The Masters has been won by many players who were clearly at one with the golf course. They just get it.
Phil Mickelson has three Green Jackets, Arnold Palmer has four, Tiger Woods has five and Jack Nicklaus has six. More recently, Scottie Scheffler and Bubba Watson have got their hands on two Masters trophies as well.
It suits some players and not others, but it certainly helps to build experience at Augusta National Golf Club before being ready to win the tournament – unless you are one of the legendary trio below.
There is only a few players who won the Masters on their first try. It is extremely difficult to thrive at a venue with such tricky greens and steep gradients, but it isn’t impossible.
Let’s run through the players who won the Masters on their first try, starting with the man that won the very first Masters tournament.
Has a rookie ever won the Masters?
Horton Smith – 1934 Masters
When the first Masters tournament took place in 1934, it was Horton Smith who came out on top, with a one-shot victory over Craig Wood in second place.
Smith went on to win the Masters again in 1936, beating Harry Cooper this time by one shot, and Gene Sarazen was two shots back. Smith played in five Ryder Cup teams and won 30 PGA Tour titles, the last of which came in 1941.
Granted, as this was the first staging of the major championship, the whole field was technically rookies, but it still counts in the record books.
Gene Sarazen – 1935 Masters
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Gene Sarazen made his debut at the Masters the following year in 1935 and etched his name in Masters history thanks to a play-off victory over Craig Wood.
Wood came second at the first two Masters tournaments, but he would eventually win the event in 1941. As for Sarazen, this was his first and only Green Jacket but the victory completed his career grand slam.
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This was also the year the most famous shot at Augusta National was struck. On the 15th hole, Sarazen holed his second shot on the par-5 15th hole for an albatross – the shot heard around the world.
Fuzzy Zoeller – 1979 Masters
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The most recent rookie to win the Masters was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, and again successfully came through a sudden death playoff. Zoeller got the better of Ed Sneed and two-time Masters champion Tom Watson to claim the first of his two major championship titles.
Jack Nicklaus charged on Sunday to climb the leaderboard, but he made a bogey on 17 which meant he finished one shot out of the playoff. The then-27-year-old had only won two PGA Tour events to that point, including the Masters. Five years later, he won his second major title at the US Open.
Has a rookie ever won the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller?
In 2014, Jordan Spieth made his Augusta debut and shared the 54-hole lead with the eventual champions, Bubba Watson.
Spieth would have become the first rookie to win the event for more than 30 years and despite his near miss in 2014, he did collect a Green Jacket the following year.
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Fuzzy Zoeller was the last rookie to win the Masters! Who could follow in his footsteps? Tell us on X!
