The Masters.

How it began

Bobby Jones and the investment banker Clifford Roberts co-founded Augusta National Golf Club (search summaries of CBS and Golf Channel pages date the club to 1933, which we could not confirm from a primary source). The first tournament, then called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, began on 22 March 1934, according to National Club Golfer. Horton Smith won it, Craig Wood was second, and Jones, who had retired after his 1930 Grand Slam, tied for 13th.

CBS News says Roberts suggested the name "Masters" but Jones thought it presumptuous, and the name only became official in 1939. The tournament was not played from 1943 to 1945 during the Second World War. The Par 3 contest began in 1960, and Jack Nicklaus, champion in 1965 and 1966, was the first player to defend the title.

How the field is chosen

The Masters is an invitation event, and the club sets its own criteria. A Golf Channel report on those criteria (undated, so we cannot confirm it reflects the current year) lists these routes in:

• The top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the previous calendar year.
• The top 50 on the ranking published the week before the tournament.
• Winners of PGA Tour events that award full FedEx Cup points.
• The Latin America Amateur champion.
• Recent major finishers and special invitees chosen by the club.

The cut

Since 2020 the 36-hole cut has been the top 50 and ties, and nothing else. NBC Sports and CBS Sports reported that year that the club had dropped the rule, in place since 1962, that also kept anyone within 10 shots of the lead. A search summary of those reports gives the earlier history:

Champions, 2023 to 2026

Scores for 2023 to 2025 are from the NBC Sports champions list; 2026 is from PGA Tour's report of 12 April 2026.

The 2026 Masters

The 90th Masters finished on 12 April 2026. McIlroy closed with a 71 to finish at 12 under, one ahead of Scheffler. He led by six shots after 36 holes, which PGA Tour headlines called a Masters record, gave that lead away during the third round on Saturday, and briefly fell behind on Sunday before pulling clear on the second nine.

PGA Tour and ESPN both report that McIlroy became the fourth player to win the Masters in consecutive years, joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. Golf Channel adds that it was his sixth major title, matching Faldo for the most by a European in the modern era.

Scheffler closed with a bogey-free 68 on Sunday. PGA Tour reported that he was the first player since 1942 to get through the weekend at Augusta without a bogey. Behind them, KTVU's live leaderboard shows Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton at 10 under; several outlets also put Russell Henley and Cameron Young in that tie for third, but we could only confirm that from search summaries.

Records

According to NBC Sports, Jack Nicklaus holds the record with six Masters titles (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986). Tiger Woods has five and Arnold Palmer four.

For the other majors, see the majors overview, and for the history of the professional game, the professional game.