Best Scores By Amateurs in The Masters Tournament

Every Masters Tournament includes a handful of amateur golfers, and sometimes those amateur golfers make a splash. But what are the best scores posted by amateurs in The Masters? Below you'll find the tournament records for amateurs for nine holes, 18 holes, 36 holes and 72 holes.

Note: If you are looking for the best Masters finishes by amateurs, see Low Amateurs in The Masters or Best Finishes By Amateurs in the Majors.

Best 9-Hole Masters Scores By an Amateur

• 31 — Casey Wittenberg, back nine, fourth round, 2004
• 31 — Romain Langasque, back nine, fourth round, 2016

Wittenberg had a 69 for his full final round and tied for 13th place as low amateur. Langasque, who had an 83 in the third round, scored 68 in the fourth and tied for 39th place.

Best 18-Hole Masters Scores By an Amateur

• 66 — Ken Venturi, first round, 1956
• 67 — Charlie Coe, third round, 1959
• 67 — Jodie Mudd, third round, 1982

Venturi was the leader in the 1956 Masters through three rounds, taking a 4-stroke edge into the final round. But he scored 80 in that final round and slipped to second place. Coe's 67 in the 1959 Masters moved him into fourth place at the end of the third round, and he finished sixth. Mudd, in 1982, finished tied for 20th, and Mudd, Coe and Venturi were each low amateurs.

What about the two greatest Masters players of all time, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods? What were their best 18-hole Masters scores as amateurs? For Nicklaus it was a 70, a score he notched twice in 1961. For Woods, it was 72, a score he had in three of the four rounds in 1995.

The first amateur to break par in The Masters was Charlie Yates with a second-round 70 in 1935. The first amateur to break 70 in The Masters was Albert "Scotty" Campbell with a third-round 68 in 1936.

Best 36-Hole Masters Scores By an Amateur

• 135 — Ken Venturi, (66-69) first two rounds, 1956
• 136 — Sam Bennett, (68-68), first two rounds, 2023

As noted above, Venturi finished in second place in 1956. Bennett's fast start in the 2023 Masters had him tied for sixth place after the first round, and in solo third after the second round. He scored 76-74 in the final two rounds, still good enough to tie for 16th and claim low amateur honors.

Best 72-Hole Masters Scores By an Amateur

• 281 — Charlie Coe (72-71-69-69), 1961
• 283 — Frank Stranahan (73-72-70-68), 1947
• 285 — Viktor Hovland (72-71-71-71), 2019

We saw Coe already listed above, but he set the record for 72-hole Masters score by an amateur in a different year, the 1961 Masters. Coe tied Arnold Palmer for second place, one stroke behind Gary Player. Frank Stranahan also tied for second place in 1947, with Byron Nelson two back of Jimmy Demaret. Hovland, in the 2019 Masters, "only" tied for 32nd, but did earn low-amateur honors.

What about Nicklaus and Woods? In Nicklaus' three Masters appearances as an amateur, his best score was 287 in 1961. He tied for seventh place but wasn't low amateur because Coe set the record that year. Woods made two Masters starts as an amateur, scoring 293 in 1995 and missing the cut in 1996.

The first amateur to finish below 290 in The Masters was Lawson Little at even-par 288 (finished sixth) in 1935. The first to finish below par was Stranahan in 1947.

For more tournament bests (plus a few worsts), see Masters Tournament Records.

Sources:
Augusta National Golf Club. Historical Records & Stats, Scoring Statistics — Amateurs, https://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/stats/historical/scoringStats.html.
Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters 2024 Media Guide, Records and Statistics.
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf (affiliate link), Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.