January 2, 2015
The first major golf championship of 2015 is just under three months away as the 2015 Masters Tournament kicks off at Augusta National Club on April 9. Held at the reputable Georgian golf course each year, the Masters traditionally hosts some of the sport’s top talent from around the world. For fans looking to attend the mid-April event this year, however, they’ll see a significant increase in price for a four-day ticket.
This year’s Master Tournament tickets have increased by 30% for the four-day ticket package on the primary market. What has been a $250 package since 2011, a four-day pass to see Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and other top-tier talent is now priced at $325. It’s not uncommon to see prices jump every two to three years, but with McIlroy currently serving as the number one player in the world and a chance to complete a career Grand Slam with a win at the Masters, wallets will be a little thinner come April as the 25-year-old Northern Ireland native looks to make history.
Secondary market ticket prices will also experience a boost for the four-day competition badge. Last year, the average secondary price for the badge was $3,748.33 and has jumped to $4,502.90 this year, marking a year-over-year increase of 20.13%. Single-day tickets will rise in average price as well, with Thursday-Sunday Masters Tournament tickets averaging at $1,129.66 per day, a 6.89% increase from last year’s single-day average of $1,056.80.
[embedit cf="HTML1"]
If McIlroy wins in Augusta he will become just the sixth golf player in history to win all four major slams. Tiger Woods was the last to accomplish the feat, who became the youngest player ever to win the prestigious title at the 2000 British Open.
Last year, Bubba Watson won the Masters Tournament and will again look to keep McIlroy at bay when they tee off in Georgia come April. Prior to his win in 2014, Bubba Watson also donned the green jacket in 2012. He’ll be met by past winners Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel and Adam Scott, who have each taken home the title of Masters champion over the last five years.
Watson will be hard-pressed at this year’s tournament, however, as his previous two Masters wins are the only two majors he has won in his entire career. Other than his win last April, he missed the half-way cut at both the U.S. Open and British Open and finished tied for 64th at the PGA Championships.
Also expected to be in the field in this year’s Masters is Tiger Woods, who missed last year’s tournament due to a back injury but has since recovered from surgery in early 2014. He has worked with coach Chris Como during his rehabilitation stage and looks to break his massive Major drought come April, in which he has failed to win since the 2008 US Open. Tiger still generates mass interest in the golf universe despite his recent shortcoming and, perhaps most importantly, continues to bring in ratings.
He’ll look to have a much stronger 2015 compared to last year’s campaign. Alongside missing the Masters and US Open due to injuries, he finished in 69th place at the British Open and missed the half-way in the PGA Championship. He failed to win a single tournament in 2014 compared to his five PGA tour wins in 2013.
2015 could mark the year that Rory McIlroy begins a new era as golf’s top talent, though he’ll be penned against some of the sport’s greatest players when he takes to the green in April. No matter where the tee lands in April, however, fans can expect to pay top dollar to watch golf’s biggest names compete in Augusta’s 2015 Masters Tournament.
