Kenny Mayne isn’t welcome at the Masters.
The former ESPN anchor revealed during an appearance on a recent episode of “God Bless Football” with Jon “Stugotz” Weiner that he believes he’s been banned from Augusta National for good.
Mayne didn’t say when his ban began, but he has a good idea what caused it.
The Masters is extremely protective of the image of the course and the tournament, including the verbiage used during broadcasts, such as fans being called “patrons” instead.
Mayne, 66, believes he broke that code while part of ESPN’s golf coverage and is paying for it after Stugotz asked the former “SportsCenter” star if he has played the legendary course.
“I’m banned for life from Augusta, I think,” Mayne said. “I used to cover golf, I used to do the TPC Sawgrass, and I did the U.S. Open every year for, I don’t know, seven or eight years. It was me, Van Pelt, Andy North, the whole gang.
“At TPC one year, I just made some smartass comment about, ‘We’ll see you at the Masters, where we bring four saucy ladies out to play!’ Or, you know, just something stupid, right? But mentioning that I’m bringing women to play golf. And [Augusta National] called into the ESPN truck, like we’re still on the air, and the people in Augusta are literally, they somehow have the inside number to the truck. And they were like, ‘He is not coming!’ So I was never invited to go by my lords.”
Augusta did not admit its first female member until 2012, with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and financier Darla More breaking an 80-year-old tradition.
ESPN has been a longstanding partner with the Masters, splitting the broadcast of the event with CBS since 2008, with ESPN getting the opening two rounds for one of golf’s four major championships.
Mayne left ESPN in May 2021 after a 27-year career on the network, declining to take a significant pay cut.