The best debut performances at the Masters

Photo By: Bettmann
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Bettmann
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Augusta National
Photo By: Andrew Redington
Photo By: Jamie Squire
Photo By: Simon Bruty
Photo By: Harry How
Photo By: Andrew Redington
Photo By: Rob Carr
Photo By: Kevin C. Cox
Collin Morikawa wagged his finger at conventional wisdom when he won the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship in his first appearance at each tournament. Indeed, most people had been under the assumption that to win a men’s major championship title you first needed some experience playing in the major. Where that truth still holds up is at Augusta National. Just once since 1935 has the golfer slipping on the green jacket done so in his debut appearance: Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some close calls over the years. Here are some of golfers who have had top finishes while making their first visit to Augusta.
Photo By: Bettmann
Horton Smith, 1934
By definition, a rookie had to win the inaugural Masters back in 1934. Horton Smith did just that, becoming the first of just three to win on their first try.
Photo By: Augusta National
Craig Wood, 1934
Craig Wood finished second to Horton Smith in 1934. He would finish second again to Sarazen in 1935 but then go on to win the tournament in 1941.
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Gene Sarazen, 1935
Gene Sarazen's win in 1935 was made even more memorable thanks to his double eagle on the par-5 15th.
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Ralph Guldahl, 1937
Ralph Guldahl finished second to Byron Nelson in 1937. He too would eventually slip on a green jacket in 1939.
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Lloyd Mangrum, 1940
The World Golf Hall of Famer finished runner-up to Jimmy Demaret and would have 11 more top-10 finishes at Augusta, but never won the title. His lone major came in the 1946 U.S. Open.
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Tony Lema, 1963
Lema became the first rookie to post a runner-up finish in 23 years when he finished one-shot back of Jack Nicklaus.
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Greg Norman, 1981
Norman would famously fall short at the Masters in 1986, 1987 and 1996, but he recorded the first of his nine top-six finishes at Augusta National in 1981, falling to Tom Watson.
Photo By: Augusta National
Dan Pohl, 1982
Pohl finished third in his PGA Championship debut in 1981. A closing 67 the next April left him in a playoff with Craig Stadler, but a bogey on the first extra hole lost Pohl the title.
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Luke Donald, 2005
Donald didn't have the length presumably needed to play well at Augusta National, but he finished tied for third in his debut in 2005.
Photo By: Andrew Redington
Jason Day, 2011
As Rory McIlroy, sitting on a four-shot lead to start the final round, stumbled home and Charl Schwartzel birdied his last four holes to take the title, Day snuck off with a T-2 finish after shooting a final-round 68.
Photo By: Jamie Squire
Jordan Spieth, 2014
Spieth's impressive career at Augusta National began in 2014 when he was tied for the lead entering the final round and took it outright on the front nine before Bubba Watson would rally to take the title by three shots. Spieth's T-2 performance was followed in 2015 by a victory and three more top-three finishes in his next six starts.
Photo By: Simon Bruty
Jonas Blixt, 2014
Forgotten in the wake of Spieth's 2014 run was the fact that Jonas Blixt also shared second in his debut at Augusta that year. It was one of just two Masters starts for the Swede.
Photo By: Harry How
Thomas Pieters, 2017
Coming off an impressive performance for the Europeans at the Ryder Cup in 2016, the former NCAA champion shot a closing 68 to finish T-4.
Photo By: Andrew Redington
Sungjae Im, 2020
Dustin Johnson ran away with this unique November Masters, winning by five shots, but Im impressed with a 15-under 273 total that would have won in all but seven other years to claim a T-2 finish.
Photo By: Rob Carr
Will Zalatoris, 2021
Will Zalatoris contended all the way down to the end last April, eventually come up one shot back of Hideki Matsuyama.
Photo By: Kevin C. Cox