AUGUSTA, Ga. _ Like Amen Corner, blooming azaleas and $1.50 sandwiches, the Masters is associated with the novelty of a ban on cellphones. Spectators risk lifetime banishment if they take one onto the grounds of Augusta National.
So it came as a surprise Thursday morning when Jack Nicklaus, after hitting his ceremonial tee shot, predicted the club would "probably change that shortly, I would think. Maybe I'm speaking out of turn, but the cellphone has become fairly common with every tournament.
"It's something that's so much of everyday life, people have learned how to respect it and use it properly. ... A cellphone, you used to take a picture and it made a click, right? Doesn't make any noise anymore."
The Masters is the only major that bans mobile devices. The PGA Tour relaxed its rules _ from allowing them for practice rounds to tournament rounds _ late in 2017.
There have been few, if any, publicized incidents of phone use distracting players. But still many spectators don't seem to mind being cut off from the outside world while they're at Augusta National because it lends itself to more conversation in the gallery.
Most players applaud the ban, especially those subjected to having nearly every shot dissected by fans taking video.
Rory McIlroy recalled telling caddie Harry Diamond during a practice round this week: "How good is it that people aren't looking at their phones?"
Said McIlroy: "Yes, there are people with (digital) cameras, but they don't constantly have their face in the device. It's refreshing. ... I'm reading a book called 'Digital Minimalism' by Cal Newport that goes into ... obviously there are so many wonderful things about them, but only if used in the right way. I think it's cool to see that Augusta has upheld that tradition. I think it's a great thing."
Phil Mickelson also predicted that Augusta National will alter its policy, saying: "I think it's really been a good thing for the (PGA) Tour and I think at some point, the knowledge base of the fans here will be such where they will be able to have their phones on silent and it won't affect play at all."
In explaining the ban in 2017, then-Chairman Billy Payne said: "The noise is an irritation to not only the players _ the dialing, the conversation. It's a distraction and that's the way we've chosen to deal with it."
He added: "You'll have to ask the next chairman. That's not going to change while I'm chairman."
Chairman Fred Ridley, who took over in 2018, said Wednesday he envisions no change to the rule: "That's something that does set us apart. I think our patrons appreciate our cellphone policy. I know that we have become an outlier, if not the only outlier in golf. But I think it's part of the ambiance of the Masters. I read Rory's interview, and he made some very insightful comments about that. He said it was really nice to be out there on the golf course and not seeing everyone looking down at their hand with their cellphone.
"I don't believe that's a policy that anyone should expect is going to change in the near future, if ever. I can't speak for future chairmen, but speaking for myself, I think we got that right."
