Masters is history, dreams and stories rolled into one

The year’s first Major and one of the most famous golf tournaments began on Thursday. The youngest of the four Majors, the Masters began in 1934 and has since gained in stature and is now considered the most sought-after tournament.

In the first edition, since the death of the legendary Arnold Palmer, who won it four times, the event also marked the 20th anniversary of Tiger Wood’s first and most famous Masters win by 12 shots in 1997. Woods went on to win four Masters Green Jackets.

Things you need to know about the Masters:

The field in 2017

• The current field size was 94, till the injury-enforced pullout of raging hot favourite Dustin Johnson. For reference, other Majors have a field of 156. the Masters has its own qualification criteria
• The field this year has 52 non-Americans.
• There are 22 different countries represented at Augusta this year.
• Of the 21 non-American countries, England have the most players with 11.
• There is no Indian – Anirban Lahiri played in 2015 and 2016

The jinx

• No reigning world number 1 has won the Masters, since Tiger Woods in 2005
• No player with three wins in a row prior to Masters has won since Jimmy Demaret in 1940. This year Johnson came to Augusta with wins in three previous starts.

History

• The Augusta National course first opened in 1933
• The tournament was started in 1934
• The first winner in 1934 was American Horton Smith.
• Jack Nicklaus has won a record six Green Jackets
• Since 1949, champions have received a Green Jacket
• Gary Player became the first non-American winner  in 1961
• Seve Ballesteros became the first European winner in 1980
• In 1997, Tiger Woods set new records for the lowest score to par and highest margin of victory, 18 under par and 12 strokes respectively
• Mark O’Meara, oldest in the field at 60 made his 33rd appearance.
• Sandy Lyle has played every year since 1985.
• Ian Woosnam, the 1991 champion, joined a list of players to make 30 Masters’ appearances this year. He is the third European after Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer.
• There are 18 Masters Champions competing. Between them they have won a total of 23 Green Jackets.

Opening day highlights

• Six-times Masters champion Jack Nicklaus and three-times winner Gary Player struck the ceremonial opening tee shots to mark the start of the tournament.
• Americans Daniel Summerhays and Russell Henley were the first players out on the course, teeing off at 8 am local time.

For long it has been whispered in golf circles that of the four Majors, the Masters is the Major with ‘fewest’ players, who have a real chance of winning. It has the fewest starters — 94 this year — and they include a bunch of former champions, who have a lifetime’s privilege of teeing up at the year’s first Major. Yet favourites abound in each field.

Johnson was favourite — and why not. He had won his three previous starts, but that was only one of the reasons for his not winning.  His injury though ended his hopes

No one since Jimmy Demaret in 1940 made it four-in-four with the Masters. Ben Hogan came with three-in-three to 1940 Masters, but Demaret beat him to it.