The Masters TikTok Account Creates a Level of Mystique Worth ...

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The Masters is on TikTok, believe it or not. This time of year, the historic golf tournament regularly posts short clips and photo slideshows from Augusta National, despite the fact that phones are famously verboten on the course and even cameras are banned during tournament rounds.

Monday, for instance, brought a drone flyover video of Amen Corner (#birdseyeview) for more than 500,000 TikTok followers. Augusta, for reference, is reported to have only 300 members, with around 40,000 patrons showing up each day of the tournament after acquiring one of the hottest tickets in sports.  

However, the tournament’s TikTok strategy aligns with how it’s handled tech in the past—quietly using tools to share its nostalgia-fueled brand with new generations.

The club allowed TV cables to snake through the course for the sake of CBS’ advanced production, for example. It has had an official website since 1996. More recently, an IBM partnership has brought artificial intelligence tech to the tournament’s award-winning app. Augusta even hosted a video game tournament last year. Tech has always been there, if you know where to look.

The Masters has handled social media similarly—following the trends, but in its own way. The tournament has another 1.5 million followers on Instagram and more than 250,000 on YouTube. According to data from Rival IQ, over the last month the Masters garnered one million engagements on TikTok posts, more than it saw on Facebook, X and YouTube combined.

Even sports’ most traditional event can’t ignore the need to translate itself for today’s entertainment platforms, especially as golf embraces its growing cool factor. While the Masters may have nearly 100 years of experience on its Georgia neighbors, the Savannah Bananas, it’s the stunt-heavy baseball outfit that has built a TikTok audience of 8.4 million, including many newcomers to the sport. 

“In order to appease the fans and the partners, and even the players, [the Masters] has to be forward,” Lauren Teague, Fanwagn founder and former social media manager for the PGA Tour, said. “But I love what they’re doing, in that they’re giving us all of the things that make Masters week so desirable. They’re not holding back.”

The Masters has found other ways to export its old-school aesthetic, too, including offering delivery of its signature pimento cheese and egg salad. The tournament started its 88th event week by going viral with custom eclipse viewing glasses, which quickly became a collectors’ item. 

All of this expansion has come while event organizers remain typically tight-lipped, downplaying the amount of unseen, behind-the-scenes evolution that has taken place around the grounds. Still, there are a couple lessons that can be gleaned from the Masters’ digital success.

First, the tournament has proved that sports organizations can play on digital platforms without sacrificing their identity. The Masters has drawn a large audience on TikTok without participating in dance trends or conspiracy theorizing. The content is consistently highly produced and tasteful; just look at the shots of the tournament’s champions dinner setup, set to jazz tunes.

It’s also done so without alienating its longstanding audiences elsewhere, who generally seem none the wiser to the Masters’ youth outreach efforts. Tiger won’t be stopping to take a selfie on the 16th teebox. Event leaders clearly recognize that hordes of golf fans will generate the meme-worthy content so the tournament itself doesn’t have to.

To facilitate that process though, the Masters publishes countless clips, which is critical given that even media members are prevented from recording while watching the tournament. The controlled output helps those chosen videos spread further online, and even lets the fans who were there in person relive their favorite moments.

“Running the Masters account is akin to running an account for the President of the United States,” Teague said. “You don’t have to try to break the internet because it’s already breaking your way.”

Second, the Masters has focused on building a year-round editorial calendar and thus becoming an ever-present brand outside of four days in April. Its socials do get quieter in the offseason, though a recent job posting thrice emphasized the desire for more constant contact with fans. As TV habits wither, out of sight now equals out of mind more than ever. Exclusive as the club may be, its social handles frequently interact with commenters, proving that they’re interested in building fan relationships. A Masters 101 TikTok playlist speaks specifically to those less familiar with the event’s unique customs. 

“What they do is really a masterclass at taking advantage of the light that they have two weeks a year,” Teague said. “No one else really gets this concentrated view and frankly, nobody else executes it as well as the Masters.”

Augusta’s spring bloom will end. The birds will stop chirping. But the ongoing, all-out race for audience attention in an age of algorithms shows no signs of slowing down. And the Masters has set itself apart, without ever having to run.

That would be against the rules, after all.