We’ve already looked at the worst records in Masters history in this series. Today, as we get closer and closer, let’s look at some of the best.
Augusta National is regarded as a true test of golf for the very best in the world; a test that a rare few have passed with flying colours.
The record low for any round at Augusta National during the Masters is 63, or 9 under par.
The honour for having shot the best single round doesn’t go to any of the all time great winners of the tournament.
Nick Price of Zimbabwe hit 63 in his third round in 1986. He claimed at the time that he could have done better if his hungover caddie hadn’t been giving him incorrect distances throughout the round.
Ten years later, in 1996, Australian Greg Norman opened with a 63, matching the 9 under record held by Price.
Although great golfers, neither Price nor Norman were able to convert their record rounds into a tournament win and neither man would win a green jacket throughout their careers. In 1986, Price watched Jack Nicklaus win his record breaking 6th Masters. In 1996, Nick Faldo took his 3rd, still the most by any European.
Norman, who was 41 at the time, famously choked in the final round of the 1996 Masters after having maintained a six stroke lead ahead of Nick Faldo.
Norman started the final round of the 1996 Masters with good prospects, with the crowd eager to see him make history. (Image: Allsport/Getty)
There has been much speculation in the sports world since then about what caused one of golf’s most famous chokes. Reports since then suggest that overthinking and pressure to perform caused the decisive slipup on the last day.
He later told phycologist Rick Jensen that he “didn’t sleep a wink” on the Saturday night before his 78 in the final round. Faldo ended up winning by 5 strokes.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
With just 10 days to go until this year’s Masters, let’s recap one of the low points from last year.
If you can cast your mind all the way back to November last year, you’ll remember one of the most gut-wrenching moments of last year: Tiger Woods’ 10.
The five times Masters champion disappointed fans by hitting 10 strokes at the par 3 12th hole at Augusta during the final round of the 2020 tournament in November last year.
The defending champion made an incredible comeback in 2019, winning the Masters for the first time in 14 years following a string of various physical injuries.
After much deliberation and confusion about the direction of the wind, Woods shot the ball into the water a total of three times, the last time from a bunker on the other side of the green.
Tiger Woods 12th hole:
1. Tee shot into water 2. Drop 3. Wedge into water 4. Drop 5. Wedge into back bunker 6. Thins bunker shot into water 7. Drop 8. Bunker shot 9. Missed Putt 10. Putt#themasterspic.twitter.com/h4PfO5faR1
Fans, while disappointed that he won’t be participating in this year’s Masters, have been expressing their relief on social media that the crash had not been fatal or caused any more serious injuries.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
Often referred to as US Masters, qualifying golfers from all over the world are invited every year, not just Americans.
While it may be true that most competing players – and winners – have been American, there are 11 countries in total who have won the major at one point or another in its 87 year history.
The Masters is becoming more diverse than ever. In 2021, players representing 23 different countries have been invited to compete.
Of the 87 players, 46 are international players while just 41 are US nationals.
Carlos Oritz of Mexico and Englishman Joe Long are among a handful of players making their Masters debut this year.
Ahead of the 2021 event, here’s how the winners’ nationalities have been divided up so far:
United States – 62 wins
South Africa – 5 wins
Spain – 5 wins
England – 4 wins
Germany – 2 wins
Scotland – 1 win
Wales – 1 win
Fiji – 1 win
Canada – 1 win
Argentina – 1 win
Australia – 1 win
Gary Player became the first non-American player to win the Masters in 1961.
Player won over 160 professional tournaments on six continents over seven decades and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Honorary starters and Masters champions Gary Player of South Africa (left) and Jack Nicklaus (right) stand on the first tee during the First Tee ceremony to start the first round of the 2019 Masters. (Image: Getty)
Nick Faldo became the first non-American to successfully defend his title and win the tournament two years in a row in 1989 and 1990.
The Englishman shares the record for most consecutive wins with two of golf’s biggest legends, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
Anyone who wins the Masters is allowed to keep the famous green jacket for 12 months, until the next event is played.
After that, the jackets are kept in Augusta in their very own special-purpose cloakroom.
This tradition, like everything else, was interrupted in 2020 when the 2020 Masters was postponed until November due to the coronavirus outbreak. This means that last year’s winner, Dustin Johnson, will have only had his jacket for 6 months before he has to hand it back in to Augusta National.
2020 aside for a moment, let’s take a look back at the story behind the green jacket in honour of the 12-month tradition.
It was never meant to be part of the award ceremony…
The iconic Masters green jacket was not always given to those who win the tournament in the way it is today. In fact, it was first introduced in 1937 as a uniform for members of the club to wear so that they could be recognised by visitors.
The first time it was presented to the winner at the award ceremony was in 1949, to Sam Snead.
Snead, who that year didn’t get off to the best start in the first two rounds after posting a 73 and 75 in the first rounds, won by three strokes after posting two consecutive rounds of 67 at the weekend.
Sam Snead (R) stands with Byron Nelson (L) and Gene Sarazen (C) at the 1999 Masters at Augusta National, fifty years after being awarded his first of three green jackets.
Not to be left out of the fun, the jacket was also awarded retrospectively to the previous 12 winners up until then.
Since then, the previous year’s winner presents that year’s winner with the jacket.
World number 1 Dustin Johnson was awarded the Green Jacket by 2019 Masters champion Tiger Woods during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the 2020 Masters. (image: Getty)
Gary Player was famously the only Masters winner who didn’t bring back his jacket the next year after winning his first Masters title in 1961. At the time, he claimed to have accidentally left it at home in South Africa.
Green jackets for sale, anyone?
Short of winning the Masters itself, the only way you can get your hands on a green jacket of your own is if you have a few hundred thousand dollars to spare.
Horton Smith, the winner of the very first Augusta National Invitation Tournament in 1934, had his jacket sold at auction for $682,229 in 2013. It’s said that no other piece of golf memorabilia has ever sold for such a high price.
Pantone 342 is the official colour of the jacket. However, due to various changes in manufacturers over the years, the tone can differ slightly from year to year.
It’s just over 2 weeks until we find out who Dustin Johnson will present the next green jacket to.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
History is made on the golf course when a player does something that no other player has ever done before.
The best remembered records are usually for players who have – in a good way – outperformed all others in their field.
Unfortunately for Tom Weiskopf, Tommy Nakajima and Sergio Garcia this is not always the case.
As far as records go, one you probably don’t want on your repertoire is the record for the highest record score above par on a single hole at the Masters – 13.
Last November, many thought that Tiger Woods’ 7 above par on the 12th hole at Augusta might have been the highest on Masters record. It wasn’t, but we’ll get back to that later in the series.
Tommy Nakajima of Japan, was the first to reach unlucky number 13 at the Masters in 1978 – on the 13th hole, no less. Next came American Tom Weiskopf in 1980 on hole 12 and then, after a long wait, Spaniard Sergio Garcia in 2018 on the 15th.
“I don’t like to be one of the three that is always going to be mentioned as making the highest score on any hole. But it sure doesn’t haunt me,” Weiskopf said, reflecting on the shot.
Tom Weiskopf reacts to the crowd after sinking an 80-foot putt on the second hole during second round play in the US Open 1996 (Image: Getty)
And neither it should. Weiskopf has had an otherwise successful career, picking up 16 PGA Tour titles and winning the British Open in 1973 in Troon, Scotland.
It’s Garcia, however, whose 13 on the 15th in 2018 contributed to the single worst round in Masters history: 169, or 97 over par. With that, the previous year’s green jacket winner made history two year in a row.
Sergio Garcia accepts the Green Jacket from Danny Willett after winning in a playoff during the final round of the 2017 Masters Tournament on April 9, 2017 in Augusta, Georgia. (Image: Getty)
No other player can recount such highs and lows at the Masters in such a short space of time.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
Next up in our countdown series we’re asking: what’s the furthest golf has ever been played from Augusta?
Technically speaking, it’s the moon. Astronauts hit a few golf balls on the moon’s surface during the Apollo 14 mission.
A bit too far to go to get some swing practice?
Apollo 14 was the third manned lunar landing mission. Between January 31 to February 9th 1971, it was commanded by Alan B. Shepard, Jr, who had been the first man in space.
1971: Astronaut Alan B Shepard holds the pole of a US flag on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission. (Image: Getty)
Of the three astronauts aboard, Edgar D. Mitchell was the youngest at age 40 and lived until 2016.
November 1970: Apollo 14 Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. (Image: Getty)
Commander Shepard hit two golf balls with a six-iron head strapped to the handle of a tool used for sample collection.
He also holds the record for the first (and only) extra-terrestrial hole in one after they found one of the golf balls in a crater.
Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. is seen playing golf using tools he had smuggled in during the mission’s second moonwalk activity on February 6, 1971. (Image: Getty)
The only other sport to be played on the moon is javelin. In the same Apollo 14 mission, Shepard threw a javelin that landed just a few meters ahead of his golf ball.
While there might not be an official course on the moon (yet), there are still plenty of golf courses in extreme locations here on Earth:
Davis Golf Links in Antarctica: golfers have to play with brightly coloured balls so they don’t get lost in the snow-covered landscape.
Arctic Links in Finland’s Arctic Circle region: in the summer, this course is open all day long due to the 24-hour daylight.
Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara, Nepal: visiting golfers can play among the clouds, right in front of the worlds largest mountain range.
None of these courses are more extreme than the single par 3 hole at the UN Joint Security Area between North and South Korea. You’d better be confident with your short game as the green is surrounded entirely by land mines!
Maybe it won’t be long until there’s a golf course in space, who knows. Until then, there’s plenty to look forward to down here on Earth with less than two weeks until this year’s first tee time at Augusta.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
With 15 days to go until the Masters, it’s time to have a closer look at the course at Augusta National itself.
Did you know that there have been as many as 15 different architects who have led renovation projects on the course since it first opened in January 1933?
Bobby Jones and course architect Alastair Mackenzie designed the Augusta national together, supposedly inspired by the Old Course in St Andrews. Today, we’re looking at some of the biggest changes that have been made over the years- the ones people love and the more controversial choices.
Let’s start with one of the biggest names in Augusta architecture: Tom Fazio. He has worked as the in-house architect at Augusta since the 1990s and has been responsible for overseeing renovation projects ever since, whether directly or indirectly.
In 2002, Tom Fazio’s design company lengthened nine holes, adding 285 yards to Augusta in total, and made various fairway and bunker changes.
Fazio (L) walks with Fred Couples off a tee box before the start of the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship on April 28, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Image: Getty)
Four years later, in 2006, Fazio’s team was met with criticism after they did some work on the fifth hole. The tee was shifted and pushed back a full 40 yards.
Other features of the course have not been changed as much over the years. The 10th hole, for example, is virtually unchanged from MacKenzie’s original design. The only really noteworthy adjustment on the 10th was when Perry Maxwell moved the green back all the way in 1937.
In general, adding distance to holes has been well received. Architects and course designers usually justify such changes as a way to adapt to technological developments in the game.
Less popular course adjustments involve tree planting.
To explain, when Bobby Jones and Alastair Mackenzie first designed the course, they wanted to give golfers the opportunity to be creative in their shots with wide open fairways. Over the years, architects have planted more and more trees on the course, making the opportunities for creativity ever less frequent.
There is no better example of how the trees made more creative shots near impossible than on the 17th hole. It has been widely noted that on today’s narrower course, Jack Nicklaus would have never been able to make his legendary tee shot on the 17th in 1986 that led to one of the greatest moments in Masters history.
Most of the so-called “narrowing” has taken place in rennovation project since 2002.
