The 2015 Masters Tournament was the 79th

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

, and the first of golf's four major championships, held April 9–12 at

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. Jordan Spieth led wire-to-wire and shot a record-tying 270 (−18) to win his first major at the age of 21, four strokes ahead of runners-up

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

and Justin Rose, both major champions. This was the final Masters appearance for two-time champion Ben Crenshaw.

Course

Field

The Masters has the smallest field of the four major championships. Officially, the Masters remains an invitation event, but there is a set of qualifying criteria that determines who is included in the field. Each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, with other categories in which he qualified shown in parentheses. Golfers who qualify based solely on their performance in amateur tournaments (categories 6–11) must remain amateurs on the starting day of the tournament to be eligible to play.

Robert Streb Robert Charles Streb (born April 7, 1987) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour where he has been a member since 2013. Streb was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and earned All-American honors while playing collegiate golf at ...

was the only professional in the field who was appearing in his first major. Twelve other professionals were appearing in their first Masters: Erik Compton, James Hahn, Brian Harman, Morgan Hoffmann, Brooks Koepka, Anirban Lahiri, Shane Lowry, Noh Seung-yul, Brendon Todd, Cameron Tringale,

Bernd Wiesberger Bernd Klaus Wiesberger (; born 8 October 1985) is an Austrian professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and formerly on the LIV Golf League. He finished the 2019 European Tour season in third place on the Race to Dubai standings, his be ...

and Danny Willett.

Mikko Ilonen Mikko Ilonen (born 18 December 1979) is a retired Finland, Finnish professional golfer who played on the European Tour, winning five times. He is considered to be the most successful golfer from Finland. Career Ilonen was born in Lahti, Finland. ...

and Ben Martin were appearing in their first Masters as professionals. Each of the amateurs was appearing in his first major, apart from Bradley Neil who had played in the 2014 Open Championship.

Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler (born June 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, including one major championship, the 1982 Masters Tournament. Early life Stadler was bo ...

was absent for the first time since 1978. The 1982 champion, he had appeared in 38 Masters, including 36 consecutively. Two-time champion Ben Crenshaw played in his 44th and final Masters. 1. Past Masters champions * Ángel Cabrera (16) *

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament ...

* Ben Crenshaw * Trevor Immelman * Zach Johnson (17,18,19) *

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first number one ranked playe ...

(12) *

Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. ...

(3,15,18,19) * Larry Mize *

José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish Basques, Basque professional golfer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has wo ...

Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American retired professional golfer. He was a tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Offici ...

* Charl Schwartzel (18,19) * Adam Scott (16,17,18,19) * Vijay Singh * Bubba Watson (12,16,17,18,19) * Tom Watson * Mike Weir *

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

(5,18) * Ian Woosnam *''The following past champions did not play: Tommy Aaron, Jack Burke Jr.,

Charles Coody Billy Charles Coody ( ; born July 13, 1937) is an American professional golfer, best known for winning the 1971 Masters Tournament. Early life and amateur career Coody was born in Stamford, Texas and raised in Abilene, Texas. He attended Abi ...

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

, Raymond Floyd,

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party since 2018. He represents the Toronto rid ...

, Bob Goalby,

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

Gary Player Gary James Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine ...

Fuzzy Zoeller Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller Jr. (; born November 11, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has won ten PGA Tour events including two major championships. He is one of three golfers to have won the Masters Tournament in his first appea ...

. Nicklaus, Palmer, and Player served as "honorary starters" and teed off on the first day at the first hole to kick off the tournament.'' 2. Last five U.S. Open champions * Martin Kaymer (4,5,13,16,17,18,19) * Graeme McDowell (18,19) *

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position du ...

(3,4,12,14,15,16,17,18,19) * Justin Rose (16,17,18,19) *

Webb Simpson James Frederick Webb Simpson (born August 8, 1985) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour who won the 2012 U.S. Open and the 2018 Players Championship. As an amateur, he was a member of the United States' victorious 2007 Walker C ...

(17,18,19) 3. Last five

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

champions *

Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has previously played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He has won 21 tournaments worldwide on ...

* Ernie Els * Louis Oosthuizen (18,19) 4. Last five

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

champions * Keegan Bradley (13,18,19) * Jason Dufner (18) 5. Last three winners of

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

Matt Kuchar Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly the Nationwide Tour. He has won nine times on the PGA Tour. Kuchar briefly enjoyed success in the early 2000s before suffering a ...

(12,16,17,18,19) 6. Top two finishers in the 2014

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

* Corey Conners (a) * Gunn Yang (a) 7. Winner of the 2014 Amateur Championship * Bradley Neil (a) 8. Winner of the 2014 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship * Antonio Murdaca (a) 9. Winner of the 2015 Latin America Amateur Championship * Matías Domínguez (a) 10. Winner of the 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links *

Byron Meth George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

(a) 11. Winner of the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur * Scott Harvey (a) 12. The top 12 finishers and ties in the 2014 Masters Tournament *

Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won fifteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1997 he also b ...

(18) * Jonas Blixt *

Rickie Fowler Rick Yutaka Fowler (born December 13, 1988) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He was the number one World Amateur Golf Ranking, ranked amateur golfer in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008. On January 24, 2016, he ...

(13,14,15,17,18,19) * Miguel Ángel Jiménez (18) * John Senden (17,18) * Jordan Spieth (16,17,18,19) * Kevin Stadler *

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Jimmy Walker and Beau James, was an American attorney, lyricist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 97th mayor of New York City from 1926 until his resign ...

