The Masters golf tournament is an exciting event for golf fans and bettors everywhere. In this guide, we’ve brought together all the essential information for this year’s tournament, including information on the participants and some interesting trends from the event over the years.
Started in 1934, the Masters golf tournament takes place in the first week of April at the Augusta National Golf Club. It’s also known as The Masters or US Masters. Played over four days, the 2019 tournament will cover April 11th-14th (Thursday to Sunday).
Looking to make some money on the US Masters this year? Learn how you could make a profit at the bookies with matched betting.
- When is the Masters golf tournament?
- Where is the Masters golf tournament played?
- Masters golf winners
- Who’s taking part in the Masters 2019?
Section 1: When is the Masters golf tournament?
When is the Masters?
The Masters 2019 will be held between April 11th-14th. The tournament has traditionally been played in the first week of April since 1940.
The lead in to the main tournament usually starts from April 8th. For example, this year’s famous Par-3 competition will take place on the preceding Wednesday (April 10th 2019). This pre-tournament contest serves as “part competition, part stress relief”, according to the official Masters website and sees family members called in to act as caddies. The winner is the contestant with the most favorable score against par after nine holes. Interestingly, no one has triumphed at both tournaments in the same year.
Watching the Masters golf live
In the UK, Sky Sports is usually the place to watch all four days of the Masters live on TV. The BBC also holds the rights to broadcast the final two days of the golf tournament. This year, the Masters will be shown live on Sky Sports and NOW TV in the UK.
Section 2: Where is the Masters golf tournament played?
The Masters golf course is the world-famous Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia (in the US). It’s taken place at the same golf course since it began in 1934 and is the only major golf tournament that takes place at the same venue each year. Talk about being a creature of habit!
Looking to make some money on the US Masters this year? Learn how you could make a profit at the bookies with matched betting.
Section 3: Masters golf winners
Masters golf winners receive the coveted green jacket, which has been awarded to the champion since 1949. If the same golfer wins the Masters more than once, he’ll be rewarded with his original jacket on subsequent victories. Tradition dictates that the previous tournament’s winner puts the jacket on the current winner at the end of the tournament. This made for a humorous moment when Jack Nicklaus became the first golfer to win in consecutive years (1965-1966) and ended up handing himself the green jacket to put on.
As well as being the first consecutive winner of the tournament, Jack Nicklaus also holds the most number of Masters wins – an impressive six between 1963 and 1986. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have both won the competition on four occasions. During his 1997 victory, Woods broke the 72-hole record that had stood for 32 years. He was just 21 at the time, which meant that he also broke the record for the youngest winner of the Masters.
American golfer, Patrick Reed won in 2018, beating runner up Rickie Fowler by just 1 stroke. He took home $1,980,000 in prize money.
Alongside the green jacket, winners of the tournament also take home a gold medal and have their names engraved on the Masters trophy.
Section 4: Who’s taking part in the Masters 2019?
Rory McIlroy is looking to complete the Golf Grand Slam (winning all four majors) this year.
And last year’s winner, Patrick Reed’ will be looking to become only the fourth player in history to defend the title. The others are Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.
Brit Eddie Pepperell will be making his Masters debut this year, so keep an eye out for him.
At the time of writing, there are 84 players in the field for the 2019 Masters. Below, you’ll find the criteria for eligibility:
1: Masters champions (lifetime)
2: U.S. Open champions (five years)
3: Open champions (five years)
4: PGA champions (five years)
5: Players champions (three years)
6: Current Olympic champion
7: Current U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up (must remain amateur)
8: Current British Amateur champion (must remain amateur)
9: Current Asia-Pacific Amateur champion (must remain amateur)
10: Current U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (must remain amateur)
11: Current Latin America Amateur champion (must remain amateur) (event held Jan. 17-20)
12: First 12 players (and ties) in previous year’s Masters
13: First 4 players (and ties) in previous year’s U.S. Open
14: First 4 players (and ties) in previous year’s Open Championship
15: First 4 players (and ties) in previous year’s PGA Championship
16: Winners of PGA Tour regular-season and playoff events awarding full FedEx Cup points
17: Qualifiers from the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship
18: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking of the previous calendar year
19: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters
Section 5: Masters golf tournament trends, stats and facts
- The Masters is the only ‘Major’ that returns to the same course every year.
- The first Green Jacket was presented in 1949 to Sam Snead.
- Jack Nicklaus is the most successful player ever at Augusta with six wins: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986.
- Three players have won on their first visit to Augusta:
- Horton Smith (1934)
- Gene Sarazen (1935)
- Fuzzy Zoeller (1979)
- Five golfers have won the Masters from start to finish: Craig Wood in 1941, Arnold Palmer in 1960, Jack Nicklaus in 1972, Raymond Floyd in 1976, and Jordan Spieth in 2015
- Tiger Woods is the youngest ever winner at Augusta at the age of 21 years 3 months 14 days in 1997. That win was also the biggest winning margin having won by 12 shots
- Jack Nicklaus is the oldest ever winner at Augusta at the age of 46 years 2 months 23 days.
- The average age of a champion at Augusta is 32.47 years.
- The area where the Augusta National Golf Club now stands used to be a 365-acre nursery called Fruitland Nurseries. Each hole at Augusta National is named after a plant or shrub that adorns it.
