While a tempest brews outside Magnolia Lane over Georgia’s voting rights law, Augusta National would prefer to keep the focus on blooming azaleas, pimento cheese sandwiches and tricky greens.
That strategy has served the home of the Masters well in previous debates over efforts to keep out Black and female members. So, it was no surprise when Chairman Fred Ridley played through any attempt to ensnare his club in another contentious issue.
There was never any doubt Augusta National would take a different path than Major League Baseball, which yanked the All-Star Game from Atlanta to protest the voting law.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden was asked about calls for the Masters to be moved out of Georgia.
“It is reassuring to see that for-profit operations and businesses are speaking up about how these new Jim Crow laws are just antithetical to who we are. There is another side to it too. The other side of it too is when they move out of Georgia, the people who need the help the most, the people making hourly wages, sometimes get hurt the worst," Biden said.
