that he was no longer allowed on the premises, per Golf Digest. Wayne told the outlet in 2022 that following the incident, he called Elder and apologized.
"I've got Lee's cellphone number. I called and I said, ‘You know, Lee, I love you guys,' " Wayne said, per the outlet. "You know, everyone said I was disrespectful for a special moment in time for Elder. I said I was sorry, and I didn’t mean to take up his special time. And he said, ‘Wayne, you know how much I love you. Right?’ It didn’t cross his mind. That’s important for people to know."
However, despite apologizing to Augusta National and the Masters chairman and trying to appeal his ban, they did not change their position, per Golf Digest.
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