What Is The Scoring Record At The Masters? And Who Holds It?

The Masters is the only one of the men's Majors that returns to the same venue each and every year, with Augusta National gracing our screens every April.

The course plays as a par 72 and is a very difficult but fair test. So what is the scoring record?

The Masters scoring record is 20-under-par, which equates to 268 shots over four days of tournament play.

Dustin Johnson became the first player in Masters history to reach, and post, 20-under-par. That total was set at the 2020 Masters, which notably took place in November after it was delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Augusta, in its fall colors, was playing differently that week with colder temperatures than April and softer fairways. It could be argued that the course played a little easier than it usually would for the world's best pros. The stats back that up, too, as 2020 saw the most under par rounds ever recorded in Masters history - 152.

DJ broke the scoring record that was previously set by Tiger Woods. At the age of 21, Woods won his first Major at the 1997 Masters where he broke a 32-year scoring record that was set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965.

Woods shot 18-under-par in 1997 and also set a tournament record winning margin of 12 strokes. Unsurprisingly, that still stands today.

In 2015, Jordan Spieth matched Woods' 18-under-par total and set a new record himself that week, recording a total of 28 birdies - the most ever in a Masters tournament.

Jack Nicklaus' 17-under-par total in 1965 broke the scoring record that Ben Hogan set in 1953. Hogan broke the previous scoring record by five strokes with a 14-under total.

Ben Hogan's record was honored in 1958 with the naming of the Hogan Bridge, which crosses Rae's Creek to the left of the par 3 12th green.

Nicklaus' 17-under-par total of 171 was matched by Raymond Floyd in 1976. His 1965 triumph broke the record margin of victory record at the time, when he defeated Arnold Palmer and Gary Player by nine strokes.

The amateur scoring record at The Masters is an old one. Two-time US Amateur champion Charles Coe set it in 1961 and it still stands today. He posted a seven-under-par total of 281 to finish T2nd and one stroke shy of Gary Player. Coe played in 15 consecutive Masters and won the low amateur honors five times.

MASTERS SCORING RECORD

• 268: Dustin Johnson 2020, 20-under-par
• 270: Tiger Woods 1997, 18-under-par (matched by Jordan Spieth in 2015)
• 271: Jack Nicklaus 1965, 17-under-par (matched by Raymond Floyd in 1976)
• 274: Ben Hogan 1953, 14-under-par
• 279: Ralph Gudahl 1939, nine-under-par (matched by Claude Harmon in 1948)