From the par-3 curse to the year the first Green Jackets were awarded, Compleat Golfer’s April issue sheds light on the The Masters numbers that count.
3 – You don’t want to win the Par-3 Contest. No one has ever won the Wednesday Par-3 event and The Masters the same year. However, 11 golfers who have won the Par-3 Contest have also won The Masters at some stage. Last year’s winner was Jimmy Walker … who went on to claim his first Major a few months later, The PGA Championship.
3 – The number of South African golfers to have won the Par-3 Contest – in three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010. Rory Sabbatini, Tim Clark and Louis Oosthuizen were the men to do so.
5 – Shots under par that England’s maiden Major winner Danny Willett recorded in 2016. The 72-hole total of 283 was the highest winning score since 2007, when Zach Johnson shot a one-over-par 289.
5 – The number of golfers who have led from the first round and gone on to win. They are Craig Wood (1941), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Raymond Floyd (1976) and Jordan Spieth (2015).
11 – Different countries to have produced a Masters champion. The United States (59 wins) lead the winner’s list, followed by South Africa (five), England and Spain (four each). Germany, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Canada, Argentina and Australia have all been represented once.
46 – The age of Jack Nicklaus in 1986 when he became the oldest man to win The Masters. He was picking up his sixth Green Jacket.
71.94 – Among golfers who have played 100 or more Masters rounds, Fred Couples has the best career scoring average, 71.94 (.04 better than 18-time Major winner Jack Nicklaus).
1937 – The year in which Green Jackets from Brooks Uniform Co. in New York were first worn by members to make them recognisable. Sam Snead was the first champion to receive one as a prize, in 1949.
