The five greatest US Masters champions of all time

US Masters / Dan Fitch / 09 March 2011 /

" class="free_bet_btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">

Can Woods makes in five in 2011.

Dan Fitch profiles the greatest Masters champions in the history of golf.

When Tiger Woods competes in the Masters tournament, he will be in with a chance of landing his fifth title and moving towards the record for the most Masters championships.

At the moment though he will just have to play second fiddle to another golfing great. Here are the five greatest US Masters champions of all time.

5. Nick Faldo

The British player Nick Faldo was a Masters champion on US turf on three occasions. His first first came in 1989, when he defeated Scott Hoch in a sudden-death playoff hole, to pick up his second major championship, after Hoch missed a two-foot putt on the first playoff hole that would have won him the tournament.

A year later Faldo proved that his victory was no fluke, as he won the 1990 Masters, though it took another sudden-death playoff to separate him and Raymond Floyd. Faldo won his third title and final major in 1996, as he staged a remarkable comeback against Greg Norman having gone into the final day six-strokes behind, to win by a five-stroke margin.

4. Gary Player

The Black Knight holds the joint record with Fred Couples for making the most consecutive cuts at the Masters, with 23. He won the tournament three times, with the first coming in 1961, when he became the first non-American winner of the Masters, beating Arnold Palmer and Charles Coe by one-stroke.

Player won his second Masters 13 years later in 1974, when he won the first major to be played at Augusta by two-strokes over Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf. His greatest and final win came in 1978, when he overturned a seven-shot deficit on the final day, by hitting a 64 to win the tournament by one-stroke.

3. Arnold Palmer

Known as 'The King', Arnold Palmer was certainly majestic when it came to the Masters. Palmer's four wins came in a space of just seven years between 1958 and 1964. His first win in 1958 with a low score of -4 to win by a single stroke and his second came in 1960, when a score of -6 was enough to again win by one-stroke.

Palmer's third win in 1962 was the most tightly fought, as the tournament saw it's first three-way playoff, in which he triumphed over Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald. His fourth and final victory came in 1964 as Palmer romped to victory by six-strokes over the tied Dave Marr and Jack Nicklaus.

2. Tiger Woods

When Tiger Woods won his first Masters title in 1997, he became the youngest ever champion at the age of 21 years and 104 days, broke the record for the biggest winning margin as he won by twelve-strokes and also recorded the lowest winning score of 270 (-18).

Tiger produced another great score of -16 to win the Masters for the second time in 2001 and then retained his title with a three-stroke victory over Retief Goosen. Woods' fourth and final win came in 2005, when he defeated Chris DiMarco with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, after both players had finished on -12.

1. Jack Nicklaus

The greatest Masters champion of all is Jack Nicklaus, who won the tournament on a record six occasions. He also holds the record for the most top ten finishes (22) and the most cuts made (37). His first win came in 1963 when he defeated Tony Lema by one stroke.

In 1965 Nicklaus won his second Masters, with a then record score of -17, to beat Arnold Palmer and Gary Player by nine strokes, which was also a record at the time. He retained the tournament in 1966 to become the Masters' first back-to-back champion, beating Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer over an 18-hole playoff, after they tied over 72-holes.

The Golden Bear's fourth win came in 1972, when a single stroke separated him for Bruce Crampton, Bobby Mitchell and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus disappointed Weiskopf again in 1975, when he hit a score of -12, to win by one-stroke over him and Johnny Miller to clinch a fifth title.

Nicklaus' sixth and final success came in 1986, when he became the eldest Masters winner at 46 years and 82 days. A -9 score of 279 was enough to give him victory by one-stroke over Tom Kite and Greg Norman.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>