Masters offers a locker room unlike any other

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Rory McIlroy went upstairs in the Augusta National clubhouse the night he won the Masters, eager to see the small locker room only for Masters champions. He returned last month to find another locker room not nearly as exclusive but no less impressive. "They've created this unbelievable new Player Services Building, and that's where the main locker room is going to be," McIlroy said. "I think the champions will still use the Champions Locker Room. But that new building is IN-CREDIBLE." He paused to smile before adding, "Take my word for it." Augusta National revealed some photos Friday on social media of the Player Services Building, created to make the players' experience unlike any other. Typical of most new structures at Augusta National, the three-story building located just behind the hitting area of the practice range is tucked among trees and looks like it has been there all along. Players drive down Magnolia Lane, veer to the right and find a circle drive to either valet courtesy cars or go down a ramp, through a tunnel under Magnolia Lane and into an underground garage. The walls on the corridor leading from the garage have Alister MacKenzie's cross section architecture of every hole at Augusta National. For being the youngest of the four majors, the Masters' history is a rich as any. The new locker room that caught McIlroy's attention is on the ground floor, but players can be excused for taking their time when they first arrive. The short hallway has framed letters from Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to the club thanking them for their week. Woods' letter is from 1997, after his record-smashing win. The lounge just before the locker room is a tribute to co-founder Bobby Jones, and Augusta National managed to get all four of his trophies from his "impregnable quadrilateral" — Grand Slam — in 1930 when he won the British Amateur, British Open, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur. Those are on loan from the Atlanta Athletic Club, to be returned the week after the Masters. The old locker room, located in the clubhouse and down from the grill room, was small but adequate. The new one is enormous with 100 lockers (the Masters has had fewer than 100 players every year since 1967) with great attention to detail — a safe in each locker, a shelf to charge phones, even the gold-plated "map-and-flag" emblem of the Masters on the handle of each locker. Name plates already are up in a random order, not alphabetical. McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Dustin Johnson have lockers, presumably out of convenience for when they go downstairs to use the fitness center and recovery room. The six amateurs in the field have lockers next to Masters champions. That wasn't a coincidence. A sitting area in the middle is framed by two tables. One was made from magnolia wood of a felled tree on Magnolia Lane during Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and holds a large bowl made from the same wood. The other has Masters stationery, perhaps if players get inspired from the letters they read on the way in. As players leave for the range or the course, there are photos of winning moments from the last five Masters, ending with McIlroy on his his knees after his playoff win. The club also has installed a camera at the end of the hallway for television purposes, similar to players leaving the locker room on their way to center court during Grand Slam tennis events. More history can be found even in the bathroom. The club is hanging framed letters from over the years, one of them from co-founder Clifford Roberts in 1960 informing players the traditional golf clinic on Wednesday will be replaced by a Par 3 Tournament. Downstairs is the state-of-the-art fitness center, with a massive area in the middle for stretching, cables and weights along the perimeter and a concrete wall at which to throw medicine balls. This will be good news for McIlroy. When fitness first became more common, the Masters created a makeshift area in the cart barn. McIlroy heaved a medicine ball at — and through — the wall, leaving a gaping hole. "We felt the walls and I was like, 'Yeah, this feels pretty sturdy,'" he said. Oops. The recovery room has three cold plunges and one hot tub, a sauna room and 16 tables for the physical therapists. Leaving the fitness area takes players down another history-filled hallway filled with just over 1,400 name plates for every player to have competed in the Masters. Convenience, luxury and a great view awaits on the top floor. That's the Magnolia Dining Room with seating for about 150 people and a terrace overlooking the practice grounds for about 150 more. There's a menu and a buffet, a bar and ample televisions. About the only thing lacking is a reason to leave. The Players Services Building isn't for everyone, only players and their immediate families, coaches and caddies, trainers and other members of the support team — but no public, no press, no agents. It's a haven, pampering at its finest, which is what the Masters has strived to deliver all these years while never failing to look to improve. "This improvement," Masters chairman Fred Ridley said last April, "will offer the competitors in the Masters facilities from arrival until departure unlike anything in sports." ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf