Rory McIlroy completed his career grand slam when he conquered Augusta for his first green jacket in 2025. On Tuesday, April 7, the reigning Masters Tournament champion hosts the 2026 Masters Champions Dinner and he’s added some “wild” dishes and an extravagant wine selection to the menu.
McIlroy became one of six players to complete the career grand slam at the 2025 Masters, defeating Justin Rose in a dramatic playoff. The previous grand slam was achieved by five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods in 2000.
For more than 70 years, Masters winners have gathered at the Augusta National clubhouse for the Masters dinner, the event hosted and menu chosen by the defending champion.
“It’s from the heart, personal experience and nostalgia, I guess,” McIlroy said. “Can’t wait to host the dinner on Tuesday night, and then obviously be a part of that tradition for many, many years tocome. So excited for that.”
Here’s what to know about Rory McIlroy’s 2026 Masters Champions Dinner menu:
What is the Masters Champions Dinner?
The Masters Champions Dinner started in 1952, after Ben Hogan, who’d won the 1951 tournament, invited then-Augusta National Chairman Clifford Roberts to a dinner for previous winners.
Roberts accepted and the first Champions Dinner, also known as Masters Club, was held Friday, April 4, 1952, at Augusta National’s clubhouse.
Nine Masters champions attended: Horton Smith, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, Jimmy Demaret, Craig Wood, Claude Harmon, Sam Snead and Hogan.
Since then, on Tuesdays during Masters week, the defending champion selects the menu and hosts the dinner for winners and the club chairman.
The defending champ also receives an inscribed gold locket in the form of the Augusta National Golf Club emblem.
“It’s a pendant that is supposed to go to your wife,” Ben Crenshaw told Golf.com. “It’s a beautiful gold locket that opens up three ways and you open it up and it has a silhouette of the Augusta National clubhouse … Bobby Jones. … It’s just a beautiful piece of art.”
Does the Masters champion pay for dinner?
Yes. The defending Masters champion serves as host and pays for the dinner.
Why didn’t Tiger Woods go to the Masters Champions Dinner in 2025?
Tiger Woods ruptured his left Achilles tendon in March 2025.
By the time April and the Masters Tournament rolled around, the 15-time major winner still couldn’t put weight on his foot and wasn’t able to climb the Augusta National clubhouse stairs to attend the Masters Champions Dinner.
“We were putting our jackets away and the guys said that Tiger still can’t put weight on his foot,” 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody told Golfweek in 2025. “They said his weight tolerance just isn’t there to climb up those stairs.”
What did Scottie Scheffler have on Masters dinner menu in 2025?
Here’s what Scottie Scheffler served at the Tuesday, April 8, 2025, Masters Champions Dinner:
Appetizers
First course
Main course
Wood-fired Cowboy ribeye steak
Blackened redfish
Dessert
Most exotic Masters dinner menus
In the 1980s, Masters champions began selecting the menu to more closely suit their taste, according to previous reports from the Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network.
For example, Tiger Woods, who was just 21 years old when he won his first green jacket, offered cheeseburgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, french fries and milkshakes at the 1999 dinner.
Other menus have been a bit more exotic:
Sandy Lyle Masters dinner menu 1989
Mike Weir Masters dinner menu 2004
Charl Schwartzel Masters dinner menu 2012
Rory McIlroy Masters Champions Dinner 2026 menu
2025 Masters champion Rory McIlroy will serve as host for the 2026 Masters Champions Dinner on Tuesday of Masters week.
Here is McIlroy’s Masters dinner menu:
Appetizers:
“In the buildup to the Masters last year, I was eating a lot of elk. I got this big shipment of elk, and I was eating a lot of that,” McIlroy said. “And I didn’t want elk to be the main course because I didn’t know if everyone would like that. So I incorporated that into the appetizers. So I’m doing grilled elk sliders which I think is fun.”
First Course
“Erica and I, our favorite restaurant, or one of our favorite right now is in New York. It’s called Le Bernardin. Eric Ripert is the chef there, and this is a dish from that restaurant,” McIlroy said.
“So that’s a fun one that the club worked with me on as well. They went up to the restaurant and worked with the chefs … they obviously wanted to get it right for the night, so that’s really cool.”
Main Course
“When I was a kid used to eat champ by the bowlful,” McIlroy said. “So trying to tie in a little bit of my upbringing there.”
Dessert
McIlroy selects pricey wines from Augusta National wine cellar for 2026 Masters dinner
“I wanted to be really intentional with the wines, McIlroy said. “It’s something that I’m really into and passionate about and started to collect wine, probably over the past decade, I would say, at this point. So you know, to work with the sommeliers at the club and be able to choose these wines was a lot of fun.”
McIlroy selected four pricey wines from the Augusta National wine cellar:
Contributing: Todd Kelly, Adam Schupak, Golfweek
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Masters Champions Dinner: Rory McIlroy’s menu, wine list in Augusta
Reporting by Kim Luciani, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
