Seven incredible Tiger Woods Masters records that may never be broken

Apparently Tiger Woods broke 20 and tied seven records when he lit up the sporting world in 1997. He has now won six Green Jackets and his single missed but is from when he played there as an amateur in 1996. That year he finished +6 for the two rounds and, since then, he has barely looked back.

We look at some of his notable highlights, some of which might never be threatened again.

1) Highest opening nine holes by a winner (40)

This is always one of the great Masters stats from 1997 – out in 40, back in 30. Playing with Nick Faldo and touted as a huge hope given his three wins since the previous October, he then limped to the turn in four over.

Then it all happened as four birdies and an eagle left him at -2, in fourth place and three back of John Huston.

“He went out in 40 and back in 30,” Faldo said, “and then we didn’t see him for the next 14 years. He left us in the dust. It was a special day.”

Come the Friday night he was three clear and every player in the field was rightly terrified.

2) Successive made cuts (24)

Gary Player and Freddie Couples shared the previous best of 23 until Woods made it to the weekend in 2024. It’s a truly incredible run and one that might be downplayed.

Yes, it’s easier to make the weekend at Augusta than the other Majors but to do it 24 straight times is phenomenal. If he does somehow play this year, it would be some effort to extend this to 25.

3) Youngest champion (21 years, 3 months, 14 days)

Another to come from 1997 and another that will surely be threatened at some point but unlikely to be surpassed. Woods edged out Seve when he triumphed here in his first start as a pro and it would likely need an amateur champion to be victorious – and to be in their early years of education so it really would be something else.

4) Most under par in one Masters, back nine (-16)

Tying in with the 1997 theme, Woods played the back nine in -16. This is made the more interesting in that he ‘only’ played the front nine in -2. Woods’ back nine consisted of nines of 30-32-33-33.

5) Largest margin of victory (12)

It’s always a good question – who finished a distant second to Tiger in 1997? Tom Kite is the answer, more bizarrely is that Tommy Tolles was in third place.

The number of runaway Major wins seems to have dropped off in recent years, three of Tiger’s first five Major triumphs were by eight shots or more, Rory McIlroy’s first two Major wins were by eight shots but that seems to be a thing of the past. This is the one that might well never be touched.

6) Most successive birdies (7)

In 1999 Steve Pate recorded seven straight birdies in a third-round 65, six years later Woods did the same bit over two days. In the 2005 Masters Woods birdied 7-9 on the Saturday and came back on the Sunday morning and opened up with four more birdies in a third-round 65.

It was the same run of holes, 7-13, as Pate but it is almost overlooked given what happened later in the day at the 16th.

7) Most consecutive rounds of par or better (16)

This is a cracker – from his third round in 2007 to his second round in 2011, he didn’t have a single round over par.

So, for 16 straight rounds, his worst score around Augusta was never worse than 72. In that period he didn’t actually manage a win and the run came to an end on the Saturday when he was right in it in 2011 when McIlroy looked like making his big breakthrough.

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