GOLF
Masters: who has won the green jacket the most times? What’s the full list?
This year’s Masters Tournament gives Tiger Woods another chance to claim his record-setting 83rd PGA TOUR title and match Nicklaus’s Masters victories.
The Masters is as prestigious in its nature as it is difficult to win. The green jacket that one is awarded for winning the tournament is perhaps one of the most recognizable sporting symbols, but which golfers have written their names into the pages of golfing royalty, and how many times? Let’s look at the full list of those who have won it more than once, which world number one Scottie Scheffler hopes to join after his triumph at Augusta National in 2022.
Who has won the Masters more than once?
Initiated in 1934, the Masters has been played on 85 occasions since its inception. At that time, there were only 54 winners of the legendary green jacket. Why is that, you ask? Simply because a number of golfers have managed to win the tournament on multiple occasions. The question, of course, is who they have been and just how many times they won at the notoriously difficult Augusta National Golf Club. Moreover, who among those champions has won the most?
Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods: the cream of the crop
When it comes taming the notoriously difficult course at the Augusta National Golf Club, one golfer stands above the rest: the ‘Golden Bear’ himself, Jack Nicklaus. Across a 23-year span, Nicklaus took home the green jacket on six different occasions. The first of those was in 1963, and the last in 1986. If you’re wondering,
Yes, Tiger Woods is next in line. Woods currently has five Masters titles to his name - the most recent coming in 2019 - and at 48, is only two years older than Nicklaus was when he won his final Masters tournament. However, Woods has committed to taking part this year and will likely leave his participation up in the air until the last moment, depending on his physical condition; he suffered open fractures to both his tibia and fibula, as well as severe ankle damage, in a horrific car crash in 2021. We’ll have to wait and see if he pitches up at Augusta this next week.
Multiple Masters winners
In all, 17 men have won the Masters on multiple occasions for a combined total of 48, with the other 37 champions having won the tournament just once. Here, you can take a look at the complete list of multi-champions:
Golfer | Masters Wins | Years Won |
---|---|---|
Jack Nicklaus | 6 | 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986 |
Tiger Woods | 5 | 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019 |
Arnold Palmer | 4 | 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 |
Jimmy Demaret | 3 | 1940, 1947, 1950 |
Sam Snead | 3 | 1949, 1952, 1954 |
Gary Player | 3 | 1961, 1974, 1978 |
Nick Faldo | 3 | 1989, 1990, 1996 |
Phil Mickelson | 3 | 2004, 2006, 2010 |
Horton Smith | 2 | 1934, 1936 |
Byron Nelson | 2 | 1937, 1942 |
Ben Hogan | 2 | 1951, 1953 |
Tom Watson | 2 | 1977, 1981 |
Seve Ballesteros | 2 | 1980, 1983 |
Bernhard Langer | 2 | 1985, 1993 |
Ben Crenshaw | 2 | 1984, 1995 |
Jose Maria Olazabal | 2 | 1994, 1999 |
Bubba Watson | 2 | 2012, 2014 |
* The Masters was not played between 1943 and 1945 due to the outbreak of World War II.