18 obscure Masters facts you probably didn’t know

Hello, friends. And welcome to another edition of random Masters facts, tidbits of trivia that you can toss out at a watch party, apropos of nothing. They’re guaranteed to impress (or annoy) your friends.

Fun, right? Let’s play away.

1. Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record for most Masters wins (6), also shares the record for most Masters runner-ups: 4. Those close calls put him in good company. Ben Hogan and Tom Weiskopf were also four-time bridesmaids in the event.

2. The first Masters was held in 1934. But it wasn’t called the Masters. At its birth, it was known as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament.

3. In 1997, the year of his first Masters win, Tiger Woods opened with a 40 on the front side, then turned on the afterburners with a 30 coming in. Along the way, he played the par-5 15th with a driver and a wedge, stuffing his approach to six feet to set up eagle. Efforts to “Tiger-proof” the course weren’t far away.

4. In that same tournament, Woods played the back nine in a cumulative 16 under, one of 27 Masters records he set or tied that year.

5. Eagle roars sound different than other cheers. We hear them every at the Masters. But never were there more on a single hole in a single week than in 2015, when the 13th hole yielded 20 eagles, a championship record that still stands.

6. There have been four double eagles in Masters history, one on each of the par 5s. The first was by Gene Sarazen in 1935, with a 4-wood from 235 yards on the 15th hole. The most recent was Louis Oosthuizen in 2012, with a 4-iron from 253 yards on the 2nd hole.

7. After carding his deuce, Oosthuizen tossed his ball into the gallery, where it was caught by Wayne Mitchell of Pennsylvania, who didn’t hang on to the souvenir for long. At the request of then-Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne, Mitchell donated the ball to the club, and was reportedly given two lifetime badges to the tournament and a round at Augusta in return.

8. The record for most birdies in a single round is held by Anthony Kim, who bagged 11 on Friday in 2009. He also made two bogeys and a double for a seven-under 65.

9. In 1931, Augusta National co-founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts purchased the original 365-acre property for $70,000. In 2025, Shane Lowry received $77,700 for finishing T42 in the event.

10. The highest score ever recorded on a single hole in the Masters? Unlucky 13. Three players lay claim to that dubious achievement. The first was Tommy Nakajima, who made a hash of the 13th hole in 1978, followed by Tom Weiskopf on the 12th hole in 1980. Then came Sergio Garcia in 2018. The Spaniard made his trece on the 15th hole.

11. A green jacket goes to the winner. Everybody knows that. But it wasn’t always so. That tradition didn’t start until 1949, the year Sam Snead collected the first of his three Masters titles, earning a colorful piece of apparel along the way.

12. Every year, the reigning champion hosts a dinner for all past champs. Everybody knows that. But it wasn’t always so. That tradition didn’t start until 1952, at Ben Hogan’s suggestion. The main dish that year: steak.

13. The single-round Masters scoring record, shared by Greg Norman and Nick Price, is 63, two more than the original number of Magnolia trees along Magnolia Lane.

14. Speaking of Magnolia Lane, the famed entrance road leading to the clubhouse measures 330 yards, just 20 yards shorter than the par-4 3rd hole.

15. The Masters begins with ceremonial tee shots. Everybody knows that. But it wasn’t always so. Honorary starters made their debut at the 1963 Masters, when Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod struck the opening salvos. The formal ceremony, though, had informal origins more than two decades prior. In 1941, the amateur great Francis Ouimet, fulfilling a request by Bobby Jones, served as the unofficial honorary starter.  It was Ouimet’s only appearance at the Masters.

16. Jordan Spieth holds the record for most birdies in a single Masters (28). Nicklaus holds the record for most career birdies in the event (506).

17. In 2005, a 74-year-old Billy Casper shot a 34-over 106 in the opening round of the Masters, a score that would be a record-setting worst if it had in fact ever been recorded. Casper did not turn in his scorecard and withdrew from the event before his second round. So that 106 never became official. Neither did the 14 he carded on the par-3 16th hole.

18. They say the Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday. But at the inaugural Masters, in 1934, the back nine was the front nine and the other way around. In that first addition, today’s 10th hole served as the first hole. The nines were flipped the following year.