The legendary golfer Arnold Palmer was seen getting his jacket collar fixed while posing with Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne after hitting his tee shot on the 1st hole at Augusta National Golf Club on April 9, 2009 (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images). According to reports by cllct’s Darren Rovell, a four-time Masters champion, Palmer’s green jacket was among the items stolen from Augusta National Golf Club over a 13-year period.
Recently, federal authorities charged Richard Brendan Globensky for transporting and transferring millions of dollars’ worth of stolen merchandise and memorabilia from Augusta National Golf Club from 2009 to 2022. It is reported that Globensky transported the items from Augusta, Georgia to Tampa, Florida, with federal officials believing he was aware that the items were stolen.
Globensky, a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who supervised the Masters merchandise sold each year, had access to the stolen merchandise and memorabilia. In a 2022 FBI operation, Palmer’s missing jacket was recovered during a private sale arranged by a member of Augusta National who knew the jacket was missing. The collector verified the jacket’s authenticity and arranged for its sale for $3.6 million. However, upon leaving the seller’s house with the jacket, the buyer and collector were confronted by FBI agents who seized the jacket and questioned the sellers.
After Arnold Palmer’s passing in 2016 at age 87, Augusta National paid tribute to him by placing his jacket on a chair at the course during The Masters tournament. Palmer had multiple Green Jackets and it is believed that one of them (from his victory in 1958) was among those stolen.