Largest 54-Hole Leads in Masters History
What is the biggest lead any golfer has held after three rounds in The Masters tournament? That largest 54-hole lead is nine strokes, a record that was set by Tiger Woods in 1997.
Woods went on to win by an even bigger number that year, also setting The Masters' record for largest margin of victory. But not every golfer who appears on the following list went on to victory. All golfers who held at least a 5-stroke lead after 54 holes are listed, but two of them failed to convert those leads into wins.
The List: Biggest Masters Leads After 3 Rounds
- 9 strokes — Tiger Woods (70-66-65—201), 1997 Masters. That 9-stroke lead after 54 holes turned into a 12-stroke victory. The distant runner-up was Tom Kite. It was Woods' first major championship victory.
- 8 strokes — Raymond Floyd (65-66-70—201), 1976 Masters. The guy eight strokes behind Floyd after three rounds in 1976 was Jack Nicklaus. And Floyd wound up winning by eight with a final-round 70, but Ben Crenshaw slipped ahead of Nicklaus into second place.
- 7 strokes — Seve Ballesteros (66-69-68—203), 1980 Masters. Ballesteros stretched his lead to 10 at one point early in the final round before "settling" for a four-stroke victory over runners-up Gibby Gilbert and Jack Newton.
- 6 strokes — Greg Norman (63-69-71—203), 1996 Masters. The most-famous collapse in Masters history, Norman still led second-place Nick Faldo by four through seven holes of the final round. But Norman went bogey-bogey-bogey-double bogey on holes nine through 12, and Faldo went in front on the 12th. Faldo scored 67 in the final round to Norman's 78, and Norman went from leading by six to finishing second by five.
- 5 strokes — Herman Keiser (69-68-71—208), 1946 Masters. Keiser took a 5-shot lead over Ben Hogan into the final round, and very nearly gave it all back. When Keiser 3-putted the last green to score 74 in the final round, he opened the door for Hogan. But Hogan then 3-putted the last green, as well, and Keiser won by one stroke.
- 5 strokes — Arnold Palmer (69-68-69—206), 1964 Masters. Palmer's 54-hole lead was five over second-place Bruce Devlin. He wound up winning by six strokes, with Dave Marr and Jack Nicklaus tying for second.
- 5 strokes — Jack Nicklaus (67-71-64—202), 1965 Masters. With a third-round 64, Nicklaus moved five clear of second-place Gary Player. He wound up winning by nine over Player and Arnold Palmer.
- 5 strokes — Ed Sneed (68-67-69—204), 1979 Masters. The second of the two players on this list who failed to win, Sneed still led by three with three holes to play. But he bogeyed all three of those holes and fell into a tie with Tom Watson and Fuzzy Zoeller. Zoeller is the one who emerged from the sudden-death playoff as champion.
