Jack Nicklaus' Masters Wins and Yearly Finishes
Jack Nicklaus is the leading winner in the history of The Masters Tournament with six victories. Those six wins span 21 years, but Nicklaus played The Masters from 1959 through 2005, a span of 46 years.
Not surprisingly, Nicklaus had plenty of other high finishes in The Masters in addition to those six wins. The Golden Bear's year-by-year Masters scores and finishes are listed below.
But first, let's list those six wins.
Jack Nicklaus' Masters Wins
- 1963 Masters: Nicklaus earned his first Green Jacket in his second year as a pro at the age of 23. His winning score of 2-under 286 was one stroke better than second-place Tony Lema.
- 1965 Masters: This is the tournament after which Bobby Jones remarked that Nicklaus "plays a game with which I am not familiar." What he was talking about was Jack's power and ability to overwhelm Augusta National with his length. Nicklaus set a new Masters scoring record this year (271) and margin of victory record (9 strokes), both since bettered. The distant runners-up were Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
- 1966 Masters: Nicklaus became the tournament's first-ever back-to-back winner here. It happened via a playoff: Nicklaus shot 70, Tommy Jacobs 72 and Gay Brewer 78. (Going for the threepeat next year in the 1967 Masters, Nicklaus missed the cut.)
- 1972 Masters: With this victory, Nicklaus joined Arnold Palmer as the only four-time Masters champions. He won by three strokes over a trio of runners-up, Bruce Crampton, Bobby Mitchell and Tom Weiskopf.
- 1975 Masters: This win is famous for the final-round, back-nine duel Nicklaus won against pursuers Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. Nicklaus shot 68, Miller 66 and third-round leader Weiskopf 70 in the final round, which was punctuated by Nicklaus' 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole. The Bear won by a stroke.
- 1986 Masters: The Bear's sixth and final win, joining Harry Vardon (at the British Open) as the only six-time winners in major championship history. At age 46, Nicklaus became the oldest Masters champion by shooting 65 in the final round, 30 on the back nine. That included an eagle on the 15th, birdie on the 16th and birdie on the 17th.
Jack Nicklaus' Yearly Scores, Finishes in The Masters
Finishes as an amateur:
- 1959: 76-74—150 (+6), missed cut (amateur)
- 1960: 75-71-72-75—293 (+5), tied 13th (amateur)
- 1961: 70-75-70-72—287 (-1), tied 7th (amateur)
- 1962: 74-75-70-72—291 (+3), tied 15th
- 1963: 74-66-74-72—286 (-2), win
- 1964: 71-73-71-67—282 (-6), tied 2nd
- 1965: 67-71-64-69—271 (-17), win
- 1966: 68-76-72-72—288 (even), win (playoff)
- 1967: 72-79—151 (+7), missed cut
- 1968: 69-71-74-67—281 (-7), tied 5th
- 1969: 68-75-72-76—291 (+3), tied 24th
- 1970: 71-75-69-69—284 (-3), 8th
- 1971: 70-71-68-72—281 (-7), tied 2nd
- 1972: 68-71-73-74—286 (-2), win
- 1973: 69-77-73-66—285 (-3), tied 3rd
- 1974: 69-71-72-69—281 (-7), tied 4th
- 1975: 68-67-73-68—276 (-12), win
- 1976: 67-69-73-73—282 (-6), tied 3rd
- 1977: 72-70-70-66—278 (-10), 2nd
- 1978: 72-73-69-67—281 (-7), 7th
- 1979: 69-71-72-69—281 (-7), 4th
- 1980: 74-71-73-73—291 (+3), tied 33rd
- 1981: 70-65-75-72—282 (-6), tied 2nd
- 1982: 69-77-71-75—292 (+4), tied 15th
- 1983: 73 (+1), withdrew
- 1984: 73-73-70-70—286 (-3), tied 18th
- 1985: 71-74-72-69—286 (-3), tied 6th
- 1986: 74-71-69-65—279 (-9), win
- 1987: 74-72-73-70—289 (+1), tied 7th
- 1988: 75-73-72-72—292 (+4), tied 21st
- 1989: 73-74-73-71—291 (+3), tied 18th
- 1990: 72-70-69-74—285 (-3), 6th
- 1991: 68-72-72-76—288 (even), tied 35th
- 1992: 69-75-69-74—287 (-1), tied 42nd
- 1993: 67-75-76-71—289 (+1), tied 27th
- 1994: 78-74—152 (+8), missed cut
- 1995: 67-78-70-75—290 (+2), tied 35th
- 1996: 70-73-76-78—297 (+9), tied 41st
- 1997: 77-70-74-78—299 (+11), tied 39th
- 1998: 73-72-70-68—283 (-5), tied 6th
- 1999: Did not play
- 2000: 74-70-81-78—303 (+15), tied 54th
- 2001: 73-75—148 (+4), missed cut
- 2002: Did not play
- 2003: 85-77—162 (+18), missed cut
- 2004: 75-75—150 (+6), missed cut
- 2005: 77-76—153 (+9), missed cut
