What does the most exclusive dinner in sports look like? How about wagyu filet mignon, a $50,000-plus wine tab and sticky toffee pudding so good that a legendary golfer couldn’t stop eating it?
Welcome to the Masters Champions Dinner — and Rory McIlroy just threw one for the ages.
Every year, the reigning Masters champion picks the menu, hosts the dinner and foots the bill for every previous winner. The event takes place on the Tuesday of Masters week at Augusta National, one of the most exclusive venues on the planet.
This year, it was McIlroy’s turn after becoming the sixth golfer in history to win all four major championships at last year’s Masters Tournament. And the Northern Irish golfer didn’t hold back.
“I was trying to achieve something that I would enjoy — and ties back to experiences that I’ve had — but also wanted it to be something that all the other people in that room would enjoy as well,” McIlroy said of the meal on Tuesday.
And when people asked why he didn’t lean into his Irish roots for the menu? McIlroy had a ready answer.
“People keep asking me, ‘Why didn’t you go more Irish?’ And I said, ‘Because I want to enjoy the dinner as well,’” he joked.
What Was on Rory McIlroy’s Masters Dinner Menu?
Here’s what McIlroy served to a room full of golf legends, according to the Masters:
- Appetizers: Peach and ricotta flatbread, rock shrimp tempura, bacon-wrapped dates and grilled elk sliders
- First course: Yellowfin tuna carpaccio with foie gras, toasted baguette and chives
- Main course: Choice of wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon with traditional Irish champ, sautéed brussels sprouts, glazed carrots with brown butter and crispy vidalia onion rings
- Dessert: Sticky toffee pudding
Pretty incredible spread. But the real headline? The wine.
McIlroy hand-picked four wines for the evening: 2015 Salon S Brut Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, 2022 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet, 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild and 1989 Château d’Yquem.
Each bottle had a personal connection. The Domaine was the first white wine McIlroy ever liked. The 1990 Château was what he drank the night he won the Masters for the first time in 2025. The 1989 Château is a nod to his birth year.
According to the Golf Channel, the wine bill alone cost more than $50,000. It is rumored to be the priciest Masters Champions Dinner ever.
Former champ Ian Woosnam was clearly impressed.
“The wine was excellent,” Woosnam said. “Had a lovely flavor to it, lovely body to it, complemented the food brilliantly.”
Rory McIlroy’s Dinner Receives Praise From Past Champs
The Golf Channel spoke with several past champions after the event, and the verdict was unanimous — McIlroy nailed it.
Masters chairman Fred Ridley summed it up perfectly: “I should say that, like his golf game, Rory’s menu and wine selection were world-class.”
Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, was equally enthusiastic.
“The food was incredible. It’s one of the best dinners that we’ve had on the meal. His choices were fantastic. And there were some great stories told,” Spieth told Mirror.
As for Spieth’s favorite dish: “The steak was awesome. The Wagyu filet, I mean, it was very good.”
Woosnam appreciated the steak as well — even if it wasn’t quite his usual portion. “The filet, it was a nice, little filet mignon,” Woosnam said. “I haven’t had one like that. Usually, I have a bit bigger one.”
Mark O’Meara, who won the Masters in 1998 and was paired with McIlroy when he won his first pro title at the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic, described the dessert as “off the charts.”
And then there’s Gary Player. The three-time Masters winner simply could not resist the sticky toffee pudding. “I ate three-quarters of it,” Player said. “That’s my weakness is I like sugar, and I’ve got to try and stop.”
Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler — who beat McIlroy by three strokes to win the 2022 Masters before winning a second Masters in 2024 — missed out on the appetizers, which left him “bummed,” according to the Golf Channel. Elk sliders wait for no one, Scottie.
Rory McIlroy Shifts His Focus to Thursday’s Tee Time
Despite the lavish evening, McIlroy sounded genuinely moved by the experience.
“I said it in the room last night, but all of us in that room were the envy of the sports world last night,” McIlroy said, per the Golf Channel.
“Everyone else would love to be in that room, and I certainly don’t ever want to take it for granted. I tried to treat it as if it was the only time I would host a dinner. Hopefully, it’s not,” he added.
The 2026 Masters Tournament tees off on Thursday, April 9 and concludes on Sunday, April 12.
