Back-to-Back Winners of The Masters Tournament
Into the 1960s, Ben Hogan came closest to recording consecutive Masters wins. After he won the 1953 Masters, Hogan tied Sam Snead after 72 holes in the 1954 Masters. But Snead won the playoff to deny Hogan back-to-back wins.
Doug Ford won in 1957, then tied for second in 1958. Arnold Palmer won in 1960, and reached the last hole in 1961 leading by one. But then he double-bogeyed and tied for second. Jack Nicklaus won in 1963, then tied for second behind Palmer in 1964. And after winning in 1964, Palmer was joint runner-up to Nicklaus in 1965.
Which brings us to the first golfer to win consecutive Masters ...
Jack Nicklaus, 1965-66
Jack Nicklaus won the 1965 Masters, then came back a year later and won the 1966 Masters. And he thus became the first back-to-back Masters winner, the first golfer to win consecutive Green Jackets.Nicklaus' win in 1965 was one of the most dominating in tournament history. Palmer and Gary Player tied for second place, but a distant nine strokes behind. Famously, Bobby Jones remarked afterward that Nicklaus "played a game with which I am not familiar."
His 1966 win was a much closer call. Nicklaus finished 72 holes tied with Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer, but then won the 18-hole playoff.
What happened when Nicklaus went for three in a row in the 1967 Masters? He missed the cut.
Nick Faldo, 1989-90
The second golfer to win consecutively at Augusta National was Nick Faldo at the 1989 Masters and 1990 Masters. In both tournaments, Faldo had to win a playoff.In 1989, Faldo and Scott Hoch tied after 72 holes (Faldo shot 65 in the final round), and so entered into a sudden-death playoff. Hoch should have won the tournament on the first extra hole but missed a 2-foot birdie putt. On the second playoff hole, Faldo sank a 25-footer for the win.
In 1990, Faldo again came from behind in the final round to tie, this time against Raymond Floyd. Then Faldo won the sudden-death playoff on the second extra hole.
Going for three in a row in the 1991 Masters, Faldo tied for 12th place.
Tiger Woods, 2001-02
The third, and so far last, back-to-back Masters champion was Tiger Woods, who won the 2001 Masters and the 2002 Masters.Woods' win in 2001 marked the completion of the Tiger Slam, when Woods became the first golfer ever to hold all four trophies of the four professional majors simultaneously. He earned this win by two strokes over runner-up David Duval.
Then Woods added another Green Jacket in 2002. This time his victory was three over runner-up Retief Goosen.
Going for three in a row at the 2003 Masters, Woods tied for 15th place.
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