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Is it the burden of expectation? Is it the strain gamers placed on themselves? All the media duties can not assist. Whatever it’s, efficiently defending the Masters title is tough.
The inaugural Masters was performed in 1934, with Horton Smith draining a 20-footer for birdie on the seventeenth gap (now the eighth) to beat Craig Wood to the title.
The subsequent yr, Smith completed T19 – and it wasn’t till 1965-66 {that a} participant would win the Masters in consecutive years.
So, who has received back-to-back Masters titles? Let’s check out the very quick listing…
Jack Nicklaus: 1965-66
Jack Nicklaus grew to become the primary back-to-back champion on the Masters in 1965-66 | Credit: Getty Images
His title was Jack Nicklaus. The “Golden Bear” received six Green Jackets, the primary certainly one of which got here in 1963.
Nicklaus missed the lower as an newbie on debut in 1959, however 4 years later, he secured his first title at Augusta National with a one-shot victory over Tony Lema.
The following yr, he was a distant second (tied) to Arnold Palmer, however in 1965-66, he received successive Green Jackets.
In 1965, Nicklaus beat Palmer by 9 strokes, a file that stood till 1997, and the next yr, he received an 18-hole playoff in opposition to Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer.
How shut did he come to creating it three in a row? Not very.
With rounds on 72 and 79, Nicklaus grew to become the primary defending champion to overlook the lower.
Nick Faldo: 1989-90
Nick Faldo wins the primary of his three Green Jackets in 1989 | Credit: Getty Images
Nick Faldo grew to become solely the second Masters champion to win back-to-back titles, with the Englishman recording his double in 1989-90.
Sir Nick dodged a bullet in 1989, when Scott Hoch missed a two-foot par putt on the first playoff gap for victory.
Faldo made the a lot of the reprieve, holing a 25-footer for birdie on the second additional gap (eleventh) to ship Hoch a merciless blow.
The following yr, Faldo did it the arduous method once more, this time defeating Raymond Floyd in a playoff.
Faldo was 4 strokes down with six holes to play, however the defending champion reeled off essential birdies at 13, 15 and 16.
1991 was Ian Woosnam’s yr. Faldo put in a valiant effort for the hat-trick, however he completed 5 pictures adrift of the Welshman in T12.
Tiger Woods: 2001-02
Vijay Singh helps Tiger Woods into his Green Jacket in 2001 | Credit: Getty Images
When Tiger Woods received the Masters in 1997, he set data tumbling: the youngest winner, the bottom 72-hole rating, and the biggest victory margin.
In successful the Masters in 2001, he made it an unprecedented fourth consecutive skilled Major title, holding off David Duval and Phil Mickelson by two and three pictures, respectively, with a successful rating of 16-under-par (272).
The following yr, posting 12-under-par, Woods established the file for the bottom 72-hole rating by a defending champion.
Woods’ hat-trick effort got here up quick in 2003, with rounds of 76 and 75 bookending what was a disappointing match (T15) by his personal very excessive requirements.
Over 20 years later, no champion has managed to efficiently defend since.
To date, nobody has ever received three Masters titles in a row.
