The Masters - Tournament Records

'The Augusta National Invitational' was first played in 1934, with players personally invited by Robert Tyre (Bobby) Jones Jnr. The name was finally changed to 'The Masters Tournament' - originally proposed by co-founder Clifford Roberts in 1934, but rejected by Jones as pretentious - in 1939. The most recently created, it is the traditional first major Championship of each golfing year.

Most victories:
Jack Nicklaus - 6 (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986)
Arnold Palmer - 4 (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964)
Tiger Woods - 4 (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005)
Jimmy Demaret - 3 (1940, 1947, 1950)
Sam Snead - 3 (1949, 1952, 1954)
Gary Player - 3 (1961, 1974, 1978)
Nick Faldo - 3 (1989, 1990, 1996)
Phil Mickelson - 3 (2004, 2006, 2010)

Widest margin of victory:
Tiger Woods - 1997 - 12 shots

Oldest Champion:
Jack Nicklaus - 1986 at 46 years, 2 months, 23 days

Youngest Champion:
Tiger Woods - 1997 at 21 years, 3 months, 14 days

Consecutive victories:
Jack Nicklaus - 1965 & 1966
Nick Faldo - 1989 & 1990
Tiger Woods - 2001 & 2002

Wire-to-wire winners:
Craig Wood - 1941
Arnold Palmer - 1960
Jack Nicklaus - 1972
Raymond Floyd -1976

Lowest winning score:
Tiger Woods - 1997, 70-66-65-69 = 270

Highest winning score:
Sam Snead - 1954, 74-73-70-72 = 289
Jack Burke Jnr - 1956, 72-71-75-71 = 289
Zach Johnson - 2007, 71-73-76-69 = 289

First time champions:
Horton Smith - 1934
Gene Sarazen - 1935
Fuzzy Zoeller - 1979

Most attempts before first victory:
Mark O'Meara - 15th appearance

Biggest gap between first and last victory:
Jack Nicklaus - 23 years (1963 and 1986)
Gary Player - 17 years (1961 and 1978)

Most top 5s:
Jack Nicklaus - 15

Most top 10s:
Jack Nicklaus - 22

Most top 25s:
Jack Nicklaus - 29

Most consecutive appearances:
Arnold Palmer - 50 (1955 to 2004)

The 36 hole 'cut' was introduced in 1957; before then, every player played four rounds.
Highest cut:
154 in 1982

Lowest cut:
145 in 1979, 1992, 1995, 2001

Most cuts made:
Jack Nicklaus - 37 in 45 appearances

Most consecutive cuts made:
Fred Couples - 23 (1983 to 2007)
Gary Player - 23 (1959 to 1982)

Birdied the 72nd hole to win:
Art Wall - 1959
Arnold Palmer - 1960
Gary Player - 1978
Sandy Lyle - 1988
Mark O'Meara - 1998
Phil Mickelson - 2004

Lowest front nine score:
30 by Johnny Miller, 3rd round, 1975
30 by Greg Norman, 4th round, 1988
30 by K.J. Choi, 2nd round, 2004

Low back nine score:
29 by Mark Calcavecchia, 4th round, 1992
29 by David Toms, 4th round, 1998

Lowest 18 hole score:
63 (33-30) by Nick Price, 3rd round, 1986
63 (33-30) by Greg Norman, 1st round, 1996

Holes in One:
From 1934 to 2007, there were 18 holes in one.
1 at the 4th
4 at the 6th
3 at the 12th (Amen Corner)
10 at the 16th

Albatrosses (double-eagles):
Bruce Devlin -1967, at the 8th in the first round (4-wood, 248 yards)
Jeff Maggert - 1994, at the 13th in the fourth round (3-iron, 222 yards)
Gene Sarazen - 1935, at the 15th in the fourth round (4-wood, 235 yards). This was the famous "shot heard around the world ", as he was three behind leader Craig Wood at that point, but went on to tie after 72 holes and then win the tournament in a playoff. In the process, he also became the first of only five men to win the professional 'Grand Slam' (the others being Hogan, Nicklaus, Player and Woods).

Most career birdies:
Jack Nicklaus - 506

Most career eagles:
Jack Nicklaus - 24 (3 on par 4s, 21 on par 5s)

Most birdies in one tournament:
Phil Mickelson - 25, in 2001

Most eagles in one tournament:
Bruce Crampton - 4, in 174

Most birdies in one round:
Nick Price, 10 in 1986

Most consecutive birdies:
Steve Pate - 7, in 1999, from the 7th to the 13th
Tiger Woods - 7 in 2005, from the 7th to the 13th

Playoffs and close finishes:
There have been 13 playoffs from 1934 to 2007, comprising:
- 7 by sudden death (1979, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 2003, 2005)
- 5 over 18 holes (1942, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970)
- 1 over 36 holes (1935)
The tournament has been won by a single shot on 23 occasions in the 70 playings from 1934 to 2007.

Most rounds under par in one tournament:
178 in 1992

Fewest rounds under par in one tournament:
32 in 1956

Worst scores ever recorded on a single hole:
There have been eight double-digit scores (plus one unofficial) in the history of the tournament:

- 14, by Billy Casper in 2005 at the par 3 16th (but see below under 'Worst Ever Score' - this is not official)
- 13, by Tsuneyuki 'Tommy' Nakajima in 1978 at the par 5 13th
- 13, by Tom Weiskopf in 1980 at the par 3 12th
- 11 by Herman Barron in 1950 at the par 3 16th
- 11, by Masahi 'Jumbo' Ozaki in 1987 at the par 5 15th
- 11 by Ben Crenshaw in 1997 at the par 5 15th
- 11 by Ignacio Garrido in 1998 at the par 5 15th
- 10 by Sam Byrd in 1948 at the par 5 2nd
- 10 by David Duval in 2006 at the par 5 2nd

Worst ever score:
Although it is unofficial, this was a 106 (34 over par) by 1970 Masters Champion and then 73 year old Billy Casper, in the first round of the 2005 tournament. His round included a 14 (also an unofficial worst score) on the par 3 16th, with five balls in the water. Casper did not hand in his card and as a result was disqualified, so the round does not stand in the official tournament statistics. Following his round, Casper said: "I was only going to play 18 holes - I just had to get it out of my system. I wanted to do it again. A lot of my grandchildren were here."
Among 'returned' scores, we understand this to be a 95 by Charles Kunkle in the final round of the 1956 Championhsip, but the organisers are very discreet about such things. There have also been two rounds of 94. Rounds in the mid- to high-80s are however a fairly regular occurrence.