Menu for Rory McIlroy’s exclusive Masters Champions Dinner has its appeal

Tommy Aaron served beef medallions at the Masters Champions Dinner in 1974. Larry Mize went with a basic steak and baked potato when he hosted the Masters Club event in 1988.

Rory McIlroy has a different plan. The reigning Masters champion recently announced the menu for Tuesday’s dinner. It’s a pretty straightforward menu you could probably make at home — if you own something other than a microwave or an air fryer.

“If you’re just an average home cook, it’s going to be a little challenging, at least from my perspective,” said East Cobb native Eric DaRin, the executive chef at Atlanta Athletic Club. “A lot would depend on how much you buy premade and how much you’re actually making from scratch.”

McIlroy’s menu starts with four appetizers: peach and ricotta flatbread with balsamic and hot honey basic, rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce, bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese and almonds, and grilled elk sliders with caramelized onion jam and roasted garlic aioli.

The first course is yellowfin tuna carpaccio with foie gras, and the main course is a choice of wagyu filet or seared salmon with Brussels sprouts, glazed carrots and Vidalia onion rings.

Dessert is sticky toffee pudding, a traditional English treat.

Outside sources estimate the meal would cost as much as $325 per person. DaRin said a similar meal served at the club would be about $75-$95.

“I’m really looking forward to this one,” Mize said. “I know it’s going to be really good. You get the sliders and the shrimp and, next thing you know, I’ve got to quit getting those appetizers because I’m not going to want any dinner.”

The Champions Dinner began in 1952 when defending champ Ben Hogan organized one for previous winners. It is considered the most exclusive dinner in the world, with only former Masters champions and the current president of Augusta National invited.

The champion selects the menu and hosts the evening’s event. Attendees can order something else from the club, if they prefer.

Aaron said he might have been the first to alter the menu, which had always been steak and potato.

“I called the club manager, and he said (the champion) doesn’t go to the trouble to pick a menu,” said Aaron, who requested steak tenderloin and a crabmeat salad. “And after dinner that night a couple of past winners said, ‘I’m glad we had something besides a steak and baked potato.’”

Aaron and Mize, the only Masters champions born in Georgia, both gave high marks to the meal served by Vijay Singh in 2001. Singh brought in Nan Niyomkul, the chef and owner of Nan Fine Dining in Atlanta, and served a meal heavy on Thai cuisine.

“Vijay served the Thai food and the sea bass,” Mize recalled. “Everything was excellent.”

Both agreed there was something special about every meal — from Nick Faldo’s shepherd’s pie to Tiger Woods’ hamburger sliders to Phil Mickelson’s paella to Jon Rahm’s cured pork loin.

Aaron, who at 89 is the second-oldest champion at the dinner (Gary Player is 90) said a rare time he went off the menu was in 1989 when Sandy Lyle was the host. The Scotsman served haggis, a traditional meal of sheep’s heart, liver and lungs with potatoes and mush that is cooked and served in the sheep’s stomach.

“When it came out, they put it on a silver tray and they played the bagpipes. I mean, it’s a big deal when they serve it,” Aaron said. “Then somebody rips it open with a dagger and they serve it. I’m sitting by Fuzzy (Zoeller) and I said, ‘Fuzzy, are you going to eat that?’ He said, ‘Hell, yeah, we’re going to try some.’ And I tasted it, but I couldn’t handle it. That was the only one of the Champions Dinners that I couldn’t eat.”