90 facts to know about the Masters, which celebrates its 90th edition

Discover 90 fascinating facts about The Masters, from its first winner in 1934 to iconic traditions.

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Here in 2026 it's the 90th playing of the Masters Tournament. First played in 1934 and then known as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, the Masters has had many memorable moments, and perhaps more than a few things most fans didn't know about the event.

1934 – first tournament played the nines in reverse, then switched to current format the following year
1934 – Horton Smith wins the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament with a score of 4-under 284
1934 – First radio broadcast
1934 – Ross Somerville records the first hole-in-one at the Masters with a mashie niblick at the 145-yard No. 16
1935 – Gene Sarazen holes a 4-wood from 235 yards for an albatross 2 on the par-5 15th hole in the final round, a shot forever called “The Shot Heard Round the World”
1937 – Augusta National members first wear the single-breasted, single-vent green jacket so patrons could identify a reliable source of information
1939 – Tournament officially named The Masters
1940 — Lloyd Mangrum scores course-record 64 in opening round, a record which stands for 46 years
1941 — Craig Wood first wire-to-wire winner
1942 – Byron Nelson defeats Ben Hogan in the first Masters playoff
1943-1944 – Club closes during World War II
1947 – Jimmy Demaret becomes first golfer to break par in all four rounds
1947 – Magnolia Lane paved
1948 — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, four years before being elected president of the United States, becomes a member at Augusta
1948 – Frank Stranahan becomes first competitor to have his invitation rescinded
1949 – the green jacket is first awarded to the champion, Sam Snead
1950 – Jimmy Demaret becomes the first three-time Masters champion
1951 – Runner-up begins receiving a silver medal
1952 — Ben Hogan starts the Champions Dinner
1952 – Low amateur begins receiving a silver cup for his performance
1953 – Eisenhower Cabin built
1954 – Masters begins awarding crystal for holes-in-one, eagles, and the day’s low score
1955 — The first bridge at Augusta National named for a player is dedicated to Gene Sarazen. The Sarazen Bridge runs over the water hazard in front of the green on the 15th hole
1956 — first year of television coverage
1956 – Ken Venturi shoots 66, the lowest round ever by an amateur
1957 – A 36-hole cut is introduced for the first time
1958 – Bridges dedicated to Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. The Hogan Bridge crosses Rae’s Creek, taking golfers to the No. 12 green and the Nelson Bridge crosses Rae’s Creek, taking golfers to the No. 13 tee
1958 — "Amen Corner" – holes 11-13 – christened by writer Herbert Warren Wind in an article in Sports Illustrated.
1959 – Art Wall becomes the first Master champion to win with a birdie on the final hole
1960 – Sam Snead wins the inaugural Par 3 Contest, which becomes a Masters tradition
1960 – Telecast interview of champion with Clifford Roberts begun.
1961 – Gary Player becomes the first non-American champion
1961 – Clubhouse reproduction introduced for permanent Masters Trophy
1961 – Charlie Coe shoots 281, the lowest amateur score for 72 holes
1963 – Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod begin the tradition of an honorary starter
1964 – Arnold Palmer becomes the first four-time champion
1965 – Butler Cabin begins serving as television studio during broadcast
1967 – First golf broadcast in color
1967 – TV announcer Jack Whitaker banned from the broadcast booth for referring to the patrons in the 1966 playoff as a “mob”
1968 – Bob Goalby wins when Roberto De Vicenzo signs an incorrect scorecard showing a 4 on No. 17 instead of a birdie 3 to miss a playoff
1971 – At age 69, Augusta National Golf Club co-founder Bobby Jones dies of the spinal disease syringomyelia
1972 — Patron Badge list closed. Waiting list established.
1975 – Lee Elder first Black to play in the tournament
1975 – Johnny Miller scores a record 30 on the front-nine in the third round but falls short of Jack Nicklaus, who wins his fifth of six Green Jackets, on Sunday
1977 – Augusta National co-founder Clifford Roberts found dead on the banks of Augusta’s par-3 course of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
1977 – William H. Lane elected Chairman and Hord W. Hardin elected Vice-Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters
