Justin Thomas plays in first round of the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club today. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
There's at least one place where people aren't following the stock market drama — and it's because they literally can't.
The Masters.
State of play: Augusta National Golf Club bans patrons from bringing cellphones onto the grounds of the first major golf tournament of the year.
Which means that finance types attending the practice rounds earlier this week and today's first round have been unable to live-track the ups and downs.
"It's a respite from negativity," real estate investor Steven Vernon III told WSJ while attending Wednesday. "It feels so good to be surrounded by a bunch of people who disconnected."
The intrigue: The phone ban leads to an unusual sight: fans absorbing the atmosphere and watching the tournament instead of mindlessly snapping photos, taking videos and scrolling on their phones.
"Anyone here who urgently needs to get in touch with the outside world is forced to rely on banks of courtesy landlines situated at various spots around the course," WSJ says.
💠Nathan's thought bubble: Now if only Masters tickets weren't just about the hardest to get in sports.
