The 9 Biggest Margins Of Victory In The History Of The Masters

The Masters is easily the most anticipated event on the annual golf calendar, and it’s hard to beat watching the best players on the planet compete against the stunning backdrop of Augusta National. It’s usually a very hard-fought competition, but there have been more than a few occasions where it turned into a bit of a runaway.

I think most golf fans would agree the ideal version of The Masters features at least a couple of guys battling for first place as they head down the home stretch on Sunday, but there’s also something to be said for performances where you can’t help but tip your cap to a winner who simply dominates the rest of the field.

That hasn’t been an incredibly frequent occurrence at the major that was held for the first time in 1934, but there have been more than a few exceptions thanks to the golfers responsible for the largest margins of victory at Augusta.

Tiger Woods: 12 Strokes

Tiger Woods had emerged as a sensation before heading to Augusta National in 1997, and he officially ushered in a new era thanks to what transpired by the time The Masters wrapped up that year.

Tiger had finished as the low amateur in 1995 and failed to make the cut the following year, and it was fair to wonder if he had what it took to bounce back when he competed in the major for the first time as a professional at the age of 21.

It’s safe to say he firmly put those doubts to rest.

Woods was three strokes back of the leader after his opening round but headed into the weekend with a three-stroke lead after ending up at -8 by shooting a 66 on Friday.

It grew to nine when he topped himself with a 65, and he didn’t have to sweat too much on Sunday with the 69 that saw him finish at -18—twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite.

He became the youngest person to ever win The Masters and is still the only golfer to win the tournament by double digits.

Jack Nicklaus: 9 Strokes

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player dominated The Masters in the 1960s, as one of those three men ended up with the green jacket every single time it was held between 1960 and 1966.

Palmer was hoping to get his fourth win in eight years and defend his title heading into the event in 1965, but Nicklaus had other plans.

Player actually had a two-stroke lead over Nicklaus and the rest of the field after shooting -7 on Thursday, but the trio of legends ended up tied at -6 by the time Friday wrapped up.

However, the Golden Bear kicked things into high gear with the 64 that gave him a five-stroke lead over Player heading into the final round where he padded his lead by four more to beat both of them by nine strokes and earn his second of the five victories he’d eventually rack up at The Masters.

Raymond Floyd: 8 Strokes

Raymond Floyd did pretty well for himself during his time on the PGA Tour, as he finished with 22 wins and won three of the four majors required to secure a career grand slam (he never reigned supreme at the British Open but finished in a tie for second in 1978—two strokes behind Nicklaus).

He added a win at The Masters to his résumé in 1976 with a wire-to-wire victory that saw the one-stroke lead he had after shooting -7 on Thursday grow to eight by the time he sank his final putt (Ben Crenshaw ended up in second).

 

Cary Middlecoff: 7 Strokes

Cary Middlecoff shot an even-par 72 on Thursday that was good enough to end up in a tie for fourth, but he came hot out of the gate on Friday by shooting a then-record 31 on the front nine en route to taking a four-stroke lead over Ben Hogan with the -7 that put him at the top of the leaderboard.

The gap remained unchanged after both men shot a 72 on Saturday, and Hogan had some work to do if he wanted to pull off the comeback.

However, he actually dropped a shot after finishing at +1 in his final round, while Middlecoff bounced back with the 70 that dropped him to -9 and gave him the win with what was at the time the biggest margin if victory in Masters history.

Arnold Palmer: 6 Strokes

Jack Nicklaus got to give Arnold Palmer a taste of his own medicine during his aforementioned win based on what had transpired during The Masters in 1964.

Palmer was one of five men who were tied for first place at -3 after shooting 69 on Thursday, but he was the only one who went on to outdo himself with the 68 that gave him a four-stroke lead.

He extended it to five ahead of the final round with the 69 that put him at -10, and he ended up at -12 to beat Nicklaus (who surged into second with a 67 after shooting 71 or above the previous three days) and Dave Marr by six strokes.

Claude Harmon: 5 Strokes

There are four different golfers who’ve won The Masters by five strokes, and we’re going to go from the oldest to the most recent.

Cary Middlecoff also knew what it was like to lose by a significant margin prior to his victory, as Claude Harmon set the record he ended up beating when the two men headed to Augusta for The Masters in 1948.

Harmon made his money as a club pro as opposed to a professional golfer, but he was able to hold his own with the big boys and ended up tied for second (one behind leader Lloyd Mangrum) after posting a -2 in his opening round.

He was also trailing by one when Harry Todd ended up on the top of the leaderboard at -5 on Friday before cratering with an 80 on Saturday to help Harmon take a two-stroke lead with the 69 he shot ahead of the final round.

He finished things off with his third 70 of the tournament to end at -9, while Middlecoff finished in a fairly distant second at -4.

Ben Hogan: 5 Strokes

In 1939, Ralph Guldahl set the mark to beat for the lowest score at The Masters by finishing at -9 with the 279 strokes he recorded over the course of four days.

That remained the record until Ben Hogan tamed Augusta better than any golfer to come before him in 1953.

Hogan was two strokes behind Chick Harbert for the lead after shooting a 70 during his opening round, but he was the leader heading into the weekend with the first of the two 69s that sandwiched the 66 he had on Saturday.

Hogan set a new four-day record with the 274 strokes that put him at -14—five better than second-place finisher Ed Oliver.

Nick Faldo: 5 Strokes

It looked like Greg Norman was going to go wire-to-wire and win his first green jacket when you consider The Shark had a six-stroke lead over Nick Faldo heading into Sunday.

However, Sir Nick ended up being the beneficiary of one of the most notable collapses in the history of golf; he certainly helped his own cause by shooting a 67 to finish at -12, but Norman basically sucked any possible intrigue out of the day with the 78 that saw him plummet to -7 and finish in second place.

Dustin Johnson: 5 Strokes

Dustin Johnson took full advantage of the ideal conditions at Augusta National in the fall of 2020 after the tournament was postponed due to the pandemic, as he set a tournament record (albeit one that deserves an asterisk) with the 268 he shot to win his first green jacket.

He wasn’t able to come close to sniffing the record for the largest margin of victory, but he sort of went wire-to-wire by finishing in a tie for first on Thursday and Friday before breaking away from the pack with a 65 and finishing with a 68.

He ended up at -20 and beat Im Sung-jae and Cameron Smith by five strokes to become the fourth player to win by that exact margin.