What did Jon Rahm serve at the 2024 Masters Champions dinner? Exploring the LIV golfer's menu

The Masters' Champions Dinner is a tradition unlike any other. It is a gathering of past winners to honor the reigning champion. On April 9, 2024, all eyes were on Jon Rahm at Augusta National, when he served a Spanish-inspired feast that honored his Basque roots. The menu, created with noted chef José Andrés, included tapas, traditional Basque food, and a dish from Rahm’s grandmother, which was a nice addition that made the evening even better.

“I just hope everyone enjoys it,” Rahm said at the event press conference before the 2024 Masters Champions Dinner. “If somebody doesn’t like it, please just don’t tell me.”

Rahm’s menu was a gastronomic tour of northern Spain, rich in flavors and heavy with cultural meaning. The evening started with a mix of tapas and pintxos, including:

• Acorn-fed Iberian ham
• Cured pork loin
• Idiazabal cheese with black truffle
• Spicy Basque chorizo with potato
• Creamy chicken fritters with confit potatoes
• Spanish omelet with confit potatoes
• Mama Rahm’s Classic Lentil Stew

For the first course, Rahm served a Basque crab-and-potato salad, a delicate dish that reflects the coastal influences of the region.

The main course offered two options:

• Basque Ribeye (Chuleton a la Parrilla) paired with Tudela lettuce and Piquillo peppers (a steak of the Basque country, where the locals like their steak cooked as little as possible)
• Turbot (Rodaballo al Pil-Pil) (a white flatfish with Navarra white asparagus, the apotheosis of Spain’s seafood skills)

Dessert was a puff pastry cake filled with custard and Chantilly cream, known as Milhojas de Crema y Nata, a sweet and creamy ending to the evening.

In addition to the culinary excellence, Rahm’s status as a LIV Golf member injected an interesting subplot into the evening. Since he jumped late in 2023 from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, Ram has been at the center of golf’s never-ending schism. Yet for one night, all differences were put aside. He mentioned to the press.

“We’re a fraternity,” said Ben Crenshaw, who emceed the dinner. “It couldn’t have been more congenial.” [as reported by Golf Week]

While LIV Golf and PGA Tour players have had a tense relationship, the dinner remained a celebration of champions, not a battleground for rival tours. Legends of the game like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, and Jose María Olazábal were all in the same room, reveling in the tradition that has long been the hallmark of the Masters.

Jon Rahm, who sat at the head of the table alongside Crenshaw, admitted to feeling nervous about his speech but ultimately focused on making the night special. He discussed this with the media during a press conference before the event.

“It is quite daunting to think about the room you're going to be in and having to stand up and talk to that group of players,” Rahm was quoted as saying by Golf Week. “It’s basically all the living legends in this game, active and non-active.”

A night of remembrance and unity

The night also honored Seve Ballesteros, the legendary Spanish golfer, and two-time Masters championship winner, on what would have been his 67th birthday. Notably, Seve passed away on May 7, 2011, at the age of 54. In the best spirit of the European tour, the room was filled with stories of Seve’s greatness, including a favorite one of Bernhard Langer’s that told of Ballesteros’ 3-wood wonder shot at the 1983 Ryder Cup.

The dinner was an unusual moment when golf’s biggest names set aside their differences to celebrate the sport and its traditions. Even Tom Watson, one of golf’s most revered voices, got up at the end of the night and saluted the comradeship among the champions.

When Rahm stepped out of the dinner, he not only left with the honor of being a host but also with a gold locket bearing the emblem of the Masters Club, a tradition that new champions receive.