Highest 72-Hole Scores Ever in The Masters
And the record for highest final score over four rounds of The Masters is 340. That score was recorded by amateur Charles Kunkle in the 1956 Masters, after he posted rounds of 78, 82, 85 and 95, his score rising with each round.
It was Kunkle's only appearance in The Masters (or any other professional major). That 340 total was 52 strokes over par, and he finished 51 strokes behind the winner, Jack Burke Jr. Kunkle got into the tournament because, at that time, The Masters had a policy of inviting all quarterfinalists from the U.S. Amateur Championship. Kunkle had reached the quarterfinals of the 1955 U.S. Amateur.
Highest 72-Hole Scores in The Masters, All-Time
340 — a-Charles Kunkle (78-82-85-95), 1956336 — Horton Smith (86-84-84-82), 1956
334 — Cyril Walker (88-85-81-80), 1934
332 — a-C. Bayard Mitchell (84-79-84-85), 1934
331 — a-Chick Evans (82-84-86-79), 1940
328 — Johnny Revolta (84-81-79-84), 1956
328 — a-Chick Evans (85-79-79-85), 1953
327 — a-Davis Love Jr. (82-85-83-77), 1955
326 — a-Bill Booe (82-80-87-77), 1956
325 — Lawson Little (77-81-85-82), 1956
325 — a-Don Cherry (79-81-81-84), 1956
325 — Leslie Kennedy (81-80-82-82), 1950
Two things stand out about the list above: Six of the 12 scores listed happened in the 1956 Masters; and all of these scores occurred before The Masters had a 36-hole cut. If the The Masters had had a 36-hole cut prior to 1957, it is likely that all of the golfers above would have missed the cut. But at least today they still have their names in the record book.
The 1956 Masters was notoriously high-scoring. Burke's winning score of 289 still shares the Masters record for highest winning score. The high scoring that year was largely due to some of the windiest weather the tournament has ever seen.
Highest 72-Hole Masters Scores After Making the Cut
Probably not coincidentally, one year after the wind-blown high scores in 1956, a 36-hole cut was introduced at the 1957 Masters. These are the highest scores recorded since then by golfers who made the cut and played all four rounds:
314 — a-Luis Silverio (77-76-77-84), 1966
314 — Jimmy Hitchcock (76-77-78-83), 1966
313 — Fuzzy Zoeller (74-78-79-82), 2007
313 — Tommy Aaron (72-74-86-81), 2000
313 — a-Joe Carr (76-74-79-84), 1967
312 — a-Bob Murphy (76-77-81-78), 1966
312 — Bob Goalby (76-77-82-77), 1966
311 — Billy Mayfair (76-75-83-77), 2007
311 — a-Ward Wettlaufer (73-77-83-78), 1960
310 — Aaron Oberholser (74-76-84-76), 2007
310 — DeWitt Weaver (74-76-81-79), 1972
More Masters records:
- Highest single-hole scores in The Masters
- Highest 18-hole scores in The Masters
- Youngest winners of The Masters
Associated Press. "Jack Burke Surprise Winner of Masters Golf," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 9, 1956, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8Z4pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4729%2C5551348.
Augusta.com. Historic Leaderboards, 1934 Masters, https://www.augusta.com/masters/historic/leaderboards/1934.
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf (affiliate link), Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.