$1 Million Per Hour: The Mad World of The Masters Shop

By close of play last night, over $70m in Masters paraphernalia will have been snaffled by spectators desperate for tangible reminders of this hollowed tournament - and their eagerness to prove that they were actually there.

Spectators (known at The Masters as patrons) swarm through the gates at 7.30am on the dot, speed-walking – no running at Augusta, remember – to the club shop. After a while, they return to their cars clutching their memorabilia. It could be anything from garish garden gnomes to azalea-scented candles. They can now relax and get on with watching the golf.

According to an entranced observer at The Telegraph, it is the closest thing you will see to panic-buying outside of a national emergency. It seems that this shopping frenzy is all about a desire among everybody with a patron’s badge to tell their families and their distant acquaintances: “I was there.” Fancy a natty Master's branded collar for your dog? No problem. How about some pyjamas adorned with Augusta-themed postage-stamp artwork? It Yours to cherish, in any number of pastel colours.

If you're thinking you could simply join this merriment by going online and ordering your own Masters' merchandise, you would be wrong. There is no online shopfront, just a vast whitewashed building at a famous golf club in Atlanta where an estimated $1m rings through the tills every hour. The absence of an online presence is just one of the drivers behind the massive merch sales during the tournament. The other is that mobile phones are banned at Augusta National. So, no chance of a selfie with Rory McIlroy teeing up behind you to demonstrate to your followers that “I was there.” It's all about the merch.