1998 Masters champion Mark O’Meara attended Augusta National for the last time in 2018, but every year he still receives one of the most coveted invitations in golf: a seat at the annual Tuesday night Masters Club dinner, often known as the Champions Dinner.
The first championship dinner was held in 1952 by Ben Hogan, who won his first Masters in 1951. By tradition, the Masters champion of the previous year chose the menu. Recent menus include some memorable options, and champions often choose traditional dishes from their home country or state to commemorate their legacy. This year, Scottie Scheffler pays homage to Texas-style chili peppers. In 2023, he served on Texas Rib Steak.
In this week’s episode of Subpar, O’Meara recalls her own champion dinner menu – chicken and steak fajitas, sushi and tuna sashimi and reveals which dinners are the most memorable, the best and the worst.
“Mine is not very good, to be fair, really isn’t,” Omela told Subpar hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “I’m a little disappointed.”
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As for the worst supper, Omela said he wasn’t there, but heard it was Sandy Lyle’s Haggis – a traditional Scottish dish made from the heart, lungs and liver of sheep and combined with oatmeal, onions and spices. The mixture is then cooked in the sheep’s stomach. Lyle chose to serve Haggis main course in 1989.
“I’m not there yet because I haven’t won yet, but I heard…Sandy Lyle, yes,” O’Meara said. “I don’t have to go to that dinner because I haven’t won the Masters yet, but I think that might be the case and that might go down because…if you’ve never had Haggis in your life, you certainly want to make sure you have a lot of hot sauce.”
As for the best dinner, Omela says he likes the recent products.
“I think Scotty’s dinner was great, and Ficca Mountain’s dinner was excellent,” Omela said. “Tiger, after he had an incredible run in 2019 and won the championship, he served chicken and steak the following year.
“So, I’m going to say, I saw Scottie’s menu this year. It’s very similar to what he got there two years ago,” continued O’Meara. “Jon Rahm’s meal was really good, but Scottie’s meals certainly put Scottie’s restaurant on the top of the list.”
More information about O’Meara, including memories of his ’98 victory and other insights into the Augustan Nationals – check out the full episode below.
