The Masters Tournament is 91 years old and there have been 56 different winners from 11 countries around the world.
Of all those, the two who stand out most are six-time champion Jack Nicklaus and five-time winner Tiger Woods.
Most golf fans would agree that Woods’ performance in 1997 was his best, and some would suggest that there’s never been any better.
European Ryder Cup legend Paul McGinley doesn’t agree with that, however, giving the advantage to one to one of Nicklaus’ victories.
Paul McGinley ranks five of the greatest performances in Masters history
McGinley was asked to rank five of the best Masters performances throughout the years: Bubba Watson (2012), Sandy Lyle (1988), Jack Nicklaus (1986), Tiger Woods (2019 and 1997).
He had to choose which position to put them in one at a time, without knowing what was coming next, though he later explained that he’d make one change.
McGinley said: “Bubba Watson in 2012. I guess the shot that he hit out of the trees in the playoff stands out. That shot will go down in history in 100 years’ time. They will still talk about it, so you’ve got to give it a decent ranking. I’m going to go with three because I think it can be bettered.
| Rank | Masters Performance |
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus (1986) |
| 2 | Sandy Lyle (1988) |
| 4 | Tiger Woods (1997) |
| 4 | Bubba Watson (2012) |
| 5 | Tiger Woods (2019) |
(Sandy Lyle) “We still remember that shot, don’t we? And he was European. The first European to win The Masters. Certainly on this side of the pond, I’ve got to go two.
(Jack Nicklaus) “That’s one. Not even a question. I don’t care who comes after that. I’m happy with my number one pick.
(Tiger Woods 2019) “It was great, but it wasn’t mega exciting. A lot of players made mistakes on the back nine to get out of the way for Tiger to win. I know he was there and he did what he had to do, but it wasn’t like Jack Nicklaus roaring through the field. I’m comfortable putting that at four.
“Tiger in ’97. Now I’m a little bit worried that I would like to put him at three but I’ve got to stick with five now. He did change the game. He changed the history of Augusta National because, on the back of that, they started thinking about putting in new tee boxes.
“They’d never seen anyone overpower the golf course in the way he did then. He had a very slow front nine on the first morning and yet still roared through the field to do what he did. So he made history, obviously, and he enforced seismic changes to Augusta National.”
Even though McGinley admitted that he would’ve put Woods’ 1997 victory in third position, he was adamant that Nicklaus’ fifth Masters win deserved to stay in first.
Jack Nicklaus still holds key Masters record from 1986 victory
What makes Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters success all the more impressive was that he broke the record for the oldest winner in the tournament’s history (46 years old).
He climbed the leaderboard in the final round to take the victory from 54-hole leader Greg Norman and replace Ben Crenshaw (43 years old) in the history books.
Woods, also 43, was a few months older than Crenshaw when he won at Augusta National in 2019, taking second spot.
Perhaps the only man who could beat Nicklaus’ record in the field for the 2025 Masters, albeit highly unlikely, is Phil Mickelson.
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