Much has been made over the decades that there have been only three players to win the Masters in their first attempts: Horton Smith winning the first playing of the event in 1934, Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
Clearly, experience matters at Augusta National Golf Club. But how much is the right amount of experience? Let’s take a look at the average age of the winners for some insight.
In the 83 playings of the Masters, the average age of the winner has been 32 years – 32.2 to be precise.
Despite some wild swings in age in recent years – Jordan Spieth was 21 years old when he won in 2015, and Tiger Woods was 43 when he won in 2019 – the average age of winners in the past 10 years also is 32 years – 32.1 to be precise.
Going back 20 years, the average age of winners was 31.8 years.
Clearly, 32 is a good number – as well as being the mean, it’s also the median age for winners. But it’s worth noting that only two winners in the past 20 years have been 32: Mike Weir in 2003 and Adam Scott in 2013.
Over those 20 years, eight winners were in their 20s: Woods in 2001, 2002 and 2005; Trevor Immelman in 2008; Charl Schwartzel in 2011; Spieth in 2015; Danny Willett in 2016; and Patrick Reed in 2018.
Over those 20 years, only Woods was in his 40s when he won, in 2019.
That leaves 11 winners in their 30s: Vijay Singh in 2000; Weir in 2003; Phil Mickelson in 2004, 2006 and 2010; Zach Johnson in 2007; Angel Cabrera in 2009; Bubba Watson in 2012 and 2014; Scott in 2013; and Sergio Garcia in 2017.
And it’s worth noting that in the past 20 years the records for oldest and youngest winners in Masters history have held: Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he won in 1986, and Woods was 21 when broke through in 1997.
All this begs the question: Who has age on their side this year?
Using the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking to winnow down the list of contenders, Rory McIlroy is the closest to that magic age of 32. The fifth-ranked player in the world and the winner of four previous major championships – who is trying to lock up the career Grand Slam at Augusta National this year – is 31 years old.
Again looking at the top 10 in the OWGR, the next closest to the average winners’ age of 32 are Webb Simpson at 35 and Tyrrell Hatton at 29.
It’s also worth noting that recent majors slayer Brooks Koepka, who has won four majors since 2017, is 30 years old. He is currently ranked No. 12 in the world after missing several months rehabbing injuries.
None of the top 10 in the world are in their 40s. The trend is younger for the top players, with seven of the top 10 in their 20s: No. 2 Jon Rahm at 25 (his 26th birthday was Nov. 10), No. 3 Justin Thomas at 27, No. 4 Collin Morikawa at 23, No. 6 Bryson DeChambeau at 27, No. 8 Xander Schauffele at 27, No. 9 Hatton at 29 and No. 10 Patrick Cantlay at 28.
In keeping with that trend of young players in majors, Morikawa won the PGA Championship in August at age 23, and Bryson DeChambeau won this year’s U.S. Open just days after his 27th birthday. Morikawa will play his first Masters this year, while DeChambeau has played it three times with a best finish of T-21 in 2016.
With all that said, here are the ages of all Masters winners, with information from Masters.com:
| Year | Winner | Age |
| 1934 | Horton Smith | 25 |
| 1935 | Gene Sarazen | 33 |
| 1936 | Horton Smith | 27 |
| 1937 | Byron Nelson | 25 |
| 1938 | Henry Picard | 30 |
| 1939 | Ralph Guldahl | 27 |
| 1940 | Jimmy Demaret | 29 |
| 1941 | Craig Wood | 39 |
| 1942 | Byron Nelson | 30 |
| 1946 | Herman Keiser | 31 |
| 1947 | Jimmy Demaret | 36 |
| 1948 | Claude Harmon | 31 |
| 1949 | Sam Snead | 36 |
| 1950 | Jimmy Demaret | 39 |
| 1951 | Ben Hogan | 38 |
| 1952 | Sam Snead | 39 |
| 1953 | Ben Hogan | 40 |
| 1954 | Sam Snead | 41 |
| 1955 | Cary Middlecoff | 34 |
| 1956 | Jack Burke | 33 |
| 1957 | Doug Ford | 34 |
| 1958 | Arnold Palmer | 28 |
| 1959 | Art Wall | 35 |
| 1960 | Arnold Palmer | 30 |
| 1961 | Gary Player | 25 |
| 1962 | Arnold Palmer | 32 |
| 1963 | Jack Nicklaus | 23 |
| 1964 | Arnold Palmer | 34 |
| 1965 | Jack Nicklaus | 25 |
| 1966 | Jack Nicklaus | 26 |
| 1967 | Gay Brewer | 35 |
| 1968 | Bob Goalby | 39 |
| 1969 | George Archer | 29 |
| 1970 | Billy Casper | 38 |
| 1971 | Charles Coody | 33 |
| 1972 | Jack Nicklaus | 32 |
| 1973 | Tommy Aaron | 36 |
| 1974 | Gary Player | 38 |
| 1975 | Jack Nicklaus | 35 |
| 1976 | Raymond Floyd | 33 |
| 1977 | Tom Watson | 27 |
| 1978 | Gary Player | 42 |
| 1979 | Fuzzy Zoeller | 27 |
| 1980 | Seve Ballesteros | 23 |
| 1981 | Tom Watson | 31 |
| 1982 | Craig Stadler | 28 |
| 1983 | Seve Ballesteros | 26 |
| 1984 | Ben Crenshaw | 32 |
| 1985 | Bernhard Langer | 27 |
| 1986 | Jack Nicklaus | 46 |
| 1987 | Larry Mize | 28 |
| 1988 | Sandy Lyle | 30 |
| 1989 | Nick Faldo | 31 |
| 1990 | Nick Faldo | 32 |
| 1991 | Ian Woosnam | 33 |
| 1992 | Fred Couples | 32 |
| 1993 | Bernhard Langer | 35 |
| 1994 | Jose Maria Olazabal | 28 |
| 1995 | Ben Crenshaw | 43 |
| 1996 | Nick Faldo | 38 |
| 1997 | Tiger Woods | 21 |
| 1998 | Mark O’Meara | 41 |
| 1999 | Jose Maria Olazabal | 33 |
| 2000 | Vijay Singh | 37 |
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | 25 |
| 2002 | Tiger Woods | 26 |
| 2003 | Mike Weir | 32 |
| 2004 | Phil Mickelson | 33 |
| 2005 | Tiger Woods | 29 |
| 2006 | Phil Mickelson | 35 |
| 2007 | Zach Johnson | 31 |
| 2008 | Trevor Immelman | 28 |
| 2009 | Angel Cabrera | 39 |
| 2010 | Phil Mickelson | 39 |
| 2011 | Charl Schwartzel | 26 |
| 2012 | Bubba Watson | 33 |
| 2013 | Adam Scott | 32 |
| 2014 | Bubba Watson | 35 |
| 2015 | Jordan Spieth | 21 |
| 2016 | Danny Willett | 28 |
| 2017 | Sergio Garcia | 37 |
| 2018 | Patrick Reed | 27 |
| 2019 | Tiger Woods | 43 |