The Masters: One of the Four Major Golf Championships

The Masters is one of the four major championships and is always held in April.

It’s one of the most important tournaments on the golfing calendar and the first to be held each year. The Masters takes place in Augusta, Georgia, USA, and is always held in April. Read on to find out more about this prestigious tournament.

The beginnings of The Masters

The Masters was started in the early part of the 20th century by Bobby Jones. This American golfer saw sport as a pleasure and was never a professional, and he wanted to build a golf course for his retirement.

In 1931, along with Clifford Roberts, who would become one of the club’s future presidents, he found the perfect location in Augusta, Georgia. The land had first been an indigo plantation and then a plant nursery. That same year, the design work began, and Augusta National Golf Club was founded in January 1933.

The first tournament there was the Augusta National Invitational Tournament in March 1934 with an 18-hole par 72 course. Horton Smith was the first winner, with 284 strokes. Landowner Bobby Jones finished 13th.

In 1939, the tournament was renamed The Master’s Tournament, and both the name and the 1935 course layout have remained the same to this day.

The club’s members petitioned the United States Golf Association (USGA) to host a US Open in Augusta, but the association denied their request. They said that Georgia was too hot in summer to host one of its prestigious tournaments.

Course and playing format

The Masters course is a 72-stroke course of 18 holes and players play the course four times over four days. The tournament follows USGA rules and also has other club rules.

Since Augusta National Golf Club is small compared to other courses, the first 36 holes (the first two days of the tournament) are contested by groups of three players. The first two days of the tournament are usually Thursday and Friday. Once all golfers have completed the first two days, the players with the most strokes are eliminated. The remaining players then continue to play the third and fourth days.

As well as a cash prize, the winner of the Masters also wins a green jacket. This began in 1949, and the first player to wear it was Sam Snead. The player can then take the jacket home and wear it at other tournaments. Then, they return it for the next Master’s tournament the following year.

Tradition also states that the winner of the previous year’s tournament puts the jacket on the new winner. If a player wins two years in a row, the president of the Augusta National Golf Club presents the jacket. This has happened three times so far: Jack Nicklaus in 1966, Nick Faldo in 1990, and Tiger Woods in 2002.

Since 1961, the winner has also received the Master’s Trophy and a gold medal. Since 1993, a replica of the trophy has been presented and the original remains in the club.

Top Masters winners

Of the 59 different players to have won The Masters, 36 were from the United States. The rest have come from South Africa, Germany, Spain, England, Wales, Fiji, Canada, Argentina, and Australia.

The golfer with the most Masters titles is Jack Nicklaus, who won six times: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, and 1986. The second-highest winner is Tiger Woods, with five (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2019), and in third place, Arnold Palmer, with four (1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964).

Other interesting Masters records include the following:

• The youngest winner was Tiger Woods in 1997, at 21 years old, while the oldest was Jack Nicklaus in 1986, at 46 years old.
• Gary Player has participated the most times, 52 in total.
• Sam Snead scored the highest winning score (289).

As with all golf majors, winning the Masters gives the player the opportunity to compete in the other three on the calendar for five consecutive years. These are the PGA in May, US Open in June, and the Open Championship in July. They also receive a lifetime invitation to play at The Masters and enter the PGA Tour and The Players for five years.