‘Welcome to the Masters’ moment: 2025 players share when it sank in at Augusta

“I think it’s pretty cool doing a press conference,” Tai said. “You don’t really do that in college golf very often.”

Tai recognized there were other — and likely much more exciting — events in his near future. The Georgia Tech junior will revel in several events honoring amateur golfers throughout Masters week.

“The amateur dinner tonight I think will be something that all of us are looking forward to,” Tai said. “Obviously there’s five of us here, and I think we’re all staying in the Crow’s Nest, as well. It’ll be a really fun Monday night.

“Definitely a little bit better than being in class today.”

Tai spoke to reporters alongside Justin Hastings, who qualified as the reigning Latin America Amateur Champion. A self-described “Masters nut” as a kid, Hastings admitted to faking sickness on Thursdays to dodge middle school and watch the first day of the tournament.

“I don’t know if everything has even hit me yet,” Hastings said. “It’s totally surreal, and I don’t think I’ll be able to put it into words now, and I don’t know if I ever will be.”

Hastings’ “Welcome to the Masters” moment was more predictable than Tai’s, as walking among golf’s finest on a Monday afternoon would surely leave an impression on anyone.

“Just being in the presence of the best players in the world, the guys you grow up watching on TV and idolizing is — I think that’s super cool,” Hastings said. “You turn a corner and you see the No. 1 player in the world in your face, it’s like, wow. That’s kind of when little things like that hit you.”

Thomas Detry is no amateur, but he will make his Masters debut Thursday. The 32-year-old isn’t new to the course, though, as he used to visit Augusta National regularly when he was at the University of Illinois.

The grandeur of the Masters certainly adds to the tournament experience, but Detry was simply amazed by the course’s beauty in his first visit.

“I think one of the incredible memories is when you arrive here for the first time and seeing the wide-open space and seeing the golf course that you watched on TV so many years as a kid,” Detry said. “What I thought was incredible was the slopes you don’t see on TV, but especially when you come here the first time you get to appreciate it even more.”

That moment of true realization seems to come at a different time for everyone.

Rory McIlroy talked about feelings he experienced before even getting out of the car at his first Masters in 2009. McIlroy’s mindset going into his first tournament feels more childlike than the kind of narratives he faces 16 years later.

“I was just happy to be driving down Magnolia Lane,” McIlroy said. “There was no thought of whether this was going to be good for me or bad for me. It was just an absolute thrill of a lifetime to drive down that lane at whatever it was, 19 years old, and be playing in my first Masters.”

That first-timer feeling is one of the few experiences that players and patrons can have in a similar way. It’s part of what creates the charm of the Masters exceeding the sky-high expectations set by its world-renowned reputation.