We are just a few days away, and you can almost smell the azaleas. The Masters golf tournament is coming in mid-April, and for many golf fans, it’s the best golf major on the schedule.
Bovada’s already got action ready for you on all the Majors, including the Masters, with more to come too. Before we get into specific Masters golf lines, let’s re-live the Top 10 Masters moments of all time.
#10 – Jack Nicklaus 1986
At age 46, most golfers are already eyeing the Seniors Tour, which is just a few short years away. It’s past the age where pro golfers peak, and players after age 40 or so are usually not pulling off historic wins anymore.
Not the Golden Bear, though. In 1986, Nicklaus hit a final round at the age of 46. A red-hot 65 propelled him into his sixth green jacket, a cool 23 years after he first won one at Augusta.
Nicklaus went eagle, birdie, then another birdie on 15, 16, and 17 respectively to create one of the most thrilling (and loudest) finishes ever at the Masters.
#9 – Ben Hogan 1951
Yep, that long ago. The Master has history, and friends. Hogan shot a 68 on the final day to win his first green jacket, and well beyond Master golf, he became one of the most celebrated and imitated players of the game, ever. Hogan won 9 majors, including two Masters, as part of a career that included 62 tournament wins in total.
What made that 68 so notable on that Masters Sunday is that the rest of the field averaged 76 – it was a day where the course was not playing easy at all. Fellow golf legend Sam Snead carded an 80 that same day.
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#8 – Fuzzy Zoeller 1979
The first sudden-death playoff in Masters history produced the first (an very likely only) winner named Fuzzy.
Frank “Fuzzy” Zoeller battled Tom Watson and Ed Sneed to a tie after 18 holes on Masters Sunday that year, and he won it with a seven-foot putt on the second extra hole. Adding to the drama was Sneed, who had a three-shot lead with three to play, but he went bogey-bogey-bogey to end up in the playoff.
It was Zoeller’s first time at the Masters golf tournaments too – not a bad way to make a debut.
#7– Ben Crenshaw (1984)
With a putt on the 10th hole on the final Sunday of the 1984 Masters, Ben Crenshaw drilled a 60-foot putt to take a two-shot lead that sent him on his way to his first Masters title. It’s a putt that has been replayed a ton of times since, a sweeping, arcing shot that sent the gallery into a frenzy.
Crenshaw was two shots off the lead coming into the final round, and that miracle putt helped him to a score of 68 that day. He used that same Sunday magic to claim his second green jacket 11 years later. That year was extra notable since Crenshaw held off a field that included an amateur making his major championship debut, someone by the name of Tiger Woods.
#6 – Tiger Woods (2019)
You might see Tiger’s name pop up on this list a few times – the guy was just made for iconic Masters moments.
In 2019, it had been 22 years since Tiger first won the Masters. He had endured a ton of drama (some self-inflicted, of course) and injuries over the course of those years, and he wasn’t expected to ever reach the pinnacle of golf again.
But somehow, armed with course knowledge and an ultra-competitive mindset (the eye of the Tiger, some might say), Woods pulled off a one-stroke victory and secured his fifth green jacket.
#5 – Tom Weiskopf (1980)
Ok, we never said this list of the top 10 Masters moments was going to only include moments of good golf play.
Tom Weiskopf was a quality golfer throughout his career, with 16 PGA titles and reaching runner-up four times at the Masters.
But he gave every weekend duffer a ray of hope (and maybe some laughter too) when he hit five balls into Rae’s Creek on his way to carding a 13 on the iconic par-3 12th hole.
#4 – Adam Scott (2013)
Bringing home Australia’s first green jacket was a special Masters golf moment on its own for Adam Scott in 2013, but this one deserved an extra special “Aussie-Aussie-Aussie Oy-Oy-Oy!” because of the way he won it.
Scott made a 20-foot putt for birdie on the final hole to force a playoff with Angel Cabrera, and then won the Masters championship title in sudden-death playoff style, draining a 15-footer to make another bird. Clutch.
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#3 – Fred Couples (1992)
One of the most popular players to play the game of golf, Fred Couples – somewhat surprisingly – won only one major in his entire career. And he made it count: the 1992 Masters.
Where 12 years earlier, Weiskopf had hit five into the water on the 12th, Couples was in danger of doing the same as his tee shot rolled back seemingly destined to get wet. A miraculous blade of grass helped stop it just shy of the water – watching the highlights, it seems impossible that the ball stopped from rolling into the creek. Freddy found the green jacket six holes later.
#2 – Tiger Woods (2005)
In what has to be one of the top three shots – certainly the best ever shot in the Masters – in golf history (can anyone quickly name two others as impressive?), Tiger Woods’ putt from the edge of the rough, some 50 feet away from the hole, was simply masterful.
Woods was battling Chris DiMarco, and was one shot up on the 16th. DiMarco was sitting nicely on the center of the green and had to watch as the chip by Woods took 16 seconds to roll into the cup. Tiger aimed it about 20 feet above the hole, played it perfectly, and millions of golf fans went nuts as it rolled and rested on the edge of the cup before falling in.
Oh, and Tiger won the green jacket an hour later.
#1 – Tiger Woods (1997)
Yep, there’s that name again – his third appearance in this list of top 10 Masters moments. But the guy’s just too good.
In his first major as a professional, the 21-year-old Woods started the final round with a nine-stroke lead. He increased it to 12 strokes by the end of the round and cemented his status as a golf legend.
It was a record margin of victory in the Masters and set the stage for a career that ranks among the greatest of all time.
We got excited for the 2024 Masters just by compiling this list! We hope you did too.
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