The 2020 virtual Masters: The 10 statistical favorites
By Bill Felber
Arnold Palmer, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 (1958=1967), -1.91
Palmer’s Masters credentials require little elaboration here. In practical terms, he is the man who made the Masters, both with his performance and his personality.
His peak decade was consistently extraordinary, encompassing those four championships but not limited to them alone. Between 1958 and 1967 he never finished outside the top 10, and only once came home worse than a tie for fourth.
Both Palmer’s victories and losses were memorable. In 1958 he managed just a final 75 yet won because the five players closest to him all fared worse. A Sunday triple bogey at the 12th cost him the 1959 title, which he lost by two strokes to Art Wall Jr. He held off Ken Venturi by a stroke in 1960, then in 1961 famously made double bogey on the final hole to lose by one to Gary Player.
Palmer’s 1962 victory came in a playoff with Player and Dow Finsterwald. In 1964, Palmer annihilated the field, beating Jack Nicklaus and Dave Marr by six strokes. While Nicklaus ran away from the field in 1965, Palmer tied Player for second.
He was two out of the Nicklaus-Gay Brewer-Tommy Jacobs playoff in 1966, and fourth – five strokes behind Brewer – in 1967.
Given that kind of consistent performance pattern, it’s little wonder that Palmer’s record puts him atop the list of favorites in the virtual Masters.