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Amateurs have plenty of tradition at the Masters, as the tournament celebrates its amateur competitors highly year in and year out.
From the Monday night Amateur Dinner with the chairman to spending a night in the Crow’s Nest and the reigning U.S. Amateur winner being paired with the defending champion each year, amateurs are a major part of each week at Augusta National Golf Club.
But has an amateur ever won the Masters? Not quite.
There have been amateur winners at the U.S. Open and Open Championship, but no amateur has ever won at Augusta National. Three players have recorded runner-up finishes.
In 2023, Sam Bennett tied for 16th and was in the top 10 for a majority of the tournament.
Best amateur finishes at the Masters
T-2, Frank Stranahan, 1947; 2, Ken Venturi, 1956; T-2, Charles R. Coe, 1961
Most top-10 finishes by amateurs at Masters
3, Billy Joe Patton, 1954 (first Masters), 1958, 1959; 3, Charles R. Coe, 1959, 1961, 1962
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