The first golf major championship is surely the most anticipated with the best players from across the world descending on Augusta National Golf Club for the 2024 Masters.
The 88th edition of the Masters begins with the first round on Thursday and concludes on Sunday.
Jon Rahm is the defending champion and sits third in the world golf rankings behind Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Following are plenty of need-to-know facts and statistics ahead of the 2024 Masters.
2024 Masters Preview Facts
● Nearly three-quarters of the green jacket that goes to the Masters champion have been won by American golfers (72.4%, 63 out of 87), ahead of Spain (six), South Africa (five) and England (four).
● Jack Nicklaus holds the record for the most wins at the Masters (six), ahead of Tiger Woods (five). Woods is the youngest player to win the green jacket – 21 years and 104 days old when he won his first major in 1997 – and Nicklaus the oldest – 46 years and 82 days old when he claimed his final major in 1986.
● A U.S. or European golfer has won 29 of the last 31 majors. The two exceptions are Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters and Australia’s Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship.
● Only one of the last 10 Masters tournaments has been decided by a playoff: Sergio Garcia defeated Justin Rose on the first hole of sudden death in 2017. A playoff had been required in three of the previous five editions.
● Jon Rahm will aim to become the first golfer to win back-to-back green jackets since Tiger Woods (2001 and ‘02). The only other golfers to have achieved that feat are Jack Nicklaus (1965 and ‘66) and Nick Faldo (1989 and ‘90).
● Jon Rahm has finished inside the top 10 in five of the last six Masters tournaments, more than any other player. Since 2018, he is 45-under par at the Masters – a whopping 14 shots better than anyone else (Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth are both at 31-under).
● Jon Rahm has made the cut in each of his last 17 major tournament appearances, the longest current run among male golfers. The last time he failed to see the weekend was at the 2019 PGA Championship.
● Since winning the Masters in 2020, Dustin Johnson has had more missed cuts (four) than he’s had top-10 finishes (three) in the majors.
● With a win at the Masters, Rory McIlroy would become only the sixth golfer in history to secure a career Grand Slam after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. McIlroy has had a top-10 finish in seven of the last 10 Masters tournaments – more than anyone else over that period.
● Rory McIlroy’s last major victory was the 2014 PGA Championship – since then, he’s winless in 34 major appearances, his longest career drought. This year’s Masters will be his 60th appearance at a major.
● Since 2022, Rory McIlroy has had seven top-10 efforts in eight major tournaments, more than any other player. The only exception was last year’s Masters, where he missed the cut.
● Scottie Scheffler, the 2022 Masters champion, has placed in the top 10 in nine of his last 14 major tournament appearances (64.3%). Since 2020, only Rory McIlroy has had more top 10s (10).
● Scottie Scheffler was 18-under par across the four majors last year, the best total to par of any player and ahead of Viktor Hovland (16-under). Neither won a major, though.
● Scottie Scheffler has finished inside the top three in 22 of his last 50 tournaments for a 44% strike rate. His last three PGA Tour events have seen him finish first (Arnold Palmer Invitational), first (The Players Championship) and a tie for second (Houston Open).
● Tiger Woods’ first major victory was at Augusta 27 years ago (1997). Including that win, he’s captured nine more majors than anyone else since then (Woods 15 and Phil Mickelson six).
● The Masters is the only major in which Tiger Woods has always made the cut as a professional (23 out of 23). He’s had a top-five finish in just over half of those appearances (12 of 23), winning the title on five occasions.
● With a win at the Masters, Brooks Koepka would join Byron Nelson and Ray Floyd as the only golfers to win all three U.S. majors (also PGA Championship and U.S. Open) but not the Open Championship.
● Brooks Koepka has five major victories (PGA Championship three times and U.S. Open twice). Among active golfers, only Tiger Woods (15) and Phil Mickelson (six) boast more major titles.
● Phil Mickelson won his first major 20 years ago at the 2004 Masters. This will be his 122nd major tournament, with only five players in history making more appearances – Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Raymond Floyd.
● Brian Harman, winner of the 2023 Open Championship, has had more top-10s at that final major (two in eight appearances) than he has in the three majors played in the United States (one in 22 appearances).
● Jordan Spieth has finished in the top five in six of his 10 appearances at the Masters. That’s as many top-fives as the three other majors combined (three at the Open Championship, two at the PGA Championship and one at the U.S. Open).
● Xander Schauffele has posted 11 finishes inside the top 10 at major tournaments since 2017. That’s more than any other golfer without a major win over that period.
● Last year’s U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark will be playing his first Masters. He has one victory (Pebble Beach) and two second-place finishes (Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship) in his last six PGA Tour events.
● This will be Will Zalatoris’ first major since 2022. He’s secured a top-10 finish in six of his last seven major appearances on U.S. soil, including a second-place finish and a sixth-place tie at the Masters in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
● Cameron Smith will aim to become the second Australian to win the green jacket, after Adam Scott in 2013.
● Tony Finau had more top-10s than anyone else at majors from 2018 to the 2021 PGA Championship – nine in 13 events. He’s since failed to finish inside the top 10 in the last 10 major tournaments.
● Patrick Cantlay (Low Amateur in 2012), Bryson DeChambeau (Low Amateur in 2016) and Viktor Hovland (Low Amateur in 2019) will each attempt to become the eighth golfer to win both Low Amateur and the green jacket at Augusta, after Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama.
● Although he was the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup winner, Patrick Cantlay has only one top-five finish in his 27 appearances at a major – a tie for third at the 2019 PGA Championship.
● This will be Max Homa‘s 18th appearance at a major – he has finished inside the top 10 only once – last year’s Open Championship with a tie for 10th. His best finish at the Masters is a tie for 43rd last year.
● Fuzzy Zoeller is the last player to win the Masters in the first attempt (1979).
● Only three golfers aged 40 or older have won a major on U.S. soil in the 21st century: Vijay Singh (2004 PGA Championship, age 41), Tiger Woods (2019 Masters, 43) and Phil Mickelson (2021 PGA Championship, 50).
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