Jim Nantz said, “The Masters is more than a golf tournament. It’s a tradition, a rite of spring, and a reunion.” I hate starting a piece with a quote like some 5th-grader in a first five-paragraph essay, but now I’ve done it and here we are.

As you may have heard, pro golf’s “rite of spring” begins this week — so let’s talk about Bobby Jones’ Augusta National Invitation Tournament for a minute.

The success of the Masters Tournament — its popularity, its primacy among the majors — is down to what? Iconic moments? Incredible competition? Fully-cooked fields? Sure. But the same is true for the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and even the PGA Championship — and all three tournaments are older and have had more of the stuff! Also, the Masters has, objectively, the smallest, weakest field of the majors.

Now, perhaps it’s a contrarian spirit or some sort of relativism, but I’ve actually heard folks attempt to rebut the claim that the Masters sits alone on the throne. OK. While it may not be your favorite major, it is the favorite major, broadly. This is reality. My heart is not made of Pimento cheese. My brain is not egg salad (well, maybe it is). I am not some badge-hatted Masters stan. I’m a mere messenger of an obvious truth.

While I suppose there could be other metrics of an event’s popularity, the much-discussed TV viewership would seem to be the most informative. Let us consider, then, the ratings.

The data is even more lopsided in years Tiger Woods contended or won — none more so than 1997 when 20.3 million tuned in for Woods’ iconic win (a number that was only sniffed once, 2001) since — but let’s take a look at some slices of major championship viewership over the past decade.

2024 major viewership (final round average)

• Masters: 9.59 million
• PGA Championship: 4.9 million
• U.S. Open: 5.9 million
• The Open Championship: 3.39 million

(Via Sports Media Watch)

As a follow-up, for fun, let’s pick a random form of media consumption from the buffet: Instagram. The Masters’ official Instagram account has more followers than the other three majors combined.

• Masters: 1.9 million
• PGA Championship: 396K
• U.S. Open: 402K
• Open Championship: 724K

So, we’ve established the green jacket covers all media. Why is this? Well, in a word, everything.

Everything Augusta National as a whole does, and everything that the competition committee does in conducting the tournament, is aimed at the singular goal of presenting the premier professional golf tournament.

The power of the product

Every single thing — every detail — is considered and focused on during the tournament. Stories of this are legion. You’ve heard them — icing the azaleas, the sub-air system, dedicated sandwich wrapper picker-uppers…

Not only is it important that the tournament is the best this year, but next year, and the year after that, etc, as well. This is only possible with a judicious approach to continuous improvement in every facet of the Masters experience. Consider the aforementioned social media. Augusta National was anything but an early adopter of the ‘gram, but when they eventually jumped in, they did it in a considered fashion — and now they kill it in the space. Ditto pretty much every other element of the tournament and its presentation. While specific course changes are discussed, debated, and even occasionally decried, the Masters has basically maintained the same scoring average for decades, which aids in the production of a predictably excellent product.

Just as important as changes and improvements is what doesn’t change. In fact, you likely associate ANGC more with not changing, which is a testament to how good the club is at keeping the core elements — scoreboards, green jackets, the clubhouse, caddie bibs, hole locations, etc. — the same and changing nothing just for the sake of change.

Now, it’s one thing to have this ambition (another thing to do it), but the relentless focus on selling it as such is a not insignificant piece of the equation — and we can trace this all the way back to the Immortal Bobby and Clifford Roberts who were the ultimate spokesmen for the tournament, figuring out early the importance of branding, converting media members to advocates, providing a top-notch player experience, etc. Selling the tournament was not akin to selling sand in the desert, to be sure, but its prophets were (and are) many.

And, of course, the course

Returning annually to the predictably Edenic venue of Augusta National doesn’t hurt either, does it? Players, patrons (“patrons” not “fans” is something in itself, isn’t it?), and viewers expect to see the Elysian Fields — are told the azaleas will be in bloom — and they do! The 12th is the 12th. The 16th is the 16th. The wonders of Fruitland Nurseries abound. Every April. Spring is springing. It’s the first major on the calendar. How can these facts alone not set the golf heart aflutter?

Compare this to the other championships, which are held at a formal or informal rota of courses in various weather conditions (worse on the whole than those at Augusta), coming later in the year when the picture of the year’s major winners has been partially painted. There’s no Masters without Augusta National (both the course and the club, really). The much-revised Alister MacKenzie track, in its totality, trumps other venues.

So, with the Masters’ arrival, the power of the product (and the organizers’ component approach to it), its public presentation, and the importance of Augusta National itself are the elements that bubble to the top of the water hazard of my mind. What else contributes to the Masters’ undefeated status in your mind, WRXers?