One of golf’s four majors, the Masters Tournament is held annually at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. The world-class course, created by legendary amateur champion Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts, is both challenging and beautifully designed; iconic segments include Amen Corner and Magnolia Lane. Horton Smith won the first-ever Masters Tournament, then known as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, in 1934. In 1949, Sam Snead was the first champion to wear the now-iconic green jacket.
Today, 17 golfers have won the Masters at least twice. The eight players below are all at least three-time Masters champions.
1. Jack Nicklaus (6)
A 73-time winner on the PGA Tour, Jack Nicklaus won his first of six Masters in 1963, two years after winning the US Amateur Championship for the second time. Nicklaus was just 23 years old when he won the 1963 Masters with a 2-under 286, beating second-place finisher Tony Lema by one stroke. He set the Masters scoring record (271) en route to a nine-stroke victory in 1965 and successfully defended his title the following year, becoming the first golfer to win the Masters in consecutive years.
Nicklaus won again in 1972 and 1975 and won his sixth and final green jacket in 1986. He punctuated his landmark victory with a 65 in the final round and, at 46 years old, became the oldest champion in Masters history. Nicklaus last competed in the Masters in 2005. In addition to his six titles, he had 15 top-10 finishes.
2. Tiger Woods (5)
Tiger Woods, a five-time Masters champion, became the youngest winner in tournament history and the first champion of African or Asian descent in 1997. The 21-year-old golfer, who had competed in each of the last two Masters as an amateur, shot 18-under par, breaking Nicklaus’ low score record by one stroke. Woods won his second green jacket in 2001 and became the first-ever golfer to be the defending champion of all four major championships.
Woods defended his Masters title in 2002 and won again in 2005. His most recent Masters win in 2019 was his first major title in 11 years. It marked an incredible comeback after dealing with an array of injuries and personal issues.
3. Arnold Palmer (4)
A four-time Masters champion, Arnold Palmer finished 10th in his debut at Augusta National in 1955 and won the event in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964. He was the first golfer to win the Masters four times and first to record 50 starts at Augusta National. In fact, Palmer participated in 50 consecutive tournaments from 1955 to 2004. He last made the cut in 1983.
Palmer defeated runners-up Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins by one stroke to win his first major championship at the 1958 Masters. He became the second wire-to-wire winner in Masters history in 1960 and won in a three-way playoff with Dow Finsterwald and Gary Player in 1962. Palmer won by six strokes in 1964.
4. Phil Mickelson (3)
Phil Mickelson is one of only three left-handed golfers to win the Masters, with Bubba Watson winning in 2014 and 2012 and Mike Weir winning in 2003. Mickelson won the Masters for the first time in 2004 and won again in 2006 and 2010. Mickelson ended a 12-year major championship drought in 2004 when he drained an 18-foot putt for birdie on hole No. 18 to beat Ernie Els by one stroke with a 9-under par.
5. Jimmy Demaret (3)
Jimmy Demaret, a 31-time winner on the PGA Tour, won his first of three Masters in 1940 and won again in 1947 and 1950. Demaret was also the runner-up in the 1948 US Open and finished fifth in the 1962 Masters at 51 years old.
6. Sam Snead (3)
Snead, the first golfer to be awarded with the green jacket after winning the Masters in 1949, won again in 1952 and 1954. He won in 1954 with a final score of 1-over par, becoming the first player to win the tournament without breaking par. Jack Burke Jr. (1956) and Zach Johnson (2007) are the only other players to win the Masters without shooting par.
7. Gary Player (3)
Player became the first non-American to win the green jacket when he won the 1961 Masters. Traditionally, the champion gets to keep the jacket for one year before returning it to Augusta National. Player, however, forgot to bring the jacket back the following year and reportedly still has it in his home. Player won the Masters again in 1974 and 1978.
8. Nick Faldo (3)
One of only three players to win the Masters in back-to-back years, Nick Faldo won his first green jacket in 1989 and defended his title the following year. He won again in 1996. Interestingly, Faldo never finished in the top-10 in either of his 20 other starts at Augusta National and missed the cut six times.
“That’s how Augusta was for me,” Faldo, now a commentator for Sky Sports, said before the 2023 Masters. “If I was doing the right things it was fine, but once the course gets to you it’s difficult to recover, even for the best players.”