Marc Leishman of Australia plays his shot from the 17th tee during the second round of the 2018 Masters. Before the changes, the trees on the right would not have blocked a direct path to the green. (Image: Getty)
Tiger Woods is among the many top pros who has criticised the narrowing of Augusta. He claims that the version of the course when he first won in 1997 “wasn’t that hard”.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
Number 16 on our countdown can only be one thing: TW’s chip on the 16th in the final round of the 2005 Masters.
The Masters has played host to some historical moments over the years. Few were better captured than Tiger Woods’ legendary chip on the 16th hole during the 2005 masters.
Saying it’s iconic might be underselling it a little. Every individual detail of the shot, from the clever angle right down to the way the ball hung on the edge before quietly tipping in to the 16th hole could have been described as amazing. Together, this sequence would go down in history. The roar of applause that broke the tense silence would echo in Masters history.
“In your life have you seen anything like that?” reacted commentator Verne Lundquist.
Speaking about it later, Woods called that moment as gravity finally took over, an “earthquake”.
The 16th hole at Augusta is a 170-yard par 3, named “Redbud” after the flowering tree which blossoms every year between March and May. The 16th’s raised and uneven green makes it a tricky shot, even for the top-level pros.
Woods started the day that Sunday three strokes behind leader Chris Di Marco. Before this shot he was trailing Di Marco by just one. Conveniently for Woods, Di Marco went on to miss a birdie afterwards and they went on to the 17th, Woods now 2 strokes ahead with two holes to go.
A 21-year old Tiger Woods won his first Masters in 1997 before going on to win twice consecutively in 2001 and 2002. In 2005, Woods kept his cool in a tense playoff to par on the 18th, sinking a birdie and claiming his 4th green jacket.
Taken moments after the winning putt on the 18th in Augusta on April 10th, 2005. Woods’ celebratory roar is one of the most recognisable in sports. (Image: Getty)
Despite recovering from various injuries, and many doubting his physical ability, Woods made history yet again with an incredible comeback at the 2019 Masters where he won for a fifth time after 14 years. At age 43, it was his first major championship win in eleven years and his 15th major title overall.
Last month’s car crash dashed any hopes of Woods attending the Masters this year. He maintained severe injuries to his legs and is since in recovery.
Fans had hoped to see him compete for a chance to take his 6th green jacket and join Jack Nicklaus’ record top spot.
If there’s one thing we can say for certain it’s that historically speaking and no matter what, you can never really count Tiger out.
This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.
Question: If you could wave a magic wand, what area of your game would you improve overnight? RORY McILROY: My iron play. Yeah, my iron play hasn’t been great since coming back from the lockdown. It sort of goes right through the bag. It goes from wedges all the way through to the long irons. I had two 5 irons from the fairway on 10 and 11 today, for example, and just didn’t hit great shots. It’s something to there’s always stuff to work on, but definitely something to work on going into the off season that we have here, and try to come out a little better in 2021.
Q: As you’ve had a little more time to reflect on what happened Thursday, what went wrong? RORY McILROY: Again, I said yesterday, I just got a little careful, a little tentative, a little guidey, just didn’t trust my swing, didn’t commit to what I was doing, and again, this course more than any other can make you do that at times. That was really what it was. The first day I actually did okay. I was even par. It wasn’t even par through 9 here is not that bad, and then just that second morning I just didn’t quite have it. I guess I need to take the positives, and played the last 54 really well and only made two bogeys in that 54 hole stretch, which is probably the best run of golf I’ve played here.
Rory McIlroy: “I miss the fans a lot”
Q: What did you miss the most this week, just the difference of playing in November? RORY McILROY: Yeah, the atmosphere, the crowds, the patrons, the feelings that you normally have here that you didn’t quite have. More than any other week of the year I feel like you’re nervous a little more often, and it didn’t quite have that. Not saying it’s a bad thing; I loved the feeling of being relaxed out there and it’s something I probably need to try to adopt going into five months’ time.
