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The Loop

This is the letter Augusta National used to send to people they didn't want playing in the Masters

Dave Shedloski recounts an interesting story in this week's Golf World about Billy Casper, and a letter he once received from Augusta National asking him to -- politely -- stop playing in the Masters.

Casper hadn't made a cut at the Masters in 15 years when he received the letter in 2001, which was part of an ill-fated effort by then-chairman Hootie Johnson to phase out some of the less-competitive players.

"To be told, in effect, that you're not welcome, at least as you have always been welcome in the past, is a heartbreaking thing to read," Casper, who passed away in February, said. "It's probably the most devastating thing that's ever happened to me in golf."

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