What Is The Largest Winning Margin At The Masters?

With Rory McIlroy making yet more history on Friday, when he set the record for the largest 36-hole lead at the Masters, it's got a lot of people asking what the largest ever margin of victory has been at Augusta.

The defending champion shot a second-round 65 to put clear daylight between him and the chasing pack, a massive six shots - but he's going to have to keep his foot on the pedal to beat the current record.

Winning the Masters by the largest ever margin might not be something the Northern Irishman is targeting, but should he maintain his current pace, he might well beat a record that was set back in 1997, when he was just seven years old.

McIlroy has often spoken about his memories of that year, and no doubt he has watched the highlights of that incredible week many times, for this was the year that Tiger Woods, McIlroy's hero growing up, announced himself to the world.

After going out in 40, no one would have backed Woods to win the Masters that year. His first tee shot went high left into the trees, and it looked early on as though 1997 would be a learning experience for the 21-year-old.

He came back in 30. We were still a few years from peak Tiger, but he was already playing the course like no one else, routinely hitting wedges into holes, including the par-5 15th - and he surged through up the leaderboard.

After slipping to four-over through nine holes, Woods played the final 63 holes in a staggering 22 under par to win by 12 strokes.

"I remember it all," said McIlroy, back in 2017, when the golf world celebrated 20 years since that incredible week at Augusta. "I remember him going out in 40. I remember the chip-in on 12 on the first day to get it going again.

"He was the guy, and everyone was talking about him. He'd just come out of college, turned pro, won a few times on tour already, world number one, getting there."

Woods entered the final round with a record nine-shot lead. In the book 'Unprecedented: The Masters And Me' with Lorne Rubenstein, Woods said his plan was simple on Sunday: "Make no bogeys and handle the par 5s."

He did make two, but the outcome of the 61st edition of the Masters was never in doubt.

Woods, making his first Masters appearance as a professional, shot 70, 66, 65, and 69 to win his first Green Jacket. Tom Kite won the 'other' tournament with a six-under-par total of 282.

There were lots of laughs in the press center after the third round when Colin Montgomerie, who had played alongside Woods on Saturday, was asked whether he thought the young star would go on and win.

"All I have to say here is one brief comment," said the Scot. "There is no chance, no chance, and we’re all human beings here, and there is no chance humanly possible that Tiger is going to lose this tournament. "No, way!"

To this day, the best quote relating to that incredible victory belongs to the player who slipped Woods into his Green Jacket, Nick Faldo.

"He went out in 40 and back in 30, and then we didn’t see him for the next 14 years."

How true. Woods is the owner of a very long list of records. The 12-shot win he recorded at Augusta 29 years ago might be the most impressive of the lot.

Will it ever be beaten?