Playing at the Masters for the first time as an amateur can be a daunting task facing some of best players in the game, both past and present. That’s on top of navigating through a difficult course, while having the adrenaline of playing on golf’s biggest stage.
Even from the beginning, amateurs have earned their way to play at Augusta National, especially for one of the club’s founders, Bobby Jones, who was one of, if not, the best amateurs to play golf.
To go from dreaming of playing at the Masters to hearing your name called on the first tee with some of the best players on the planet can happen in an instant and can be a whirlwind. However, once they settle down, they create memories of a lifetime.
Here is everything you need to know about amateurs at the Masters.
Has an Amateur ever won the Masters?
No amateur has won the Masters although there have close calls of a non-professional putting on the green jacket on a Masters Sunday.
What is the best finish by an amateur?
In Masters tournament history, there have been three to have finished as a runner up.
In 1947, Frank Stranahan finished tied for second that was fueled by a 4-under 68 in the final round to tie Byron Nelson and two strokes behind champion Jimmy Demaret. Stranahan won 70 amateur tournaments from 1936 to 1954 and was a champion power lifter and had a career in long distance runner before competing in golf professionally.
Fourteen years later in 1961, Charlie Coe also tied for second. He birdied three straight holes on the back nine to finish the final round with a 3-under 69. However, that 1961 Masters was a battle between Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. Palmer double bogeyed the 72nd hole to fall into a second-place tie with the 37-year-old Coe, who was a former World War II pilot.
The third amateur player in Masters history to earn the runner-up trophy was Ken Venturi five years before Coe in 1956. Venturi had the 54-hole lead heading into the final round, up by four against a star-studded field, facing names like Palmer, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.
However, Venturi closed his final round with an 8-over 80 and lost by one stroke to Jack Burke Jr. The overall 72-hole performance by Venturi is one of the best showings by an amateur as he finished in solo second behind Burke Jr.
Stranahan, Coe and Venturi hold multiple amateur Masters records, including low first, third and final rounds, low first 36 holes, low middle 36 holes, low final 36 holes, low 54 holes as well as low 72-hole score.
There are three other amateurs in tournament history to have finished inside the top 10, including a third-place finish by Billy Joe Patton in 1954, a fourth-place finish by Harvie Ward in 1957 and a more familiar name in Jack Nicklaus, who tied for seventh in 1961.
Since the turn of the century, some of the players to have success as amateurs include Hideki Matsuyama in 2011 when he finished 27th, as it came 10 years before his eventual Masters win. The list also includes Bryson DeChambeau when he finished 21st in 2016 and Viktor Hovland in 2019 when placed 32nd.
Also read: LIV Golf Players: Why they can play and who is playing
Can an amateur win the Masters?
Yes, an amateur can win the Masters. But it is a tall task on tough, undulating course in, at times, difficult conditions against a difficult field.
Do amateurs get paid at the Masters?
Amateurs do not earn any prize money. However, the best amateur in the field will receive the Silver Cup as the low amateur, which is given during the green jacket ceremony.
The Silver Cup was first presented in 1952 for strong performances by an amateur. However, in order to receive the award, the amateur must first make the 36-hole cut.
How many amateurs made the cut at the Masters 2023?
Last year, Sam Bennett was one of seven players to make the cut. He even entered the final round inside the top 10 before a final round 4-over 76 pushed him back to T16.
Bennett was 8-under through 36 holes in 2023, which was the second-best 36-hole score, only trailing Venturi from 1956 by one stroke. Bennett is also one of eight amateurs to shoot a low first nine score of 32, which came in the first round like Venturi and Patton.
Bennett also tied the low second round by an amateur with a 4-under 68 score.
Related: 2023 Masters Takeaways, including Bennett’s second round heroics
How an amateur qualifies to play at Augusta National?
The Masters has multiple ways a player can qualify for competition.
Being the reigning U.S. Amateur champion or the runner-up earns a spot in the field. Amateurs can also qualify by winning the US Mid-Amateur Champion. Also, those who win amateur championship overseas in Asia-Pacific and Latin America earn spots in the field.
In 2024, there are five amateurs competing at the Masters.
- Santiago de la Fuente, from Mexico, won the Latin America Amateur Championship.
- Stewart Hagestad, from the United States, won the US Mi-Amateur Championship.
- Christo Lamprecht, from South Africa, is the current Amateur Champion.
- Jasper Stubbs, from Australia, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
- Neal Shipley was the runner-up at the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Shipley lost to Nick Dunlap in the championship match. However, since Dunlap won The American Express on the PGA Tour and announced that he was becoming a professional, he is in the field as a professional, not an amateur, despite being the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion.