2024 Masters Tournament

Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does not disclose its income, holdings, membership list, or ticket sales.Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, the course was designed by Jones and Alister MacKenzie and opened for play in 1932. Since 1934, the club has played host to the annual Masters Tournament, one of the four men's major championships in professional golf, and the only major played each year at the same course. It was the top-ranked course in Golf Digest's 2009 list of America's 100 greatest courses and was the number ten-ranked course based on course architecture on Golfweek Magazine's 2011 list of best classic courses in the United States.In 2019, the course began co-hosting the Augusta National Women's Amateur with Champions Retreat Golf Club.

The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first major of the year, and unlike the others, it is always held at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private course in the city of Augusta, Georgia, in the southeastern United States. The Masters was started by amateur champion Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts. After his grand slam in 1930, Jones acquired the former plant nursery and co-designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie. First played 89 years ago in 1934, the tournament is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour. The field of players is smaller than those of the other major championships because it is an invitational event, held by the Augusta National Golf Club. The tournament has a number of traditions. Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the champion, who must return it to the clubhouse one year after his victory, although it remains his personal property and is stored with other champions' jackets in a specially designated cloakroom. In most instances, only a first-time and currently reigning champion may remove his jacket from the club grounds. A golfer who wins the event multiple times uses the same green jacket awarded upon his initial win (unless they need to be re-fitted with a new jacket). The Champions Dinner, inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1952, is held on the Tuesday before each tournament, and is open only to past champions and certain board members of the Augusta National Golf Club. Beginning in 1963, legendary golfers, usually past champions, have hit an honorary tee shot on the morning of the first round to commence play. These have included Fred McLeod, Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Elder, and Tom Watson. Since 1960, a semi-social contest at the par-3 course has been played on Wednesday, the day before the first round. Nicklaus has the most Masters wins, with six between 1963 and 1986. Tiger Woods won five between 1997 and 2019. Palmer won four between 1958 and 1964. Five have won three titles at Augusta: Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson. Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American player to win the tournament, in 1961; the second was Seve Ballesteros of Spain, the champion in 1980 and 1983. The Augusta National course first opened 90 years ago in 1933 and has been modified many times by different architects. Among the changes: greens have been reshaped and, on occasion, entirely re-designed, bunkers have been added, water hazards have been extended, new tee boxes have been built, hundreds of trees have been planted, and several mounds have been installed.

The 1968 Masters Tournament was the 32nd Masters Tournament, held April 11–14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Bob Goalby won his only major championship, one stroke ahead of Roberto De Vicenzo, the reigning British Open champion. On the back nine in the final round, Goalby birdied 13 and 14 and eagled 15 to record a 66 (−6) and a total of 277 (−11). At first it appeared that he had tied De Vicenzo and the two would meet in an 18-hole Monday playoff, but De Vicenzo returned an incorrect scorecard showing a par 4 on the 17th hole, instead of a birdie 3, sunk with a two-foot putt. Playing partner Tommy Aaron incorrectly marked the 4 and De Vicenzo failed to catch the mistake and signed the scorecard. USGA rules stated that the higher written score signed by a golfer on his card must stand, and the error gave Goalby the championship.Speaking to the press after the error, De Vincenzo said, "What a stupid I am."Ironically, Goalby discovered a scoring error he had made on the card he was keeping for Raymond Floyd, his playing partner in the final round, which he corrected at the scorer's tent. He had marked Floyd down for a par-3 on the 16th hole, when Floyd had actually bogeyed the hole. Floyd ended up in a tie for seventh place with, among others, Aaron. Both Aaron and Floyd would win the Masters in future years, Aaron in 1973 and Floyd in 1976. Jack Nicklaus tied for fifth place and third-round leader Gary Player finished tied for seventh. Lee Trevino, 28, made his Masters debut and was two strokes back after three rounds, tied for seventh place. A rough back nine of 43 (+7) pushed his score to 80 and he finished tied for 40th. Two months later, he won the 1968 U.S. Open, the first of his six major titles. The Masters was the only major that eluded him; his best finish was a tie for tenth, in 1975 and 1985. Citing incompatibility, Trevino skipped Augusta three times in the early 1970s, and missed in 1977 due to a bad back.In his fourteenth Masters at age 38, four-time champion Arnold Palmer found the water three times during a second round 79 for 151 and missed the cut for the first time at Augusta. He made the next seven cuts, through 1975. Bob Rosburg won the ninth Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a score of 22. Claude Harmon, 51, had consecutive aces at the fourth and fifth holes, but tied for third at 24. The next day, Harmon withdrew in the first round after a nine-hole score of 40.

The 2011 Masters Tournament was the 75th Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club. Charl Schwartzel birdied the final four holes to win his first major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Adam Scott and Jason Day.Eight players held a share of the lead in the last round including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy had at least a share of the lead for the first three rounds and had a four stroke advantage entering Sunday's final round, but shot an 80 to finish ten strokes behind Schwartzel.This was Ben Crenshaw's 40th consecutive Masters appearance. The top-ranked player in the world, Martin Kaymer, failed to make the cut, and Hideki Matsuyama was the only amateur to play on the weekend.

The 1971 Masters Tournament was the 35th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Charles Coody won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus.Miller was six-under for the Sunday round and, playing two groups ahead of the final two-some, his birdie on 14 would open up a two-shot lead when Coody subsequently bogeyed the hole, but could not hold on to win. Coody, co-leader with Nicklaus entering the round, rebounded from his bogey at 14 with two consecutive birdies and parred the final two holes while Miller, 23, bogeyed two of the last three holes. It was a bit of redemption for Coody, who bogeyed the final three holes in 1969 to finish two strokes back. It was Coody's third and final win on the PGA Tour.Future 3-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin made his Masters debut in 1971 and tied for 13th place. It was the final Masters for two champions: 1948 winner Claude Harmon, withdrew during the first round and 1955 champion Cary Middlecoff during the second.Dave Stockton won the twelfth Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a score of 23. For the first time in its history, the Masters was not the first major championship of the year. The 1971 PGA Championship was played in Florida in February, and was won by Nicklaus. The co-leader entering Sunday, his attempt to secure the second leg of the grand slam came up short on the back nine on Sunday, as he shot 37 for an even-par 72.

The 1988 Masters Tournament was the 52nd Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Sandy Lyle won his second major title with a birdie on the 72nd hole to win by one stroke over runner-up Mark Calcavecchia.Lyle led after 36 and 54 holes, but relinquished the lead on the final nine; he carded a double-bogey on the par-3 12th after his tee shot hit the bank and rolled back into Rae's Creek. Having failed to make birdie on either of the two par-5s on the back nine, he remained one stroke behind Calcavecchia at the par-3 16th. Lyle's tee shot found the green and left him with a 15-foot (4.6 m) putt for birdie, which he holed.Tied for the lead on the 18th tee, Lyle's 1-iron tee shot found the fairway bunker. His 7-iron approach landed past the flag and up the slope of the tier running across the green, before gradually rolling back to finish around 10 feet (3 m) from the hole. After holing the birdie putt, Lyle danced up the green to claim his only green jacket.From Scotland, Lyle was the first winner of the Masters from the United Kingdom, which had four consecutive with Nick Faldo's playoff wins in 1989 and 1990 and Ian Woosnam's one-stroke victory in 1991. Decades later, Lyle's approach shot from the bunker on the final hole is still regularly referred to by BBC commentators, particularly Peter Alliss, who almost without fail, remark that any shot rolling back to the pin on the 18th has 'shades of Sandy Lyle' about it.

The 1982 Masters Tournament was the 46th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Craig Stadler won his only major championship by defeating Dan Pohl on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.Challenging weather conditions on Thursday and Friday led to the cut at 154 (+10), the highest since the cut was introduced in 1957 and still the highest through 2021, with the co-leaders, Stadler and Curtis Strange, at even par 144.In the final round, Stadler shot a 33 on the front had a six-shot lead with seven holes to play. He bogeyed four of those holes, including a three-putt from twenty feet (6 m) on the 72nd green to force a playoff with Pohl; the playoff began and ended at the tenth hole. Pohl carded two rounds of 67 on the weekend after two rounds of 75. In the sudden-death playoff, Stadler made a routine par and won the Masters when Pohl missed his six-foot par attempt. This was the final year that players were required to use Augusta National club caddies. The practice was previously employed at the other majors and some PGA Tour events well into the 1970s; the U.S. Open first allowed the players to use their own caddies in 1976. The policy change at Augusta National was announced by chairman Hord Hardin in November 1982.It was the final Masters as a competitor for 1946 champion Herman Keiser, age 67, who withdrew in the first round.

