The Top 15 Masters Sunday Moments Ever
Hello friends. It’s Masters Sunday… hooray! They say the Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday and, well, that’s obviously not true. But what is true is that they say this because the back nine at Augusta National produces more drama — at the highest level, with the most at stake — than anything else in golf. Maybe in sport.
Let’s get amped up for today and let’s do it by going through the top moments in Masters Sunday history.
Now, it’s important to note: “top” in this blog does not mean “best” or “greatest.” Top means the most dramatic, the most memorable, the most amazing. The following will be a collection of both the best and the worst moments for players on Sunday* at Augusta. Let’s do this.
*Some of these happened during final rounds but not technically on a Sunday. Whatever.
#15 – Jack Nicklaus 40-footer on 16, 1975
Jack birdied the 15th to tie the lead then overlooked a 40-footer to take the lead on 16.
The amphitheater around 16 on Sunday is like nothing else in the game, and Jack delivered there time and time again.
He went on to win the 1975 Masters by one.
#14 – Gene Sarazen “shot heard ’round the world,” 1935
People may complain that this should be higher, but the Masters wasn’t the Masters in 1935. It had a lot of the world’s top players, but it was more of an exhibition than a major championship.
Sarazen’s shot put the tournament on the map, in the headlines, and was instrumental in the Masters becoming the Masters. He holed a 4-wood from 235 for double-eagle on the par-5 15th hole, and went on to win in a 36-hole playoff.
#13 – Roberto DeVicenzo signs incorrect scorecard, 1968
Roberto DeVicenzo putted out on 18 believing he was tied for the lead and heading to a playoff. But he would actually sign an incorrect scorecard, signing a 4 on the 17th hole where he actually made a 3, and was penalized for the error.
Bob Goalby won by 1 stroke.
What an idiot!
#12 – Scott Hoch misses from 18 inches to win, 1989
What an idiot!
#11 – Freddie Couples stays dry on 12, 1992
Everybody loves Freddie Couples, including the bank on 12. This ball had every right to find the bottom of Rae’s Creek, but it didn’t.
#10 – Sandy Lyle birdies 18 from the bunker to win, 1988
Birdie from there… to win? And his name’s “Sandy”? Come on.
#9 – Phil Mickelson through the trees on 13, 2010
There was a lot going on at this Masters. Tiger had returned from the scandal while Phil was dealing with both his wife and his mother being diagnosed with breast cancer. A back-and-forth Sunday culminated with Phil delivering the heroics.
Nobody really talks about the fact that he missed that putt, but whatever. Still won.
#8 – Tiger Woods wins by 12, 1997
Tiger was a 21-year-old phenom. He’d been hyped up for years and years and years, then he teed it up in the Masters as a professional for the first time… and won by 12.
The most legendary Masters performance ever, but hard to pick out one single moment.
#7 – Jordan Spieth 12th hole collapse, 2016
Spieth led by as many as 5 early on the back nine. Then this.
It was just so shocking. Spieth had been unstoppable at Augusta, then hits two in the drink to blow the biggest tournament of the year. Truly one of the great meltdowns of all time. What a moment.
#6 – Gary Player defeats Arnold Palmer after Arnie doubles the 72nd hole, 1961
Our good personal friend Mr. Gary Player won his first Masters in 1961. He got up-and-down for par from the right bunker on 18, and just a few minutes later Arnold Palmer, with a 1 stroke lead, found himself in the same bunker.
Go Gary go!
#5 – Bubba Watson hook from the trees, 2012
Louis Oosthuizen was in good shape. Bubba was in the trees, and had never won a major.
Who could ever forget this shot?
#4 – Larry Mize chip in, 1987
They say this chip was impossible to get close. Augusta native Larry Mize did better than that… in a playoff… to beat Greg Norman.
#3 – Phil Mickelson birdies 72nd hole to win first major, 2004
Looking back now, it’s hard to remember the major championship weight Phil carried on his shoulders. For a decade he was asked everywhere he went about the fact that he had never won a major.
Well on the back nine at Augusta in 2004 he was in the final group but found himself 3 shots back on the 12th hole. He’d play lights out from there on in and faced an 18-footer on 18 to win.
#2 – Jack Nicklaus, 1986
Jack’s back nine 30 to win his 6th green jacket as a 46-year-old is as iconic as it gets. If I had to pick any one moment of it, I would probably say his tee shot on 16. He’d just made eagle to catapult himself near the lead for the first time, and amid all that excitement, he hit a 5-iron that damn near went in the hole for an ace.
#1 – Tiger Woods on 16, 2005
The greatest golf shot ever.
All things considered, it’s just the greatest. The most magnetic figure in the history of the game, at The Masters, with the lead, on Augusta’s famed back nine, facing the difficulty of the shot, with all the build up, and the hanging on the lip of the hole, then finally falling in.
It’s hard to believe how perfect this shot was.
People forget, Tiger followed this with bogeys on 17 and 18 to fall into a playoff with Chris DiMarco. That’s fine, it paved the way for this bonus Masters moment here — Tiger holes putt for birdie to win the Masters.
There are many other big putts, chips, swings, and dramatics that got left on the cutting room floor here. Only room for 15, I got some golf to watch (and I probably just forgot some).
Get excited, my friends. It’s Sunday at the Masters.
PS — Okay I’ll add one more, more recent bonus moment to get you jacked up for today. Sergio eagling the 15th last year to tie the lead.
VAMOS!