Masters week is here, and CBS’ Jim Nantz and two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau will command a lot of attention in the coming days. Nantz will be the lead TV analyst on Saturday and Sunday. DeChambeau is one of the betting favorites to win his first green jacket.

Heading into tournament week, though, the two men are entwined in a bit of controversy stemming from recent comments Nantz made about DeChambeau in the lead-up to the Masters.

On Monday, Nantz joined the “Pat McAfee Show” to defend himself, saying he “stood by his comments” while blaming criticism his comments have received on “bots” and LIV Golf’s social media team. But he also attempted to quell any further controversy by professing his “great friendship” and “long relationship” with DeChambeau.

Here’s what you need to know.

Nantz calls DeChambeau friend: ‘My son was almost named after him’

The Nantz-DeChambeau controversy began last week, when Nantz took part in a conference call previewing CBS’ 2026 Masters coverage.

In response to a question about DeChambeau’s form heading into the Masters, Nantz first said he considered Bryson among the favorites to win the Masters. But then he confessed that he had “not seen Bryson hit a single shot this year. I have not seen him.”

The comments spread far and wide, with some observers taking them as a dig at DeChambeau, and others seeing an implied criticism of LIV Golf.

In his appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, the first day of Masters week, Nantz tried to clarify his comments about DeChambeau, saying they were “extracted from a quote” in which he picked Bryson as one of the Masters favorites.

“I really like Bryson’s chances. I was on a press conference call last week and a lot of people took exception to a statement I made about how Bryson, I haven’t watched a shot so far this year. Of course he’s been winning on the LIV tour, he’s won a couple of starts, and I just want to say that was extracted from a quote where I had him as the favorite behind Scottie [Scheffler], number one,” Nantz said on the Pat McAfee Show.

Nantz then tried to defend himself by describing the “long relationship” he’s had with DeChambeau. Surprisingly, he even claimed he nearly named his son after Bryson.

“I happened to mention I’ve had a long relationship with Bryson, he’s been to my home, my son was almost named after him, I mean, there’s a great friendship and respect there,” Nantz said. “I think he’s going to win Augusta, maybe this year.”

He then provided a similar excuse for not having watched DeChambeau in 2026 to the one he gave in last week’s media call, saying he’s “got my own stuff going on” including his own CBS PGA Tour broadcasts. (Both of DeChambeau’s LIV wins this year came after CBS’ most recent golf broadcast).

He went on to defend his actions by claiming he also doesn’t need to watch DP World Tour events to prepare for those players’ appearances at the Masters.

“I was just trying to make a point. I’ve got my own stuff going on. We’re broadcasting. The point is, I read everything. I don’t have to sit down and watch the DP World Tour to be prepared for those players, or the LIV Golf,” Nantz argued. “But I give them their due, and I expect that Jon Rahm’s coming in playing well, too. I expect both Jon and Bryson will be right there, both great guys, and I would love to have them on the leaderboard.”

When McAfee asked Nantz if he was claiming his comments were taken out of context, Nantz said that he “stood by his comments” and blamed “all these bots” and LIV’s “strong force of a social media team” for the criticism his Bryson comments have received. He also reiterated that they were not meant as an attack on DeChambeau, and that he considers Bryson “a friend.”

“You’ve got all these bots, and LIV has a pretty strong force of a social media team, from what I hear because I’m not on social media, but if you say anything that can be loosely interpreted as negative, they come after you. And that’s fine. I stood by my comments,” Nantz said. “I wasn’t trying to take a shot at Bryson. Like I said, I have a great regard for him, I consider him a friend, and I consider him a favorite this week.”

DeChambeau begins 2026 Masters week as the second-favorite in the Masters odds, with the opening round kicking off Thursday. Nantz’s CBS broadcast duties begin Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — As our gaze returns to Augusta National this week, it’s easy to believe the most famous golf club in the world is rigid. That its traditions are intractable. That everything it owns behind the gates of 2604 Washington Road is unchanging. 

The reality is “everything Augusta National owns” changes basically every month, and has been changing, quietly but significantly, for the last 25 years. In total, Augusta National-owned property has aggregated into a roughly $500 million empire thanks to more than $280 million in property acquisitions. But importantly — and perhaps unsurprisingly from such an exclusive and private club — these purchases are made under the veil of real estate secrecy, via obscurely named LLCs, which GOLF.com tracked and assembled, both in this map and in the video below. 

It started a lot like most things Augusta National does, through a goal made with Masters patrons in mind:

Free parking. 

The Masters has offered free parking as a patron perk for decades, but throughout the 80s and 90s, that parking space was limited. The lot would reach capacity early on its first-come, first-served basis, forcing those who arrived late to look for spots n the neighborhoods across Washington Road. 

At the turn of the 21st century, the majority of patron parking was on what was then the northwest corner of the property — which you can see below — where the driving range and media center now exist. It’s impossible to know when the club decided it needed more parking, but an inflection point seemed to arrive around then. On July 3, 2001, an LLC named “Berckman Residential Properties” was formed, according to state corporation documents, and has been amassing parcels in the proximity of Augusta National ever since. 

