Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne Is Always the Most Interesting Person in the Room
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016
Some months ago my boss (or one of them) assigned me an interesting story for this issue: Jeff Knox, the amateur golfer and Augusta National member who often plays as a marker on Masters weekends. He has given interviews after some of his rounds, and my best guess was that if Knox wanted to do the story -- and if Billy Payne, the club's chairman since 2006, gave his approval -- it would happen. I wrote to Knox, and he referred my query to a media official at the club, who responded thusly:
"Mr. Knox fields many requests such as yours on an annual basis. He sends them my way because he respects the tradition of Mr. Payne being the sole voice of the Club. As you may know, our members do not give interviews on matters relative to the Club and Masters."