(16,17,18,19) *

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

(18,19) 13. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2014 U.S. Open * Erik Compton * Jason Day (16,17,18,19) *

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two Men's major golf championships, major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open (golf), 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 ...

(16,17,18,19) * Brooks Koepka (16,18,19) * Henrik Stenson (15,18,19) 14. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2014 Open Championship * Jim Furyk (17,18,19) * Sergio García (17,18,19) 15. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2014 PGA Championship 16. Winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the FedEx Cup, between the 2014 Masters Tournament and the 2015 Masters Tournament * Bae Sang-moon * Ben Crane * Matt Every (19) * Bill Haas (17,18,19) * James Hahn * Brian Harman *

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three men's major golf championships, major championships: The Open Championship in 2 ...

* Charley Hoffman * J. B. Holmes (19) * Billy Horschel (17,18,19) * Chris Kirk (17,18,19) * Hunter Mahan (17,18,19) * Ben Martin * Hideki Matsuyama (17,18,19) * Ryan Moore (18,19) * Noh Seung-yul * Patrick Reed (17,18,19) * Brandt Snedeker (19) *

* Kevin Streelman * Brendon Todd (17,19) *

Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas Restrepo (; born 7 January 1982) is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child. After several different National Junior Championshi ...

*'' Tim Clark did not play due to elbow injury.'' 17. All players qualifying for the 2014 edition of The Tour Championship * Russell Henley * Morgan Hoffmann * Kevin Na (18,19) * Geoff Ogilvy *

Ryan Palmer Ryan Hunter Palmer (born September 19, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Palmer graduated from Amarillo High School in 1995. He played colleg ...

(18,19) * Cameron Tringale * Gary Woodland (18,19) 18. Top 50 on the final 2014

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

list *

Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 7 December 1977) is an English professional golfer and former List of World Number One male golfers, world number one. He plays mainly on the U.S.-based PGA Tour but is also a member of ...

(19) * Jamie Donaldson (19) * Victor Dubuisson (19) * Stephen Gallacher (19) *

Thongchai Jaidee Thongchai Jaidee (; , born 8 November 1969) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He formerly played on the Asian Tour and the European Tour. On the Asian Tour, he holds the record for the most career earnings and is s ...

(19) * Shane Lowry (19) * Joost Luiten (19) *

Ian Poulter Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has previously been ranked as high as number 5 in the world rankings. The highlights of Poulter's career to date have been his two ...

(19) *

Steve Stricker Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has twelve victories on the PGA Tour, including the WGC-Match Play title in 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Pla ...

* Danny Willett (19) *'' Marc Leishman withdrew for personal reasons.'' 19. Top 50 on the

list on March 30, 2015 *

Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Rankin ...

* Branden Grace * Anirban Lahiri *

20. International invitees *''None''

Par 3 contest

''Wednesday, April 8, 2015''
Kevin Streelman won the par 3 contest on Wednesday in a playoff over

, after both finished at 5-under par. Five holes-in-one were recorded, tying the record for most in one day first set in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. Villegas made two, while

hit his first ever hole-in-one at Augusta National. The others were recorded by Trevor Immelman and Matías Domínguez. Opting out in the previous ten years,

played in his first par 3 contest at the Masters since 2004.

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, April 9, 2015'' Jordan Spieth recorded nine birdies on his way to a round of 64 (−8), one off the course record, and a three-shot lead. Spieth is the fourth player to open the Masters with a round of 64 or better, and the first since

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...

shot 63 in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, looking for his third consecutive win in a major and the career grand slam, opened with a round of 71 (−1), as did defending champion Bubba Watson. Four-time champion

, playing in his first tournament since February, shot 73 (+1).

Second round

''Friday, April 10, 2015'' Jordan Spieth increased his lead to 5 shots after 36 holes with a bogey-free round of 66 (−6). His total of 130 established a new tournament record and tied the major championship record, while his 5-shot lead matched the Masters record for largest lead after two rounds.

became the first player in Masters history to record three eagles in a round and moved into a tie for third place. Amateurs: Conners (+5), Meth (+6), Murdaca (+7), Domínguez (+8), Harvey (+13),

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...

(+13), Yang (+15)

Third round

''Saturday, April 11, 2015'' Jordan Spieth established a new Masters record for lowest 54-hole score after a round of 70 (−2) gave him a four-shot lead after the third round. His total of 200 broke by one stroke the record previously held by Raymond Floyd in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Spieth got as low as 18-under during the round, tying Woods for lowest score in relation to par in tournament history, before a double bogey at the 17th. Justin Rose birdied five holes on the back nine, including four in a row, to equal the best round of the day with a 67 (−5) and move into second place.

also shot 67 and moved into third place.

Final round

''Sunday, April 12, 2015''

Summary

Jordan Spieth equaled the tournament scoring record after a round of 70 (−2) gave him a four-stroke victory over

and Justin Rose and his first major championship. Beginning the round four and five shots behind, respectively, Rose and Mickelson were only able to get within three shots at any point in the round. Spieth's total of 270 tied

for lowest score in Masters history, and he became the first wire-to-wire Masters champion since Raymond Floyd in

. He got as low as 19-under after a birdie at the 15th, the first in Masters history to do so, before missing an 8-foot par putt at the 18th that would have broken the record. For the week, he recorded 28 birdies, three more than the previous tournament record set by Mickelson in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Final leaderboard

Scorecard

References

External links

*
Coverage on the PGA Tour's official siteCoverage from the PGA of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters Tournament

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2015 in golf 2015 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) April 2015 sports events in the United States