The 1976 Masters Tournament was the 40th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Raymond Floyd won his only Masters title, eight strokes ahead of runner-up Ben Crenshaw. He shot a 131 (−13) over the first two rounds, then posted two rounds of 70 on the weekend to tie Jack Nicklaus' record of 271 (−17), set in 1965. In the first three rounds, Floyd was under-par on every par-5, with eleven birdies and an eagle, and his 54-hole total of 201 (−15) was the lowest ever. Defending champion Nicklaus was the nearest pursuer, eight shots back at 209. It was the second of Floyd's four major titles. Tiger Woods broke the 72-hole record by a stroke 21 years later in 1997 with 270 (−18), which was tied by Jordan Spieth in 2015. Beginning with this Masters, a sudden-death playoff format was introduced, and originally planned to start at the first hole. After three years without use, it was changed to begin on the 10th hole in 1979; used for the first time that year, it ended on the eleventh green. In 2004, the playoff was changed to start on the 18th hole and then alternate with the adjacent 10th hole. Prior to 1976, playoffs were full 18-hole rounds on Monday, and the last was won by Billy Casper in 1970. The first playoff in 1935 was the exception at 36 holes. Floyd was the fourth wire-to-wire winner in Masters history, following Craig Wood in 1941, Arnold Palmer in 1960, and Nicklaus in 1972. The next was Jordan Spieth, 39 years later, in 2015.

The 1978 Masters Tournament was the 42nd Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Gary Player overcame a 7-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth major championship. Player, age 42, shot a record-tying 64 (−8) in the final round to win by one stroke. The runners-up were Rod Funseth, defending champion Tom Watson, and 54-hole leader Hubert Green, the reigning U.S. Open champion, who shot an even-par 72.Tied for tenth place at the start of the round, Player shot a 30 on the back nine in the summer-like heat. He holed seven putts ranging from 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 m), including a final one of 15 feet (4.6 m) for birdie at 18. The leader in the clubhouse, Player had to wait forty minutes for the final groups to finish. Funseth had five birdies, but his two bogeys were both three-putts and he parred the last three holes. Watson eagled 13 and birdied both 15 and 16, but missed an 8-foot (2.4 m) putt for par on the final hole. After a bogey at 16, Green hit an outstanding approach shot at 18 which left a birdie putt from three feet (0.9 m) to tie, but he missed after being inadvertently distracted by a radio announcer.Player became the oldest winner of the Masters and the first over forty in nearly a quarter century; Sam Snead won his third green jacket at age 41 in 1954. Player retained the honor for eight years, until Jack Nicklaus won his sixth at 46 in 1986.

The 2015 Masters Tournament was the 79th Masters Tournament, and the first of golf's four major championships, held April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jordan Spieth led wire-to-wire and shot a record-tying 270 (−18) to win his first major at the age of 21, four strokes ahead of runners-up Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, both major champions.This was the final Masters appearance for two-time champion Ben Crenshaw.

The 1964 Masters Tournament was the 28th Masters Tournament, held April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. A field of 96 players entered the tournament and 48 made the 36-hole cut at 148 (+4). Arnold Palmer, age 34, opened with three rounds in the 60s and led by five strokes after 54 holes at 206 (−10). He carded a final round of 70 on Sunday to win by six strokes to become the first four-time winner of the Masters. It was his seventh and final major victory. Craig Wood, the 1941 champion, played in his final Masters, but withdrew before completing the first round. Prior to his win at Augusta, he was the runner-up in the first two Masters in 1934 and 1935. Labron Harris Jr. won the Par 3 contest with a score of 23. Palmer was later joined as a four-time winner at Augusta by Jack Nicklaus in 1972 and Tiger Woods in 2005; Nicklaus won his fifth in 1975 and a record sixth in 1986.

The 1974 Masters Tournament was the 38th Masters Tournament, held on April 11–14 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Gary Player won the second of his three Masters titles at 278 (−10), two strokes ahead of runners-up Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf. It was the seventh of his nine major championships. Player did not enter the previous year's tournament due to leg and abdominal surgery; it was the only Masters that he missed in 53 years. Defending champion Tommy Aaron missed the cut by two strokes. Jack Burke Jr., the 1956 champion, competed at the Masters for the final time.