To the Augusta National newbie, Berckman Residential might be a curious name, but not to Masters regulars. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Berckman family owned the land that Augusta National now sits on, operating a horticultural nursery on these hills, introducing many species to the American South, some that serve as the floral inspiration to the most famous golf tournament in the world. Berckmans Place is the luxe hospitality hangout for Masters VIPs, in the southwest corner of the club. And Berckmans Road is the the street that was rerouted along the club’s western flank, around which new parking would manifest in the 2010s.

Berckman Residential Properties bought many homes and land plots west of the club, rezoning them for commercial use and repurposing them — with permission from city leaders — for Masters parking. The other 51 weeks of the year, the land sits largely vacant. The grass gets mowed, the edges stay trimmed. But until the aggregation of land was officially parked upon, it wasn’t always clear that Augusta National was the buyer, because the club never put its name on the purchases. 

Only its address.

Buried in the property sale records of the vast majority of the parcels purchased near the club are near-constant references to the land’s true owner. In most cases, the owner’s address is listed as “2604 Washington Road,” the official address of Augusta National. In other cases, it’s P.O. Box 2086, the commercial P.O. Box of Augusta National. 

Over the years, many obscurely named LLCs have used those addresses in official records filed in the Georgia Corporations Division. As the years have passed — allowing for dust to settle on certain purchases — those LLCs have been merged into Berckman Residential Properties before becoming something new from Augusta National. 

Take “Big Tree LLC” and “The Greens on Washington Road Ventures LLC,” which combined to spend more than $16 million to displace what was an IHOP and a strip mall to build the Masters’ palatial global broadcast compound and content center. It’s impressive and industry-leading. It also was just the start. 

One of those tracts of land was bought in 2000, just as the club started making moves on parking expansion along its opposite border. Most of the housing plots west of the course were purchased in the last 15 years, often in the $300,000 to $500,000 price range, according to hundreds of sale records reviewed by GOLF.com. While the sale prices often are two to three times the appraised values, a handful of properties have fetched a much steeper rate, like one holdout plot across the street from Berckmans Place. In 2012, the lot was privately owned, as its neighbors were being purchased and leveled. In 2013, the land sold for $3.56 million. In 2015, a new road had been paved right through the lot’s backyard, where a swimming pool once existed.

One homeowner famously refused to sell to Berckman Residential. The house at 1112 Stanley Road has seen almost all of its neighboring homes be razed to make way for Masters parking. The house is still there because its long-time and now late owners, Herman and Elizabeth Thacker, declined all of Augusta National’s advances.

“Where are we going to go?” Herman, who died in 2019, told GOLF.com in a 2017 interview. “This is home. We love it here.”

Still, there’s a Father Time element to ANGC’s real estate pursuits: the golf club will be here long after any of its neighbors.

Elizabeth owned the house until she died last summer. It is unclear to whom the Thackers passed down the land and home, or what will come of it. But many of the homes in the area are transferred into a trust or an estate and often are sold in the years that follow an original owner’s death. Some agreements are made to transfer the homes to Augusta National immediately upon their passing. As of the 2026 Masters, only a handful of properties southwest of the course remain unowned by Berckman Residential.

GOLF.com spoke with one of the holdouts: George Ransom, who lives on nearby Margate Drive. Ransom has seen the meaning of the Masters change to those in the area over the years. It was once a “giant party,” he said. Now, it feels like a “giant attraction, like Disneyland,” he said. While that shift has cost the club a pretty penny, Ransom said ANGC has been “very reasonable [neighbors] in every respect.” 

But he also teased something important. 

“They’ve got a 50-year plan,” Ransom said, “which we are a very small part of.”

Ah yes, The Plan.

In general terms, one could describe Augusta National’s reported “plan” as building outward, as Golf Digest writer Joel Beall extensively reported in 2024. Beall spoke with various club members and former employees to understand what the club and its crown jewel tournament could look like on a 30- or 40-year horizon. In essence, that will require accumulating even more property in every direction.

The club bought a public park in 2024 along its eastern border, and nearly every other parcel adjacent to it. Through WSQ, LLC, the club acquired the National Hills Shopping Center across Washington Road, turning one corner of the building into a new corporate hospitality named “Map and Flag.” Down Washington Road, WSQ, LLC also purchased the land that currently houses a Publix, next to where rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft drop off patrons. ANGC hasn’t pushed out Publix yet, but the bottom line is obvious. Club operations follow directly along these property purchases, even if just one week a year.

There used to be a Hooters on Washington Road, on land owned by WSQ, LLC. That was until Hooters in America filed for bankruptcy in early 2025 and decided to downsize its national footprint. Eight months later, the Hooters was leveled and graveled over. If nothing replaces it, no one will blink. If something does, it’ll be decided by Augusta National. That is how most things go in the area around the most famous club in the world. Tracking it all takes near-constant attention. And a calculator. One line in particular from that Golf Digest report rings most true. In regards to the money spent, one member said, “Whatever you want to guess, it’s going to be wrong.” 

“>