Who Has Won The Most Masters In Golf?

Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters Tournaments in golf, as he won six between 1963 and 1985. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods has the second most with five (as of 2023), and Arnold Palmer is third with four Masters wins. For both Nicklaus and Woods, more than a decade passed between their penultimate and final Masters championships, and Palmer won all four of his Masters in a seven-year span. Read on to learn about all three men and their many wins at one of America’s greatest golf tournaments.

Who Has Won the Most Masters in Golf?

1. Jack Nicklaus - 6 Wins
2. Tiger Woods - 5 Wins
3. Arnold Palmer - 4 Wins

1. Jack Nicklaus

Along with having the most Masters championships of any golfer (6), Nicklaus also holds the record for most major championships (18). He won his first Masters in 1963 and won his first PGA championship that same year. By 1966, Nicklaus had won every major championship on the PGA Tour at least once, including three Masters championships by that time. One of Nicklaus’ most notable performances in his career was his final Masters victory in 1986. Nicklaus was 46 years old at the time and had a four-stroke deficit entering the final nine holes of the final round. At 46, Nicklaus won and became the oldest golfer ever to win a Masters.

Nicklaus finished that Masters at -9 after four rounds, narrowly defeating Greg Norman and Tom Kite, who each had -8 on the performance. Nicklaus was tied with Norman heading into the final hole, but Norman bogeyed and ultimately lost the tournament by one stroke. This was Nicklaus’ first Major victory in six years and would turn out to be his last ever tournament victory on the PGA Tour. Nicklaus earned $144,000 for his final Masters victory and $229,000 collectively for his six Masters wins as well as $784,500 for his eighteen major wins.

2. Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has the second-most Masters victories of all time, with five victories between 1997 and 2019. There was a fourteen-year gap between 2005 and 2019 when Woods won his fourth and fifth Masters’, respectively. Woods was the youngest Masters champion winner ever when he won his first Masters at the age of 21 in 1997. Both Nicklaus and Woods won their final Masters late in their career as Woods was 43 when he won the Masters in 2019, only three years younger than Nicklaus was in 1986. The victory was also Woods’ first major win since the US Open in 2008.

In 2019, Woods defeated Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Xander Schauffele by one stroke. This is also considered one of the most improbable victories in the history of the Masters, as Woods had not won a major championship in eleven years and had struggled with different injuries and setbacks in the years leading up to that victory. As well as having not won a major in eleven years, Woods had also only won one PGA Tour event in the five years prior to 2019.

3. Arnold Palmer

Palmer won seven major championships in his career, with four of them being The Masters. In 1962, Palmer was victorious in the Masters’ first-ever three-way playoff between him, Dow Finsterwald, and Gary Player. Palmer came back from three strokes down in the final nine holes in order to tie Finsterwald and Player, the defending champion, and win the tiebreaker.

Honorable Mentions

• Jimmy Demaret - 3 wins
• Sam Snead - 3 wins
• Gary Player - 3 wins
• Nick Faldo - 3 wins
• Phil Mickelson - 3 wins

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