The 9 Golfers Who Came Up Short At The Masters The Most Times Before Finally Winning The Green Jacket

The vast majority of players who compete at The Masters will never get the chance to experience what it’s like to win at Augusta National. There are also a number of notable names who seemed like they’d never be able to get over the hump before finally checking the box after years of coming up short.

No golfers had more appearances at The Masters before getting their first win than these guys

Augusta National served as the host of The Masters for the first time in 1934, and Horace Smith became the first golfer to win the tournament in his first appearance by default by topping the field that year.

Since then, only two other golfers have won a green jacket the first time they played in the major: Gene Sarazen the following year and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. As things currently stand, the winner has competed on an average of 6.5 occasions before earning golf immortality.

However, that number is skewed a bit courtesy of some guys who took significantly longer to finally join the club based on the number of times they competed before getting the victory.

9. Tommy Aaron: 11

Best Finish Before Win: T-5

Tommy Aaron made his debut at The Masters in 1959 but missed the cut.  He returned the following year and improved to a tie for 25th, which preceded a four-year hiatus ahead of a tie for 11th upon his return in 1965.

Aaron put together a string of four consecutive Top 10 finishes between 1967 and 1970 while peaking with a tie for fifth at the end of that run, but he followed it up with a tie for 22nd before missing the cut in 1972.

He was looking to bounce back when he arrived at Augusta National the following year, and he did exactly that. Aaron had the lead after the first round before finding himself trailing by four strokes heading into the final one, but he was able to erase the deficit and win his only major with a one-stroke victory over J.C. Snead.

Adam Scott: 12

Best Finish Before Win: T-2

There are three golfers who needed to take on Augusta National a dozen times before finally conquering it, and we’ll start with the most recent and work our way back.

Greg Norman had 22 chances to become the first Australian to win The Masters, but that title was still up for grabs after his pursuit came to an end with three second-place finishes to show for it.

Adam Scott emerged as a contender to claim that crown when he finished in a tie for ninth in his debut in 2002. However, he failed to come close to the Top 10 over his next eight starts, missing the cut on two occasions and peaking in a tie for 18th.

He turned things around with a runner-up finish in 2011 and another tie for 8th the following year, and he was finally able to get it done after besting Angel Cabrera in a playoff in 2013.

Phil Mickelson: 12

Best Finish Before Win: 3rd (on four occasions)

Phil Mickelson hadn’t turned pro when he competed in The Masters for the first time, and he was the Low Amateur when he finished in a tie for 46th in 1991. He was allowed to make money when he returned two years later and came in a tie for 34th, and after missing the event in 1995, he emerged as a contender with a tie for 7th that was followed by a third-place finish.

That was the first of four times he’d finish in third, which included three straight years he earned the bronze between 2001 and 2003. He also found himself facing the misfortune of playing at a time when Tiger Woods seemed virtually unbeatable (he missed the cut when the phenom announced his grand arrival with a 12-stroke win in 1997), and it was fair to wonder if Lefty had what it took to beat him on one of golf’s biggest stages.

Mickelson put those doubts to rest by taking advantage of the off week Tiger had in 2004 and outlasting Ernie Els in the back nine on the final day of the tournament to earn the first of the three green jackets he’d end up securing.

Raymond Floyd: 12

Best Finish Before Win: T-7

You never knew which Raymond Floyd was going to show up at The Masters.

He missed the cut in his first start in 1965 to kick off a roller coaster ride where he subsequently finished in a tie for 8th, missed the cut again, tied for seventh, tied for 36th, missed the cut yet again, finished in a tie for 13th, and—you guessed it—was cut once more.

Floyd didn’t inspire a ton of confidence based on how he fared in the three years leading up to The Masters in 1976. He’d managed to earn the right to play the weekend each time, but he also never finished above a tie for 22nd.

However, the stars finally aligned for the man who won in dominant fashion. Floyd became just the fourth golfer to go wire-to-wire at The Masters, and he ended up beating Ben Crenshaw by a whopping eight strokes (which is good for the third-largest margin of victory in the history of the tournament).

Ben Crenshaw: 13

Best Finish Before Win: 2nd

Speaking of the devil…

Crenshaw was the Low Amateur in back-to-back years (T-19 and T-22) after making his debut at The Masters in 1972, and it seems like he had a pretty bright future ahead of him at Augusta National when he turned pro before finishing in a tie for 22nd.

He followed that up with a tie for 30th in 1975 before his aforementioned runner-up finish behind Floyd, which marked the start of a solid run where he had five Top 10 finishes in the span of eight years.

That includes a tie for 2nd in 1983, and Crenshaw’s 13th start ended up being his lucky one when you consider he bested Tom Watson by a couple of strokes to get the first of what would end up being two wins at the major.

Billy Casper: 14

Best Finish Before Win: T-2

Billy Casper proved he had what it took to win a major with victory at the U.S. Open in 1959 and 1966, and he’d racked up 44 wins on the PGA Tour when he headed to The Masters for the 14th time in 1970.

The 39-year-old had finished in a tie for second and one stroke behind George Archer the previous year, which marked the best of the five Top 10 finishes he’d recorded since making his debut in 1957 (the only time he’d failed to make the cut was in 1959).

The 14th time ended up being the charm for Casper, who went to an 18-hole playoff with Gene Littler after they finished at -9 before beating him by five strokes on Monday.

Mark O’Meara: 15

Best Finish Before Win: T-4

There was no real reason to think Mark O’Meara was going to be in the hunt when The Masters got underway in 1998.

Tiger Woods seemed to be the overwhelming favorite in his quest to defend his crown after a record-setting 12-stroke victory the previous year. O’Meara, on the other hand, had not ended up higher than a tie for 15th in the five years leading up to it and had finished in a tie for 3oth in 1997.

The 41-year-old did have plenty of experience on his side, and he was able to use it to his advantage while slowly but surely clawing his way up the leaderboard over the first three days of the tournament.

He was one of three men sitting two strokes behind Fred Couples entering Sunday, and he capped things off with a 67 to beat him and David Duval by a stroke.

Rory McIlroy: 17

Best Finish Before Win: 2nd

I think most golf fans are familiar with the trials and tribulations Rory McIlroy faced before finally getting the win that had long eluded him at The Masters in 2025.

The Northern Irishman needed a victory at Augusta National to cap off the career grand slam, but it seemed like he might be forever haunted by the collapse in 2011 where he held a four-stroke lead heading into the final round only to shoot an 80 and finish in a tie for 15th.

He had seven Top 10 finishes after that point but also missed the cut in 2021 and 2023 before a disappointing tie for 22nd in 2024. However, he finally exorcised his demons by beating Justin Rose (who headed into 2026 with 20 starts without a win) in a playoff.

Sergio Garcia: 19

Best Finish Before Win: T-4

We’ve got one more golfer who kicked off their career at The Masters as the Low Amateur courtesy of Sergio Garcia, who earned that honor in 1999.

He had a handful of Top 10 finishes after turning pro, but Augusta National got the best of him more often than not over the next 15 years or so, including five tournaments where he missed the cut.

He missed the weekend for the fifth time in 2014, ended up in a tie for 17th the following year, and was trending in the wrong direction with a tie for 34th in 2016. However, he finally got the win in 2017, which also came at the expense of Justin Rose in a playoff.