Clinching the Green Jacket on Sunday at The Masters could be one of the greatest feelings in sport for the winner. However, watching someone else beat you can be a sickening feeling on the final day of a major championship.
The ecstasy of winning The Masters is second to none, but for the loser it can be truly heart-breaking. Especially if they had the Green Jacket in their grasp, and for one reason or another failed to deliver.
That has happened to countless players over the years, who have had to endure the pain of a final round collapse at Augusta National.
The history of Masters winners could look very different if it wasn’t for many famous collapses which have taken place on golf’s grandest stage.
Here, Read Golf ranks the 10 biggest chokes in Masters history.
The 10 Biggest Masters Sunday Chokes Of All Time
10. Roberto De Vicenzo – 1968
Choke might not be quite the right word for the first entrant on the list, but it was certainly the greatest act of self-sabotage in Masters history. This makes it calamitous enough to earn its place here.
The Argentinian should have found himself in a play-off with British golfer Bob Goalby to decide the 1968 champion. However, De Vicenzo signed an incorrect scorecard after his playing partner, Tommy Aaron, recorded a ‘4’ on the 17th hole when it should have been a ‘3’.
“What a stupid I am to be wrong here,” De Vicenzo told the press after the mistake.
9. Greg Norman – 1986
In 1986, Greg Norman went into the final day having led all four majors at various points, yet only came away with victory at The Open Championship.
At The Masters, he was one of five players to hold a share of the lead during a dramatic final round.
Norman drew level with a brilliant shot on the 17th, then produced a superb drive on the 18th to set up a potential birdie.
But the Australian wilted under the pressure. He pushed his approach into the gallery and then missed a 15-foot par putt that would have forced a play-off with Jack Nicklaus.
It wouldn’t be the last time Norman features among the most infamous collapses in Masters history. More on that a bit later.
8. Curtis Strange – 1985
“Strange” felt like the only fitting way to describe the 1985 Masters for two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange.
He opened with an 80 on Thursday to sit 12 shots off the lead, yet by Sunday he had surged into a two-shot advantage.
The charge continued into the final round, where at one stage he held a four-shot lead and looked set for one of the greatest comebacks in Masters history.
But it unravelled quickly. He dropped shots at the 13th and 15th after going for the green in two on both par fives.
Bernhard Langer seized the opportunity, producing four birdies in his final seven holes to claim the Green Jacket by two strokes from Strange, Seve Ballesteros and Raymond Floyd.
7. Raymond Floyd – 1990
Raymond Floyd looked set to claim a second Masters title in 1990, holding a four-shot lead with just six holes of the final round remaining.
Nick Faldo applied relentless pressure, picking up birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th, while Floyd’s charge began to unravel at the 17th.
A costly three-putt bogey dropped him back into a tie, sending the pair into a play-off.
At the second extra hole, Floyd found the water, and Faldo took full advantage to secure victory. Faldo’s victory in 1990 also denied Floyd the chance to win a major across four different decades.
Afterwards, he admitted: “This is the most devastating thing that’s ever happened to me in my career. I’ve had a lot of losses, but nothing like this.”
6. Kenny Perry – 2009
Kenny Perry began the final round of the 2009 Masters tied at the top alongside Ángel Cabrera.
Sunday largely went to plan, and Perry found himself two shots clear with just two holes to play. But it slipped away.
Back-to-back bogeys at the 17th and 18th dragged him into a three-man play-off with Cabrera and Chad Campbell.
Campbell dropped out after a bogey on the first extra hole, while Perry matched Cabrera with pars to extend the contest.
At the second play-off hole, Perry missed the green and ran his pitch well beyond the flag, leading to a bogey as Cabrera claimed the Green Jacket.
Afterwards, Perry reflected: “It just seems like when I get down to those situations, I can’t quite execute. Great players make it happen, and average players don’t.”
5. Ed Sneed – 1979
Ed Sneed seemed set to claim what would have been the only major of his career at the 1979 Masters.
He started Sunday with a five-shot lead, which had dwindled to three with three holes remaining.
But Sneed bogeyed each of his final three holes, forcing the first-ever three-way play-off at the Masters with Tom Watson and Fuzzy Zoeller.
It was Zoeller who ultimately prevailed, carding a birdie on the second play-off hole to claim the Green Jacket.
4. Scott Hoch – 1989
The most infamous missed putt in Masters history almost certainly belongs to Scott Hoch.
In the 1989 sudden-death play-off against Nick Faldo, Hoch stood over a 24-inch putt on the first extra hole. Not only was this a 24-inch putt, but it was also a putt that would have secured him the Green Jacket. He missed and Faldo went on to claim victory on the second play-off hole.
Hoch had already squandered a chance to win in regulation, missing a birdie on the 18th after bogeying the 17th, which had drawn him level with Faldo. Not only did he miss the crucial putt, he failed to make contact with the hole at all.
The American earned the cruel nickname “Hoch as in choke” following the defeat.
Reflecting on the miss years later, Hoch told ESPN: “I don’t think about it anymore, except when someone brings it up. But for a while there, you can’t help it. You strive to win major tournaments. I certainly would have loved to win that, but I didn’t.”
3. Rory McIlroy – 2011
The Masters remained the one major that has consistently eluded Rory McIlroy right up until last year, and his collapse at the 2011 tournament remains unforgettable.
The Northern Irishman may be aiming to add his name to the list of back-to-back Masters winners this year at Augusta, but it 2011 he went into the final round holding a four-shot lead and managed a steady 37 on the front nine to maintain control.
But from the 10th hole onwards, everything fell apart. McIlroy found himself deep in the trees near the seldom-seen guest cabins and carded a triple bogey.
That was followed by a bogey at the 11th and a four-putt double at the par-three 12th. On the 13th, his drive found Rae’s Creek, though by then any hope of the Green Jacket had already vanished.
He finished with an 80 in the final round, ending ten shots adrift of eventual winner Charl Schwartzel.
2. Jordan Spieth – 2016
Jordan Spieth savoured the highs of Augusta when he claimed the Masters in 2015.
But his return the following year turned into a nightmare he would no doubt prefer to forget. Leading by five strokes going into the back nine, he endured one of the most dramatic collapses in Masters history.
Bogeys at the 10th and 11th were followed by a quadruple-bogey at the par-three 12th, where he found the water twice. Further bogeys at the 13th and 17th compounded the misery, and he finished three shots adrift of shock winner Danny Willett.
Spieth, however, denied that it was a choke, reflecting: “For me it wasn’t that at all. I remember the way I felt. I just simply ran into a few holes where you can’t miss it right in a row. After nine holes in a row where you can, and it just got the best of me.”
1. Greg Norman – 1996
The most infamous collapse in Masters history is widely regarded as Greg Norman’s meltdown in 1996.
Norman began the final day with a six-shot advantage over Nick Faldo, having set the tone with a course-record 63 in the opening round.
During the final round, Faldo gradually eroded Norman’s lead over the first nine holes, and a string of bogeys from Norman on holes nine through eleven saw them level.
The situation worsened at the 12th, where Norman found the water and fell two shots behind.
Any remaining hope was extinguished at the par-three 16th. A hooked tee shot found the water, leaving Norman to card a double bogey.
A six-shot lead at the start of the day evaporated into a five-shot defeat, cementing this as the greatest collapse in Masters history.
