What's the lowest score in Masters history?
The lowest score for a winner in Masters history is 20-under par. Dustin Johnson shot a final-round 68 in 2020 to break Tiger Woods' record of 18-under in the 1997 tournament.
The lowest winning score ever is 268, and that total was recorded recently — breaking one of Tiger Woods' records. In this article, we take a look at the best-ever 72-hole scoring totals in The Masters.
The lowest officially recorded round is 55 by Rhein Gibson (12 birdies and two eagles on a par 71) on May 12, 2012, at River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma. This score is recognized by the Guinness World Records.
The most common Masters Tournament winning score has been 8 under par, which has happened 13 times since the tournament began in 1934. The next most common score is 9-under 279, which has happened 11 times.
The lowest cut score of 143 (1 under par) sent players to the weekend rounds at the Masters in 2020. The highest cut score of 154 (10 over par) was good enough in 1982. The average cut score at the Masters is 148.44.
Tiger Woods holds the record for the biggest margin of victory –12 shots in 1997. Only five times has the margin of victory been greater than five shots. Scottie Scheffler came close to being on this list in 2022, but he closed with a double bogey on his final hole.
That's what Dustin Johnson accomplished at the 2020 Masters. His 72-hole score of 268 (20-under par) is the lowest such score in the history of a tournament that's been played 84 times. It broke a mark previously held by Tiger Woods (1997) and Jordan Spieth (2015).
The best round in Masters history is 9-under 63. The score was achieved twice, the first time by Nick Price in the third round in 1986. Ten years later, in 1996, Greg Norman equaled Price's mark in the first round. On the flip side, the worst official round is 95, shot by Charles Kunkle in the final round in 1956.
The best score ever shot in 18 holes at the Masters was a 63 (-9). This feat has been accomplished by two golfers, Nick Price in 1986 and Greg Norman a decade later in 1996.
But no one is ever going to birdie 18 holes. In the perfect game you reach the green in the fewest possible number of strokes and hole your first putt. If you can reach the green in two strokes, then the second shot should go in the cup. It will never be played.
What is the lowest score on 18 holes?
Rhein Gibson, Astara Golf Championship winner, holds the Guinness World Record for the lowest recorded round of golf: 55.
Al Geiberger was the first to post the mystical 59 at the 1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic on the Par 72 Colonial Country Club. Since then, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos, and Stuart Appleby have signed cards with a score of 59 in a PGA Tour sanctioned event.
The lowest single round score at the Masters (played on the Augusta National Golf Course, Georgia, first in 1934) is 63 by Nick Price (Zimbabwe) in 1986 and Greg Norman (Australia) in 1996.
The commonly held belief is that most caddies make around $1,500 to $3,000 per tournament. In addition to that, each caddie has a negotiated deal with the golfer to be paid a percentage of their winnings.
An amateur has never won the Masters. But with the 36 holes remaining in the 2023 edition at Augusta National Golf Club, there's a chance. Sam Bennett, the U.S. Amateur champion, is in third place and just four shots behind leader Brooks Koepka.
While LIV golfers are banned from the PGA Tour, the Masters, like the other majors, has opened the door to those who qualify. Sprinkled among the Masters field are 18 members of the LIV Tour, many back at Augusta as former champions, which comes with a lifetime exemption.
The biggest margin of victory in a golf major championships was achieved by Tiger Woods (USA), who won the 2000 US Open by 15 shots. He finished with a round of 67 to add to rounds of 65, 69 and 71 for a 12 under par total of 272.
Masters legends
Jack Nicklaus, nicknamed “The Golden Bear”, won six Masters Tournaments, the highest number to date. Having won of one of these titles at the age of 46, Nicklaus is also the oldest winner of the championship.
Couples won the 1992 Masters and shares the longest streak of consecutive cuts made, 23, alongside Tiger Woods and Gary Player. He hadn't made the cut at the year's first major since 2018.
The Augusta National membership fees are relatively low for a club of its reputation. The initiation fee is estimated to be in the range of $40,000 - $200,000, but the official figure is unknown. And the yearly dues are assessed at “a few thousand” dollars annually, in the field of $7,000 to $10,000.
Has anyone aced 12 at Augusta?
Sepp Straka made a memory for a lifetime on Monday at Augusta National with a hole-in-one on the iconic par 3 12th hole at the Masters venue. The 12th, known as Golden Bell, is one of the most famous golf holes in the world, with the beautiful par 3 playing over the iconic Rae's Creek in the heart of Amen Corner.
Tickets for practice rounds this year start around $700, and a ticket for Masters Sunday will cost you at least $1,000. There are also options for two-day passes or series badges, but again, those are going to hurt your bank account. You should also refrain from buying from scalpers in Augusta.
Ten years later and Aussie Greg Norman did the same in his first round. Both players went out in 33 (-3) and came back in 30 (-6). Norman's 63 is also the lowest-ever first-round score at The Masters.
