If Tiger Plays, 2018 Masters Tickets Could Be Most Expensive Ever

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Mar 11, 12:45PM EDT · Published Feb 27, 6:50AM EST

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If Tiger Plays, 2018 Masters Tickets Could Be Most Expensive Ever — © Thinkstock

Tiger Woods won four Masters Tournaments – the last one in 2005. But every time he plays, the crowds come out, so no one is happier than the men in the green jackets that Woods, who is trying to fashion a comeback from back various injuries, has The Masters on his radar.

“I’m just trying to build towards April,” Woods said in a press conference at Torrey Pines in January. “…I’m looking forward to playing a full schedule and getting ready for the Masters. That’s just been my schedule and my outlook from ’96-on … to try and get ready for Augusta, and there’s no reason to change that.”

Woods has played in three PGA Tour events so far in 2018.

With the specter of Woods returning to Augusta, ticket prices for tournament on the secondary market are high, according to data from TicketIQ.com. Woods has played in 20 Masters Tournaments, the most recent in 2015, when the average price of a tournament for a single-day ticket (not including practice days) was $1,513.46. That number was down from $2,161.72 in 2013 when Tiger was in the mix on the weekend, ultimately finishing tied for fourth.

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But those numbers are low compared to the current average asking price for a single-day ticket on the secondary market for the 2018 edition – a whopping $2,948.42. A week-long tournament badge is currently priced at $10,134.88. Last year, the price to walk outside the ropes for a week cost fans an average of $3,721.71, but the last time Tiger played – in 2015 – that number was $5,605.86.

As the tournament approaches, fans will find the best deal for the first practice day (Monday), according to TicketIQ.com, for which the average asking price is $722.98, but all of the players aren’t typically on site in time for that first round. The average asking price jumps to $1,154.90 to Tuesday and $2,041.58 for Wednesday, the day of the annual Par-3 Tournament.

The highest-priced ticket on a competition day is currently $4,837.42 for Thursday and it falls off through Sunday – though prices will likely head back up again once the field is set, when Tiger commits (or doesn’t), and even during the tournament, when it’s clear who will contend.

Whether Tiger will play or not, just the speculation that he will is enough to get fans excited. Woods won the Masters in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005, tying him with Arnold Palmer for the second-most victories. Jack Nicklaus won six.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.