The tournament was delayed because of COVID-19 and gloomy skies which attended the start on Thursday will have come as something of a culture shock. Most associate The Masters with glorious April sunshine amongst the azaleas.

The flowers are not in bloom at this time of year, playing hours have been shortened and there have been no spectators, known as "Patrons" at Augusta.

But when the time comes for the presentations, the champion will receive $2.07 million (£1.57 million/€1.75 million) in prize money, a special medallion and a trophy which depicts the clubhouse. The most revered of all the accolades for the winner of The Masters is an item of clothing, however. Over the last 70 years, the winner has also received a Green Jacket.

It had originally been introduced by Bobby Jones, the legendary golfer who had first established the course at Augusta.

Before the Second World War, Jones had visited an English club where all the members wore jackets indicating their position in the club. When he arrived home, he adopted the practice, so that the club members could be readily identified on the course, but it was not until 1949 that the club decided to reward the winner of the tournament in this way.

The first recipient was American Sam Snead.

By the halfway stage of the tournament, the possibility of a new addition to his wardrobe had seemed remote because he trailed by five strokes.

A third-round 67 put him back in contention. On the final day, he shot another 67 to secure victory.

In the words of New York Times writer Lincoln A. Werden, Snead "banged in long putts with the accuracy of a sharp shooter."

When the competition was over, Snead was presented with a cheque for $2,750 (£2,085/€2,325) and the green club jacket.

Club officials also decided to give jackets to every winner since 1934, the inaugural year of the tournament.

The champion is permitted to retain his for a year, but must then return it to the club. It may only be worn within club precincts.

In 1961, South African Gary Player became the first non-American to win.

Unaware of the regulations, he took his jacket home and did not bring it back the following year.

"I didn’t know you were supposed to leave it there," said Player later. This prompted a telephone call from Augusta National chairman and tournament co-founder Clifford Roberts enquiring as to the whereabouts of the errant garment.

Player told him: "If you want it, why don’t you come and fetch it?"

He was forgiven his transgression and was an honorary starter alongside Jack Nicklaus on Thursday morning.

Nicklaus had unwittingly presented the organisers with a problem in 1966.

The jacket is traditionally presented to the new champion by the previous year’s victor, but Nicklaus had become the first to win in successive years.

This prompted the officials to confer before Bobby Jones told Nicklaus: "Cliff and I have discussed the problem, and have decided you will just have to put the coat on yourself."

Defending champion Tiger Woods will be called upon to present the jacket to the champion on Sunday, providing of course he doesn’t win again himself.

Exactly how this will be done in accordance with social distancing regulations will surely constitute another first for this illustrious tournament.

The jacket presented on television is not tailor-made for the winner, but officials somehow always seem to find one of the right size.

The winners are eventually given a "made to measure" version which remains one of the most exclusive items of sporting apparel in the world.

At this year’s Tour de France, riders wore an extra accessory for interviews. It was of course the ubiquitous face mask, but the greatest prize in the race is also a piece of clothing.

When the race was launched in 1903 at the instigation of L’Auto, a French sports newspaper, the leader wore a simple armband. When racing was revived in 1919 after the First World War, race director Henri Desgrange introduced the Yellow Jersey.

The idea is thought to have been suggested to him by Alphonse Baugé, a cyclist who had become a coach and journalist on the sport.

The official version is that because L’Auto was published on yellow paper, that was the colour chosen. As with so many such traditions, it might simply have been because the yellow fabric was most readily available. Official records say it was first worn by race leader Eugène Christophe, though some have suggested that the idea might first have been put forward before the war.

Christophe was initially thought to be unhappy because the jersey made him more identifiable, and therefore easier for the other riders to mark, but very soon wearing le Maillot Jaune became the ultimate honour.

Even the Yellow Jersey seems a little reserved in comparison with the polka dot number worn by the "King of the Mountains". 

Once again there are various origin theories. The jersey was introduced in 1975 and the confectioners Chocolat Poulain are said to have sponsored it.

The inspiration may well have come from the heyday of six-day racing in the velodromes of the 1920s and 1930s. Professional cyclist Henri Lemoine wore such a jersey and was nicknamed "petit pois". It was said that he was inspired by horse racing, where jockey silks incorporated more expansive designs.

In the Vuelta a España, the Grand Tour across Spain, the jersey worn by the top climber also has polka dots, similar to the Tour de France, except these are blue. Even this is a recent development, for the jersey has at various times also sported fish and coffee beans, unsurprisingly, at the behest of sponsors.

Similar sartorial elegance can be found in Italy where the race leader of the Giro d’Italia wears a pink jersey known in Italian as la Maglia Rosa. This was introduced in 1931. The colour was in homage to the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport, which founded the race. The other jerseys in the Giro are, by comparison, somewhat understated.

In the Basque country, the victor of the Clasica de San Sebastian is presented with a Txapela, a traditional basque beret.

A historic sculling race on London’s River Thames also has an item of clothing as the prize. The details have now been set down in a new history by race historian Robbie Cottrell. This uncovers a note from the Daily Courant newspaper in 1715.

"This present Monday being the first of August, the day of his majesty’s happy accession, will be given a livery and badge to be rowed for by six watermen that were out of their time in the year past."

The race was established by Thomas Doggett, an actor and theatre manager and became known as "Doggett’s Coat and Badge". In 1722, the Weekly Journal recorded that the deceased Doggett had left "a sufficient annuity for the custom to be held for ever".

The endowment included "five pounds for a Badge of Silver representing Liberty, 18 shillings for a livery on which the Badge was to be put, a guinea for making up the suit of livery and buttons and appurtenances to it."

In a normal year the prize would be presented at a special special livery dinner held in the winter months in the City of London, but the 2020 race joined the catalogue of rescheduled events and is now expected to take place on March 16 2021. Organisers claim the event is the longest continually contested sporting event in the world. The bright red coat makes certain the victor is instantly recognisable.