However, the hole at head coach was quickly filled when Alvarez, currently serving as athletic director, accepted the players' invitation to coach their final game.
Mr. Leko became the challenger after winning an eight-player, invitation-only match tournament in Dortmund, Germany, in 2002.
The Masters, a place so old-fashioned that it sends the players invitations through the regular mail, has signs posted throughout Augusta National signaling that cellphones are not welcome on the grounds.
Twelve American players declined invitations to play in Greece, enough rejections to stock an entire squad.
Only 13 N.H.L. players accepted invitations to play for the United States team.
Mr. Clemens, who like other players declined invitations to speak with Mitchell's investigators, nevertheless criticized Mr. Mitchell and baseball's commissioner for not doing more to get his side before Mitchell's report was released.
But only one player received an invitation like this.
After President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning he would be "withdrawing" Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry's invitation to visit the White House to celebrate his team's NBA title, LeBron James took to Twitter to give the president a piece of his mind.
When the player receives the invitation, he has a choice to either accept or decline.
It was an invitation players initially wanted to decline in protest because they felt snubbed by other Big Ten-affiliated bowls in the postseason pecking order.
In Athens last week, 100 of the world's best players competed by invitation in the fifth Generali Masters Individual, and 10 of the 33 countries participating took home medals.