The course record at Augusta National at the Masters is 63 (9-under), which has been done twice. It has been achieved twice. Nick Price shot a 63 in the third round of the 1986 Masters, and then Greg Norman matched it in the opening round in 1996.
Woods has hit a hole-in-one 20 times in the course of his lifetime, his first at the age of six. Three have come in PGA Tour competitions - at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open, 1997 Phoenix Open, and 1998 Sprint International. Woods is the only professional golfer to win four majors in a row.
An ace of a par 5 – typically one of the longest holes on any golf course – is known as a “condor.” Through 2021, there are only six known official condors in the world.
The longest recorded straight drive hole-in-one is believed to be 517 yards or 473 metres, on the par-5 No. 9 hole at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver in 2002, aided by the thin air due to the high altitude.
| Golf Scoring Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Birdie | One stroke under par on an individual hole. |
| Eagle | Two strokes under par on an individual hole. |
| Albatross / Double Eagle | Three strokes under par on an individual hole. |
| Condor | Four strokes under par on an individual hole. |
The result was 42-43 for an 85, Woods' highest score in a professional event.
The Record: 92 Putts by David Frost
One way to achieve a low number of putts is to miss a lot of greens, then chip the ball close and one-putt. But David Frost, throughout his career on the regular tour and also on the senior circuit, had a reputation as one of the great putters.
Has Tiger Woods ever shot a 59?
When then did Woods get his low score of 59? Well, that came back in April 1997. A week before he won his first major championship at Augusta, the legend was playing alongside Mark O'Meara at his local course, the Isleworth in Florida. It was there that he carded his first and only round of 59.
Breaking 80 is reserved for a very small percentage of golfers, roughly 5%. And breaking 70, well, that milestone is only accomplished by roughly 1% to 3% of golfers.
Jack Nicklausshot 59 at a charity event at The Breakers in Palm Beach in 1973. But his best round on the PGA Tour was 62, a frequent career low by all-time greats.
By most accounts the additional yardage to the 13th hole will likely not have much of an impact on the overall scoring average of the hole, which has historically played as the easiest hole (4.775). “If anything, it will make a lot more people lay up. It may be less double [bogeys].
No, the worst score ever on the 12th is a 13 that Tom Weiskopf posted in 1980. “I was really upset because it was stupidity,'' Weiskopf told USA TODAY Sports in 2018 of his misadventure during which five balls ended up in the water.
18 holes at Augusta National works out to about 4.29 miles or 6.9 kilometers tee to green length. The course has been lengthed for the 2023 tournament to play 7,545 yards. The players playing in this year's Masters tournament will be walking about 5 miles for each round they're playing.
That record currently belongs to Dustin Johnson and it is one that he achieved fairly recently. In 2020, he posted a score of 268 which broke the record that Tiger Woods had set which was 270 in 1997.
While the putt just slid past the cup to the right, he tapped in for par for the first round of 58 in PGA Tour history. Furyk hit 13/14 fairways—his only miss coming at the seventh, where he still made birdie—and all 18 greens in regulation. He averaged 21 feet with his approach shots and needed 24 putts.
OK, OK. To date, 11 players have carded a 59 in PGA Tour history. Here they are in bullet point form: Al Geiberger (1977 Memphis Classic)
So what does an "ostrich" means? A golfer who scores an ostrich is one who played a hole in 5-under par.
What is Tiger Woods lowest score?
His lowest round ever in competition is 61, which he shot four times over the years. Woods' first 61 came at the Byron Nelson Classic in 1999. He was just 23 years old at the time. The following year, Woods shot 61 at the WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone.
The result was 42-43 for an 85, Woods' highest score in a professional event.
And we need not feel too sorry for Mickelson. He shot a 59 at the 2004 Grand Slam of Golf, an unofficial PGA Tour event. Most records inevitably lose some prestige each time they are matched. The hysteria surrounding Mickelson suggests that "59" is immune to that phenomenon.
PGA Tour Record: 11-Hole 'Sudden'-Death Playoff
The Motor City Open was played in Detroit, sporadically, from 1948 through 1962.
Even air temperature affects the flight of a ball. PGA Tour professional Phil Mickelson claims that a hot day can change the distance of his 7-iron from 175-yards to 185-yards. It is not important that a nine-iron hits the ball a specific distance.
What is the PGA Tour record for largest margin of victory? A whopping 16 strokes. In the tour's history, which traces back to 1916, there are four golfers who won a tournament by 16 shots.
For the past two decades, the high-water mark was a tour average of 321.4 yards, set in 2003 by Hank Kuehne. Then, as the world settled into pandemic mode, Bryson DeChambeau broke it with a 322.1 yard average, before trumping that mark the following year with an average of 323.7 yards.
Breaking 80 is reserved for a very small percentage of golfers, roughly 5%. And breaking 70, well, that milestone is only accomplished by roughly 1% to 3% of golfers. This article will break down what it takes to break 70 when playing golf. Being realistic in this pursuit is an important first step.
