In first Masters, C.T. Pan tries all the sandwiches, posts top-10 finish

C.T. Pan took in all he could during his first trip to the Masters Tournament.

That included sampling all the sandwiches on the menu. But which one did he like best?

"After long debates with my wife, I want to say egg salad sandwich," Pan said. "I've tried the pimento cheese, egg salad, the burger, the grouper sandwich, the fried chicken sandwich, all the sandwiches I could get. I tried them all."

Pan won the 2019 RBC Heritage to earn a spot in this Masters. When he returned in June to the RBC to defend his title there, his wife, Yingchun Lin, worked as his caddie. At the Masters this week, he had Derrick Redd on the bag.

2020 Masters Final Round Photos

Pan said that, in addition to the famous Masters food, he and his wife found time to buy some souvenirs.

"My wife did all the shopping, honestly. I was just kind of walking and tried not to spend too much time there," he said. "The more time I spend, the more money I spend, so I was trying to be smart there."

He was smart out on the course, too, especially on Sunday, when he closed his round with birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 16 and 17. He made par on the 18th to forge a tie for seventh with Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm.

The top 12 and ties get invites to the 2021 Masters, so Pan's performance will bring him back in 141 days.

"I struggled the whole year, so this is definitely a big step up for me and a big confidence boost."

Pan had opened the PGA Tour by making the cut in five events, but his best finish was only a tie for 12th at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

This week, he shot 70-66-74-68 for his best performance since a tie for third at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial.

"As far as this being my first Masters, I enjoyed it very much. I love the food here. My wife and I, we just love all the dinners, all the sandwiches out here. It's great,“ he said. ”The course is playing tough, especially right now. I just want to thank Augusta National for everything."