Six men have won the Masters Tournament more than once, and understanding who they are tells you almost everything about what Augusta National rewards. If you’re searching for master golf winners, you’re in the right place: this is the full record, from Jack Nicklaus’s six titles down to the players who’ve claimed multiple green jackets in the modern era.

The Masters is the one major that never moves. Same course, every April, since 1934.

The Masters Tournament: One Major, One Course, 90 Years of Champions

The Masters Tournament has been held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia every year since 1934, making it the only major championship played at a permanent, fixed venue. That consistency shapes everything: the field, the strategy, and the champion.

A tradition unlike any other. — CBS Sports broadcast tagline, used continuously since the network began airing the Masters in 1956.

The green jacket tradition started in 1949 when Sam Snead became the first champion to receive one. Winners keep the jacket for one year, then return it to Augusta National. It’s not a permanent trophy. The club holds it, and champions can only wear it on club grounds after that first year.

Masters Golf Winners by Number of Titles: The All-Time List

Six players have won the Masters more than twice, and the gap between the top of that list and everyone else is significant. Here’s how the all-time multi-title winners stack up:

Note: Tiger Woods has 5 total wins — the table above reflects his four in the pre-2019 run plus 2019.

Correction: Woods won in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2019. That’s five titles, not four. The table reflects the accurate count.

Jack Nicklaus: Six Wins and the Record That Still Stands

Nicklaus won his first Masters in 1963 at age 23 and his last in 1986 at age 46, becoming the oldest Masters champion in history. That 1986 win, a final-round 65 when he was considered past his prime, is widely regarded as one of the greatest rounds in major championship history. No player has come close to matching six Masters titles. His nearest competitors have four.

Tiger Woods: Four Jackets and a Comeback for the Ages

Woods actually has five Masters titles: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2019. His 1997 win came at age 21, and he won by 12 strokes, the largest margin of victory in Masters history. The 2019 win is the one that stands apart emotionally: Woods had undergone four back surgeries and hadn’t won a major since 2008. His comeback win at Augusta is the longest gap between Masters titles for any champion.

The Three-Time Champions: Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, and Arnold Palmer

Palmer’s four titles (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964) came in a seven-year stretch that defined the early television era of golf. Gary Player won across 17 years (1961 to 1978), showing remarkable longevity. Nick Faldo won back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, then added a third in 1996. Phil Mickelson’s three wins (2004, 2006, 2010) all came after he turned 33, making him a late-bloomer by Masters standards.

What Separates Repeat Champions from One-Time Winners at Augusta

Augusta National doesn’t just test ball-striking. It filters players by shot shape, course management, and the ability to stay calm while the tournament is actively falling apart around them. Repeat champions share specific traits that one-time winners often don’t.

How Augusta National’s Course Design Filters Playing Styles

Augusta’s back nine is where tournaments are won and lost, specifically holes 11 through 13, collectively known as Amen Corner. These three holes demand precise draw bias off the tee, the ability to flight irons low into firm greens, and conservative decision-making under pressure. Players who rely on a left-to-right fade as their primary shot shape historically struggle here.

The par-5 holes at Augusta (2, 8, 13, and 15) are reachable in two shots for elite players, and repeat champions consistently convert those birdie opportunities at a higher rate than one-time winners. Nicklaus and Woods both ranked among the longest hitters of their respective eras, which gave them a structural advantage on those four holes.

The Mental Pattern Repeat Champions Share

One-time Masters winners often play their best golf in a single week and never quite replicate it. Repeat champions show a different pattern: they manage their worst rounds better than the field does. Faldo’s 1996 win came after Greg Norman led by six shots entering the final round. Faldo shot 67 while Norman shot 78. That’s not just good play; it’s the ability to stay in process when the leader is visibly crumbling.

Woods described Augusta as a course where patience is mandatory, not optional. Every repeat champion has demonstrated the capacity to play conservative golf on holes 1 through 9, then attack aggressively once they reach the par-5s on the back. That strategic discipline, knowing when to take risk and when to lay back, is the clearest separator between players who win once and players who win repeatedly.

Masters Records Worth Knowing: Scores, Ages, and Firsts

The Masters has produced some of golf’s most memorable statistical moments. A few records have stood for decades; others are more recent. Here are the ones worth knowing:

1. Tiger Woods holds the record for largest winning margin. 12 strokes in 1997, a number that has never been approached since.
2. The lowest single-round score in Masters history is 63, shot by both Nick Lowry in 1992 and Greg Norman in 1996, though neither won that year.
3. Jack Nicklaus became the oldest champion at age 46 in 1986; that record still stands.
4. Tiger Woods became the youngest Masters champion at age 21 in 1997, breaking Seve Ballesteros’s record of 23.
5. The Masters was not held in 1943, 1944, or 1945 due to World War II. That’s the only three-year gap in the tournament’s history.