Q: Do you think there’s any advantage to coming right back here in April? RORY McILROY: Yeah I mean, look, I hope the course is much different in April than it is now. It’s very soft. It’s very I feel like there’s a lot of shots I hit this week where I hit my number and it would spin back off a green or it just wouldn’t do what you expect it to do, so I’d love to get another shot at it in April and have the course play maybe more what we’re accustomed to.
Q: You’re obviously a multiple major champion. What do you think this is going to mean to Dustin? RORY McILROY: Yeah, he’s been knocking on the door so long, and I think, again, since coming back out of sort of back in June, the lockdown, he has been by far the best player in the world. He’s won a few times, won a FedExCup, had a chance at Harding Park. And I think, yeah, it validates what he did at Oakmont a few years ago and he’s had so many chances and hasn’t quite been able to close the deal, but his resume speaks for itself, how many times he’s won on the PGA TOUR, how consistent he’s been. I played with him the first two days here. He’s got the ball on a string. It was really impressive.
Q: What are you going to do this off season to kind of get away from golf and reboot? Any TV shows you’re going to catch up on? RORY McILROY: Yeah, not particularly. I don’t know. I’m just going to be a man of leisure for a couple months. It’s going to be nice. Lie by the pool a little bit, get back on the bike, get back on the Peloton. I’ve sort of given that a bit of a miss over the last few months. Yeah, just some stuff. Obviously watch my daughter grow up a little bit and have fun with that. But yeah, I’ll try to get away from it, but yeah, as I said before, there’s certainly some stuff in my golf game that I want to work on before next year.
Q: Is there anything in DJ’s personality from your close interaction with him or traveling with him that you’ve seen of him that maybe we don’t that maybe you could share? RORY McILROY: He’s smarter than you think.
Q: How so? RORY McILROY: He’s switched on, more so than he lets on, more so than everyone in the media thinks. I’ll just put it that way.
Question: Why is this so meaningful to you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, just growing up so close to here, it’s always been a tournament that since I’ve been on Tour, since I played my first Masters, it’s been the tournament I wanted to win the most. You know, being close the last couple years, finishing second last year to Tiger, this one was just something that I really wanted to do. Obviously starting today with a four shot lead, you know, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew I was going to have to play well if I wanted to win, and you know, still, played probably better than especially from really 7 into the clubhouse, I played really, really solid. Hit a lot of great shots. But it was still hard. I mean, I was nervous all day, but I felt like I controlled myself very well. Controlled the golf ball very well in difficult conditions. I felt like the wind was really tricky. The course, the greens were a little bit faster. Felt like you really had to be careful around here today.
Q: On 7, did you do what you were trying to do? Were you trying to hit into that front bunker? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I was. I didn’t have a shot. I was just in the right first cut, the tree limbs there. I was trying to run it up in between the bunkers, but if I was going to favor one side, it was the left bunker. Hit a really good shot right in the front bunker where I wanted to and made a really easy 4.
Brother support given
Q. Austin said that on 18, as you’re walking up, he asked you where you stood. Did you not know? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did not. Not exactly. I mean, I assumed I had the lead, but I didn’t know by how many. I mean, that was kind of my goal. I kind of looked at the leaderboard a little bit early, and after that, I just, you know, told myself, don’t worry about what anybody’s doing. Just play as good as you can. You know, so I didn’t look at the leaderboard at all from probably 7, 7 on. I tried not to. I just tried to play my game. When I felt comfortable with the wind and the number that I had, I would play aggressive. If not, I would try to play just to the fatter side of the green, and pars are a good score on a lot of these holes, especially when you’re 9, 10, 11, 12, take par all day on those holes, especially with the wind, the way it was blowing today.
Q. Did you have that attitude because you knew if you played well, a 68 would get it done today no matter what anybody else did? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did. I knew if I played well, especially from 8 to the house, that I was going to put myself in a good position and have a chance to win. I just didn’t want that to affect the way that I played. I just didn’t look at it. I played I took what the course gave me and hit the shots I felt I could hit.
