Tranlate this title Rafa Nadal arrives at the Masters in Augusta in spanish

It was a marriage destined to last. Rafa Nadal arrived for the first time at the Masters, the tournament that brings the Manacor legend the most pleasure after tennis. His guide was none other than Ana Patricia Botín, president of Banco Santander and the only person in Spain to own a green jacket, the garment that distinguishes members of Augusta National. It wasn’t her first time at the property. She had already had the opportunity to visit, and play, there in 2015.

Rafael Nadal, golf

They traveled together to the exclusive club in Georgia (USA), an excursion that makes Nadal the second member of tennis’s Big Three to experience the Masters after Roger Federer, who attended the event a year ago. Djokovic is still missing, but he also has a great passion for golf and surely won’t die without following in their footsteps. Once on the course, Nadal demonstrated impeccable taste. He divided his time between Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm, and greeted Sergio García… These last two were obligatory stops. He’s known them for a long time. He sent the Basque golfer a «very emotional» message after his victory in 2023. Years ago, they played a round together in Palm Springs, when the Lion of Barrika was still a student at Arizona State.

Nadal’s relationship with golf goes back a long way and is very close. It was already his escape while he was playing, and since his retirement, he has only strengthened that bond. He recently had a fitting at the RFEG headquarters. He even has his own tour, Spin&Swing, organized by the Rafa Nadal Foundation, which was recently launched and has a charitable focus. He has admitted on more than one occasion that he looks up to Tiger Woods, and he himself has been mentioned by more than one golfer when asked about their sources of inspiration.

As every year, Augusta is a hive of activity, teeming with prominent figures. This year, strolling through its streets offers the chance to bump into Wayne Gretzky, Travis Kelce, or Kevin Hart. Last year, in addition to Federer, Ken Griffey Jr. attended, combining two of his great passions beyond the sport that made him famous, baseball: golf and photography. Rudy Fernández was also there. Even the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, set aside his workday duties to come and follow the event that no one wants to miss.