1978 – Silver Salver added as an award for the tournament runner-up
1979 – Fuzzy Zoeller wins the first sudden-death playoff at The Masters
1980 – Seve Ballesteros becomes first European champion
1980 – Hord W. Hardin elected chairman
1981 – Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson assume the role as honorary starter last filled in 1976
1981 – First Masters played on bentgrass greens
1982 — Craig Stadler defeats Dan Pohl in the tournament's first one-hole playoff
1983 — Players given the option of using their own caddies
1984 – Sam Snead joins as an honorary starter
1986 – Jack Nicklaus win his record sixth Masters at age 46
1986 – Greg Norman (first round) and Nick Price (final round) shoot the lowest 18-hole score in tournament history of 63
1987 – Larry Mize chips-in to beat Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros in a playoff and become the first Augusta native to win the title
1991 — Ron Townsend becomes the first Black member admitted
1991 — Jackson T. Stephens elected chairman.
1992 – Marc Calcavecchia scores a record 29 on the back-nine in the fourth round
1995 – Gary McCord removed from CBS’s coverage for saying the greens were so slick they looked as if they’d been “bikini waxed” and describing shots landing over the 17th green as ending up by the “body bags”
1995 – Ben Crenshaw wins his second Masters the same week he served as a pallbearer for famed instructor Harvey Penick
1995 — Plaque commemorating Arnold Palmer's achievements at the Masters placed on new fountain at No. 16
1996 – Greg Norman blows the largest 54 hole lead, 6 shots
1996 – Masters internet site launched
1997 – Tiger Woods becomes first Black winner and the youngest champion (21 years, 3 months, 14 days)
1998 – Mark O’Meara becomes the oldest first-time winner (41)
1998 – William “Hootie” Johnson elected chairman
1999 – Second cut of fairway increased on golf course.
2004 – Arnold Palmer plays in his 50th consecutive and final Masters
2006 – Billy Payne elected tournament chairman
2007 – Arnold Palmer becomes the tournament’s seventh honorary starter, a role he filled up until his death in 2016
2007 – Zach Johnson ties the highest winning score (289)
2010 – Jack Nicklaus becomes the tournament's eighth honorary starter
2011 — Rory McIlroy matches highest final-round score (80) ever shot by 54-hole leader/co-leader at Masters
2011 — South African Charl Schwartzel becomes first Masters champion to birdie each of his final four holes.
2012 – Gary Player becomes the tournament's ninth honorary starter
2012 — Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore become the first female members of Augusta National Golf Club
2013 — Adam Scott becomes first Australian champion of the Masters
2014 — 20-year-old Jordan Spieth shares 54-hole lead, youngest player to lead/co-lead after any round at the Masters
2015 — 21-year-old Jordan Spieth becomes 2nd-youngest winner, 5th wire-to-wire winner (first in 39 years)
2016 — Danny Willett becomes first Englishman to win Masters in 20 years. Like Nick Faldo in 1996, does so with a final-round 67.
2017 — Sergio Garcia wins 1st major title in 74th major start, setting all-time mark for most major championship starts to first major title.
2017 – Fred Ridley succeeds Billy Payne as chairman of Augusta National
2019 – Tiger Woods (43) becomes second-oldest Masters champion, winning his fifth Masters and 15th major, second all time for both. It's his first major title since the 2008 U.S. Open and only major he’s won from behind after 54 holes
2020 — Dustin Johnson sets new 72-hole scoring record in win (20-under 268) during November Masters due to COVID-19
2021 – Lee Elder, the first Black to compete in the Masters in 1975, joins Nicklaus and Player as an honorary starter for one year
2021 — Hideki Matsuyama becomes first men’s major champion representing Japan
2022 – Tom Watson becomes the most recent honorary starter, joining Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player
2023 — Jon Rahm becomes first European to win the Masters and the U.S. Open. He’s also only the second player to win Masters after making double bogey on opening hole of the tournament (Sam Snead, 1952)
2025 — Rory McIlroy wins in a sudden-death playoff to complete the career Grand Slam. He also sets new mark for most double bogeys/worse (4) by a Masters champion and for most 3s or lower on the scorecard in regulation by Masters champion (30)