Q. Could you speak to your growing relationship with your brother and what it means to win when he’s by your side? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It’s unbelievable having my brother on my bag. You know, but he’s a big help, too. He does he reads the greens a lot for me. He does a great job reading them. I read them, too, myself, but I like to he definitely helps. He’s really good at it. I just love experiencing all these moments with him. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Q. And was there any extra special meaning, the fact that Tiger put that jacket on you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yes. But I mean yeah, obviously having Tiger put it on was awesome and unbelievable and, you know, you couldn’t you wouldn’t want it any other way. But any guy could put it on me and I’d be just fine (laughter).
Q. You won THE TOUR Championship in September and now you’ve won the year’s last major in November. It’s been a strange season. Can you compare how that moment and this moment, maybe each felt like the end of a season? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, for me, we don’t really have an end of the season because there’s just so many golf tournaments and we play pretty much all year long. But you know, winning the FedExCup was huge. It was something that I really wanted to do in my career. And then obviously coming here and winning Augusta was probably is on the very top of the list for sure. I know 2020 has been a really strange year, but it’s been good to me. I’ve played some good golf. You know, I can’t thank Augusta enough for just having the Masters. Obviously when it canceled in April, none of us knew if we were going to be able to play in it. I was just happy to be here playing, and it worked out okay for me.
Q. The emotion you showed in those interviews right after winning, is that more of the man the public has not seen over the years? You’re so calm and even keel out on the course. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Absolutely. On the golf course, I’m pretty good at controlling my emotions, you know, because I’m out playing golf. But yeah, I had a tough time there speaking with Amanda on the putting green. Just because it like I said, it means so much to me. It means so much to my family, Paulina, the kids. They know it’s something that I’ve always been dreaming about and it’s why I work so hard. You know, I put in a lot of work off the golf course, on the golf course, and I think it’s just you know, it’s something that you push yourself for. That’s why I work so hard is to be in this position. And you know, to finally have the dream come true, I think that’s why you see all that emotion.
Q. First, sitting in that hotel room in Vegas a month ago or so, you had a lot of time to think. Did you ever think that maybe this chance was slipping away a little bit while you were in quarantine? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I didn’t. That never I knew I was going to play the Masters for sure, so that was a bonus, because I had already, you know, had gotten COVID and had to quarantine. So I knew there was no chance of me missing the Masters, so that kind of gave me a little bit more of a drive to practice. I knew I was playing well. Granted, you sit in the hotel room for two weeks, it doesn’t do a lot for the golf game. But I put a lot of work in last week at Houston, and this week. Fortunate that I was able to keep the game in good form, and played well last week in Houston, even though I didn’t if you had asked me on Wednesday what was going to happen, I probably would have told you I was going to miss the cut and I would be here at Augusta practicing because I really had not played much, and even through my first few days of practice, things weren’t going very well. But ended up working out okay for me there. And then coming into this week, I had had some rounds, and that was the reason I was playing there was just to get some more reps in tournament conditions it. Really helped out this week.
Dustin Johnson: “I wanna win a lot of Majors”
Q. You talked about dreaming of winning the Masters. Do you also dream of winning seven, eight, nine majors? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I do. I do.
Q. Do you have a specific number? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I want to get to No. 3 first, but I do. I dream of winning a lot of majors. Just hadn’t quite happened yet. Hopefully this one will help, though, give me a little spring.
Q. The weekend seemed pretty laid back on the course. Did you feel like not having Patrons helped you or did it hurt you as you were playing the last two rounds? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I like the Patrons. I think they bring a lot of excitement and a lot of, you know it just they make the Masters, really. But I would say if I had to say one way or the other, probably made it a little easier to get it done today without having all the fans or however many thousands that are here. But for me, all the tournaments we’ve played this year and the ones that I’ve won, looking back to before when we had fans, I mean, I feel the same way, whether the fans are here or not. I like having them here. They bring excitement, especially when they are cheering for you, they can pull you along. I miss them, and hopefully we get to see them in April.
