Masters Becomes More Private

One of the toughest tickets in sports just got a little tougher. The Masters, which has allowed public sale of tickets for the practice rounds, will discontinue that policy next year. Instead, only those who have previously attended a practice round will be eligible to buy a ticket.

It was estimated that upward of 50,000 were on the course Tuesday. Public sale of tickets for the tournament rounds was discontinued in 1967. It’s estimated that Augusta National limits those sales to about 30,000.

Tournament officials have always refused to disclose the number of tickets sold. When asked why, Jack Stephens, tournament chairman, said: “Cliff Roberts, one of our co-founders, thought that was a good idea, and I’m too scared to change it.”