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Posted March 20, 2012, 12:41 pm
BY
John Boyette
|
Sports Editor

No. 1 players rarely win at Masters

Rory McIlroy shouldn’t feel bad about losing his No. 1 spot in the world ranking to Luke Donald. The top player has won the Masters only four times in the 26 times it has been played since the rankings were introduced prior to the 1986 Masters.


In 1991 Ian Woosnam became the first No. 1 player to win at Augusta National, and Fred Couples duplicated that feat the next year.


Tiger Woods won consecutive Masters in 2001 and 2002 as the No. 1 player in the world but failed to slip on the green jacket nine other times he was No. 1 coming into Augusta.


Greg Norman has been ranked No. 1 the most times during the Masters without winning. He held the spot six times, and his best finishes came in 1987 when he lost a playoff to Larry Mize and in 1996 when his collapse opened the door for Nick Faldo.


In 2011, Martin Kaymer of Germany came to the Masters with the top ranking. He missed the cut after rounds of 78 and 72.

NO. 1 PLAYERS AT MASTERS

YEAR/PLAYER/FINISH
1986/Bernhard Langer/T16
1987/Greg Norman/T2
1988/Greg Norman/T5
1989/Seve Ballesteros/5
1990/Greg Norman/MC
1991/Ian Woosnam/Win
1992/Fred Couples/Win
1993/Nick Faldo/T39
1994/Greg Norman/T18
1995/Nick Price/MC
1996/Greg Norman/2
1997/Greg Norman/MC
1998/Tiger Woods/T8
1999/David Duval/T6
2000/Tiger Woods/5
2001/Tiger Woods/Win
2002/Tiger Woods/Win
2003/Tiger Woods/T15
2004/Tiger Woods/T22
2005/Vijay Singh/T5
2006/Tiger Woods/T3
2007/Tiger Woods/T2
2008/Tiger Woods/2
2009/Tiger Woods/T6
2010/Tiger Woods/T4
2011/Martin Kaymer/MC

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