From 1934 to today, Dan Yates has been at every Masters

There’s one man at Au­gus­ta National Golf Club this week who has attended every Masters Tour­nament.

From Horton Smith to Adam Scott, and from hickory shafts to hybrids, Dan Yates has seen it all.

The 95-year-old Augusta Na­tional member attended the Augusta National Invi­ta­tion Tournament as a 15-year-old in 1934. His older brother, Charles, played in the first 11 Masters.

“I’ve been fortunate,” Dan said Friday.

Charles Yates was a close friend of Masters and Augus­ta Na­tional co-founder Bobby Jones, and Dan Yates also became friends with the golf legend.

“He was such a good fellow,” Yates said of Jones. “He played golf with my brother Charles on Saturday mornings for several years. I remember what he told me. He said, ‘Dan, when you’re swinging at a golf ball, remember two things. The first thing is you don’t think about more than one thing, but you do remember to stay behind the ball.’ Every time I’ve hit a ball since then, I’ve always thought about that.”

Dan Yates was a fine golfer in his own right, but he never played in the Masters. His son Danny, though, played twice as an amateur.

Instead, Yates devoted his efforts to working on tournament committees. For years he and Charles worked on the press committee and conducted player interviews.

“First it was the rules committee, then I was on the press committee and the pin-setting committee at the same time,” he said.

“We’d go out on the course about 6 o’clock and we’d have to hurry. Then we’d bring the players down to the press building.”

Yates said two of his favorite players are Byron Nelson and Tom Watson.

“He was such a great fellow,” Yates said of Nelson. “There wasn’t anything put-on about him.”

When he arrived at the media center for a brief visit, Yates was surrounded by old friends and volunteers who worked with him.

“I’m going to keep my streak as long as I can,” he said.

Yates arrived at the tournament Thursday and went home Friday afternoon, but not before offering a prediction.

“I hope Rory (McIlroy) does good,” he said. “If not Rory, I’d like to see Adam Scott win.

‘‘Who knows? There’s just so many good players. So many more than there used to be.”