Biggest Masters wins: Where Scottie Scheffler could rank by largest margin of victory

Edward Sutelan

Biggest Masters wins: Where Scottie Scheffler could rank by largest margin of victory image

The No. 1-ranked golfer in the world is proving why he deserves to be listed at the very top.

Scottie Scheffler has dominated the course at Augusta National Golf Club. He was 8 under par after two rounds and had a five-stroke lead, tying the Masters record for largest lead through 36 holes .

Scheffler continued his strong play Saturday. He finished 1 under for the third round and 9 under for the tournament. He led by three strokes over Cameron Smith.

MORE: Inside Scheffler's historic climb to world No. 1 ranking

Scheffler's advantage over the rest of the field already has him in rarified air; if he can keep his lead this wide or even expand it, he could make even more tournament history.

Here's a look at the biggest wins in the history of the Masters.

Biggest wins at the Masters

Scheffler ended his day Saturday with a three-stroke lead, though at one point he led by six shots. Still, that would have put him far behind the largest margin of victory in Masters history.

The record belongs to Tiger Woods, who won the 1997 Masters with a then-record 18-under-par final score. The next closest golfer was Tom Kite at 6 under, meaning Woods won by 12 strokes. It is the only double-digit win in Masters history.

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Few have ever won by the five-stroke margin Scheffler opened after two rounds. In fact, he would be only the ninth player to do it and just the second since Woods' record-setting performance in 1997.

YearWinner (Score)Runner-up (Score)Margin
1997Tiger Woods (270)Tom Kite (282)12
1965Jack Nicklaus (271)Arnold Palmer, Gary Player (280)9
1976Raymond Floyd (271)Ben Crenshaw (279)8
1955Cary Middlecoff (279)Ben Hogan (286)7
1964Arnold Palmer (276)Dave Marr, Jack Nicklaus (282)6
1948Claude Harmon (279)Cary Middlecoff (284)5
1953Ben Hogan (274)Ed Oliver (279)5
1996Nick Faldo (276)Greg Norman (281)5
2021Dustin Johnson (268)Sungjae Im, Cameron Smith (273)5

Lowest winning scores at the Masters

Scheffler has put on an incredible performance, but if he's going to set a Masters scoring record, he'll need to have one of the greatest single-round performances in history.

Dustin Johnson set the record with a 20-under score in 2020, surpassing Woods' 18 under in 1997.

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Scheffler is 9 under with one round remaining. He can become the 32nd golfer to win the Masters with a score of at least 10 under. That still puts him a long way from the lowest winning scores at the Masters.

YearGolferUnder par
2021Dustin Johnson20
1997Tiger Woods18
2015Jordan Spieth18
1965Jack Nicklaus17
1976Raymond Floyd17
2010Phil Mickelson16
2001Tiger Woods16
2018Patrick Reed15
1953Ben Hogan14
2011Charl Schwartzel14
1995Ben Crenshaw14

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.