Lowest Winning Scores in Masters History

Scoring relative to par (the standard measure in stroke play) tells the clearest story. Jordan Spieth set the 72-hole scoring record in 2015 with a total of 270, 18 under par. That matches the previous record of 270 held by Tiger Woods from 1997. Both sit at 270. Winning at Augusta typically requires finishing somewhere between 10 and 18 under par, depending heavily on weather and course setup that week.

Youngest and Oldest Champions

Woods at 21 and Nicklaus at 46 define the full age range of Masters champions. Between those poles, most winners fall in their late 20s to mid-30s. Nicklaus’s 1986 win remains the outlier. No champion since has been older than 46 at the time of victory.

Recent Masters Winners: 2018 to Present

The past several Masters tournaments have produced a mix of first-time major winners and established stars adding to their collections.

Dustin Johnson’s -20 in 2020 is the lowest winning score in Masters history. He set it during the November playing, after the tournament moved from April that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hideki Matsuyama’s 2021 win made him the first Japanese player to win a men’s major. Scottie Scheffler then won in both 2022 and 2024, putting him in serious conversation among the modern era’s most consistent Augusta National performers.

What Masters Winners Actually Receive (Beyond the Green Jacket)

The green jacket gets all the attention, but the full prize package is worth understanding clearly.

The winner of the Masters Tournament receives the green jacket, a gold medal, a crystal trophy, and the full winner’s share of the prize purse — which reached $3.6 million in 2024 out of a total purse of $20 million.

The $3.6 million winner’s share is the largest in Masters history and reflects a broader trend of rising purses across professional golf. For context, the total purse was $11.5 million as recently as 2022, so the increases have been steep.

The green jacket itself is the most iconic element, but it comes with a catch most casual fans don’t know: champions can only take the jacket home for one year. After that, it stays at Augusta National, and former champions may only wear it on club grounds. The gold medal and crystal trophy are theirs to keep permanently.

Winners also receive a lifetime exemption to play in the Masters, which is one of the most practically valuable perks in professional golf — it guarantees a spot in the field regardless of world ranking or tour status.

International Players Who Have Won the Masters

International players have won the Masters more often than many American fans realize. Since Seve Ballesteros became the first European winner in 1980, players from outside the United States have claimed roughly a third of all Masters titles.

Europe’s Impact: Faldo, Olazábal, and the Ballesteros Era

Ballesteros won twice (1980 and 1983), and his aggressive, instinctive style made Augusta look almost easy. Nick Faldo followed with three wins (1989, 1990, 1996), and José María Olazábal added two more in 1994 and 1999, giving the Spain-and-England axis five titles across roughly two decades. Faldo’s back-to-back wins in 1989 and 1990 remain the only consecutive European victories in Masters history.

The European Tour pipeline during this era produced players comfortable with links-style patience — a mindset that transferred well to Augusta’s demand for course management over raw aggression.

Champions from Outside Europe

Outside Europe, the list is shorter but growing. Hideki Matsuyama (Japan, 2021) broke new ground as the first Asian-born major champion at Augusta. Angel Cabrera of Argentina won in 2009, and Vijay Singh of Fiji won in 2000, adding to a genuinely global spread of master golf winners across continents.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many times has the Masters been played at Augusta National?

The Masters has been held at Augusta National Golf Club every year since 1934, with the exception of 1943, 1944, and 1945 due to World War II. That puts the total at over 85 playing years through 2024.

Who has won the most Masters titles?

Jack Nicklaus holds the record with six wins: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, and 1986. Tiger Woods is second with four. No other player has won more than three times.

Can Masters champions keep the green jacket forever?

No. Champions take the jacket home for one year, then return it to Augusta National. They can only wear it on club property after that. The gold medal and crystal trophy are theirs permanently, along with a lifetime invitation to compete in the tournament.

What is the lowest winning score in Masters history?

Dustin Johnson set the record at 20 under par (-20) in November 2020, when the tournament moved from its usual April date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous record of 18 under par was shared by Tiger Woods (1997) and Jordan Spieth (2015).

Has an amateur ever won the Masters?

No amateur has won the Masters. The low amateur award goes to the best-finishing non-professional each year, but no amateur has ever claimed the title itself.