The 86th edition of the Masters is approaching, and the 2022 tournament is scheduled from April 7-10 at Augusta National Golf Club.
Of course, fans in the Peach State are well aware of the significance of the event and its place in golfing history.
The best players have walked the hilly, beautiful, and meticulously maintained masterpiece and competed on the hallowed grounds of Augusta. As Georgia considers joining the realm of legalized sports betting, betting on the Masters will become another way to experience the iconic event.
Some of golf’s greatest players and Hall of Fame golfers never won the Masters despite seemingly having one foot in the green jacket with a chance to win in the final round.
Some of those unfortunate golfers lost out to other champions who provided some of the most unforgettable moments in Masters history.
In a tribute to Amen Corner and Rae’s Creek on holes 10 through 13 at Augusta National, and “Heartbreak Hill” starting at hole 10 through 12, here are a dozen of the greatest players who never won a Green Jacket at The Masters. The “Golden Bell” list from the spectacular and scenic setting at hole No. 13.
No . thirteen Mulligan: Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones was a seven-time major champion from 1923 to 1930. Jones is recognized as one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport. An attorney by profession, Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete at a national and international level.
Jones had a brief career competing against the game’s best at the time, including Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen. After retiring, Jones founded Augusta National with Clifford Roberts, and he designed the course with Alister Mackenzie.
Jones was a co-founder of The Masters, and the exclusive club opened for play in 1932. Jones made 12 ceremonial appearances and never finished better than T13.
The Masters at Augusta National has been providing magical and memorable moments ever since Jones founded the course and tournament. Each hole on the course is named after the tree or plant with which it is now associated.
No . 13 Walter Hagen
From 1914 to 1929, Walter Hagen won 10 major championships—the second most in golf history behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15). Sir Walter never won The Masters, but the “father of professional golf” was the first golfer to earn $1 million and brought marketing, prestige, substantial prize money, and lucrative endorsements to the sport.
Walter Hagen was a six-time Ryder Cup Captain and helped establish the PGA.
Number 11 Ben Weiskopf
Ben Crenshaw finished runner-up four times in the Masters between 1969 and 1976. His 1976 victory at the U.S. Open was one of his sixteen PGA Tour wins.
Number 10 Robert De Vicenzo
Argentinian Roberto De Vicenzo won a record 229 professional golf tournaments around the world, including seven on the PGA Tour.
De Vicenzo had seventeen top-10 finishes in the Masters, including three at the Masters. That included finishing one stroke behind Bob Goalby in 1968 after signing an incorrect scorecard. De Vicenzo recorded a par-4 on the 17th hole instead of the birdie-3, which would have put him in a playoff.
Number 9 Ashton Miller
Johnny Miller won 25 PGA Tour games and finished his career with 105 top 10 finishes. The San Francisco native won the US Open (1973) and Open Championship (1976), and during those four years, he won 16 times on the PGA Tour.
Miller finished runner-up three times in The Masters.
No . 6 Hale Irwin
Hale Irwin won approximately three U.S. Clears and had around 20 top-10 finishes in the dominant, but he was by no means an expert’s champion. He finished in the top ten on more than seven occasions at Augusta National and achieved 20 PGA Tour victories before dominating the Champions Tour with 45 additional titles.
Number 7 Davis Love
Davis Love 3 won twenty one times for the PGA Visit and had one particular major name, the 97 PGA Tournament. Love completed runner-up in the Masters within 1995 in addition to 1999, in addition to DL3 got multiple additional top 10 coatings.
No . six Justin Jones
Justin Jones has 16 PGA Visit wins and another major name at the 2017 PGA Tournament. The 27-year-old is currently rated No . several in the world and it has reached Number 1 for the purpose of five several weeks during his / her career.
Thomas’ best Experts finish is definitely 4th within 2020, and finished T12 in 2019.
No . a few Jon Rahm
Currently the number 1 rated golfer in the world, Jon Rahm has held the number 1 position for 43 months in his career. The 27-year-old Spaniard won the 2021 US Open and has 6 PGA Tour titles as well as six international victories.
Rahm is aiming for his first Masters win and the Green Jacket, and he has finished in the top 10 in the Masters for four straight years since 2018, including two top 5 finishes.
No . a few Lee Trevino
The Mexican-American Lee Trevino won twenty-nine career PGA Tour games, including six majors. He twice won the PGA, US Open, and Open Championship, but never the Green Jacket. In 20 starts at Augusta, Trevino’s best finish was a tie for tenth in The Masters.
No . four Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka has won eight times on the PGA Tour, including four major titles – 2 US Opens and 2 PGA Championships. The 31-year-old has been ranked number 1 in the world for 47 weeks throughout his career, and he’s still shooting for his first Masters title and Green Jacket.
Koepka has finished T11 in the Masters in 2017, T2 in 2019, and T7 in 2020.
No . two Ernie Els
For two years in the 1990s and 2000s, Ernie Els won nineteen PGA Tour titles and had 47 international victories. The “Big Easy” was a four-time major champion but never a Masters champion and finished as the runner-up twice in 2000 and 2005, the latter when Phil Mickelson made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win and avoid a playoff with Els.
Over a span of five years (2000 to 2004), Els never finished worse than sixth in the Masters.
Number 2 Rory McIlroy
Since winning the Open Championship in 2014 for his fourth major title, Rory McIlroy has stepped on the edge of completing the career grand slam. He’s finished in the top ten at The Masters six times since 2014, including three top-five finishes.
However, in 2011 at the age of 21, McIlroy held a four-shot lead after 54 holes and led the tournament standing on the tenth tee. He made a triple-bogey on hole number 10, a double-bogey on hole number 13, shot 80 in the final round, and finished T15.
McIlroy has won on the PGA Tour 20 times and has 29 worldwide victories. Since 1986 and the inception of the Official World Golf Rankings, McIlroy has been ranked number 1 in the world for 106 weeks – the fourth-most all-time.
No . one Greg Grettle
Heartbreak barely describes exactly what this great Australian has suffered at The Masters. Greg Norman was the most dominant golfer in the game in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional competitions, including 20 PGA Tour titles, but just 2 majors. The “Shark” spent 331 weeks ranked No. 1 – second-most all-time behind five-time Masters winner Tiger Woods (683).
In 23 career appearances at the Masters, Norman finished in the top 10 nine times, including six top-five finishes. In 1986, he made a string of four straight birdies on the back nine Sunday to sit tied for the lead with Jack Nicklaus. Needing a birdie to win and par to get into a playoff, Norman hit the fairway on 18 but pushed his approach shot into the gallery. The missed 20-foot par putt left him short of victory.
The following year in 1987, Norman was in a playoff with Augusta native Larry Mize, who made an incredible 140-foot chip-and-run shot for birdie as Norman stood on the green looking at his nearly 50-foot putt, which he ultimately missed.
But 1996 is one to remember, or forget. Norman played brilliantly for three rounds, starting with a course-record 63 and held a six-shot lead over Nick Faldo into Sunday. The shakes and misfired shots began mounting for the Shark, who still held a 2-shot lead to start the back nine.
However, the white-haired Australian bogeyed 10 and 11 and then hit his tee shot into Rae’s Creek on the 12th for a double bogey. The unraveling Shark hit into the water again on 16 for another double-bogey and finished with a 78, five shots behind his playing partner and 3-time Masters champion, Nick Faldo.
Unfortunately, Norman’s misfires and mistakes cost him his chance at a Masters title and Green Jacket, and the Shark’s 1996 bone-jarring collapse had to hurt the most and is recognized as one of the biggest collapses in major golfing history.