The 1986 Masters Tournament was the 50th Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Jack Nicklaus won his record 18th and final professional major with a historic one-stroke victory. He shot a final round 65 (−7), with a back nine of 30 (−6), for a total score of 279 (−9). At age 46, he became the oldest winner of the Masters and the second-oldest winner of any major championship, behind Julius Boros, who was 48 when he captured the PGA Championship in 1968 (until they were both passed by Phil Mickelson when he won the 2021 PGA Championship aged 50). The win also gave Nicklaus a record six Masters victories, the first in 1963, less than ten months after his first major win at the 1962 U.S. Open. The 23-year span of Masters victories and 24-year span of major victories are also records. The runners-up were Tom Kite and Greg Norman, whose near-misses at the Masters are also noteworthy. The winner's share was $144,000, more than seven times what Nicklaus earned for his first Augusta win.

Course

HoleNameYardsPar HoleNameYardsPar1Tea Olive4004 10Camellia48542Pink Dogwood555511White Dogwood45543Flowering Peach360412Golden Bell15534Flowering Crab Apple205313Azalea46555Magnolia435414Chinese Fir40546Juniper180315Firethorn50057Pampas360416Redbud17038Yellow Jasmine535517Nandina40049Carolina Cherry435418Holly4054Out3,46536In3,44036Source:Total6,90572

Field 1. Masters champions Tommy Aaron, George Archer, Seve Ballesteros (3,8,9), Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd (4,8,11,12,13), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Bernhard Langer (8,11,12), Jack Nicklaus (8), Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler (8,12,13), Tom Watson (2,3,8,10,12), Fuzzy Zoeller (2,9,11,12,13)

Jack Burke Jr., Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Art Wall Jr. did not play.

The following categories only apply to Americans

2. U.S. Open champions (last five years) Larry Nelson (4)

Andy North (9,12,13) did not play.

3. The Open champions (last five years) Bill Rogers

4. PGA champions (last five years) Hubert Green (10,12,13), Hal Sutton (11,12,13), Lee Trevino (8,10)

5. 1985 U.S. Amateur semi-finalists Chip Drury (a), Peter Persons (a), Sam Randolph (6,7,8,a)

6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions Scott Verplank (7,11,a)

7. Members of the 1985 U.S. Walker Cup team Bob Lewis (a), Jay Sigel (a), Michael Podolak (a), Randy Sonnier (a)

Clark Burroughs, Jerry Haas, Davis Love III, and Duffy Waldorf forfeited their exemptions by turning professional.

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1985 Masters Tournament Fred Couples (10), Jay Haas (9), Gary Hallberg, Billy Kratzert, Gary Koch, Wayne Levi (11,12), Bruce Lietzke, John Mahaffey (11,12), Mark McCumber, Mark O'Meara (9,12,13), Tim Simpson (11), Curtis Strange (11,12,13), Jim Thorpe (11,12), Lanny Wadkins (9,11,12,13)

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1985 U.S. Open Andy Bean (10,11), Rick Fehr, Hale Irwin (11), Tom Kite (11,12,13), Johnny Miller, Corey Pavin (11,12), Don Pooley, Jack Renner (12), Tony Sills, Scott Simpson, Joey Sindelar (11,12), Payne Stewart (12)

10. Top eight players and ties from 1985 PGA Championship Buddy Gardner

11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters Phil Blackmar (12), George Burns (12), Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards (12), Dan Forsman, Bill Glasson (12), Ken Green, Donnie Hammond, Kenny Knox, Roger Maltbie (12), Calvin Peete (12,13), Doug Tewell, Bob Tway, Mark Wiebe

12. Top 30 players from the 1985 PGA Tour money list Peter Jacobsen (13), Larry Mize, Mac O'Grady, Dan Pohl, Larry Rinker

13. Members of the U.S. 1985 Ryder Cup team

14. Foreign invitations Isao Aoki (8), Dave Barr (9), Chen Tze-chung (9), Chen Tze-ming (10), David Graham (2,8), Jack Kay Jr. (5,a), Sandy Lyle (3,11), Garth McGimpsey (6,a), Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Greg Norman (9), Nick Price (10), Denis Watson (9)

Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

Round summaries

First round Thursday, April 10, 1986 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Ken Green68−4 Billy KratzertT3 Chen Tze-chung69−3 Gary KochT5 Dave Barr70−2 Tsuneyuki Nakajima Greg Norman Tom Kite Bob Tway Tom Watson

Second round Friday, April 11, 1986

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Seve Ballesteros71-68=139−52 Billy Kratzert68-72=140−43 Tsuneyuki Nakajima70-71=141−3T4 Chen Tze-chung69-73=142−2 Ben Crenshaw71-71=142 Danny Edwards71-71=142 Greg Norman70-72=142 Bernhard Langer74-68=142T9 Gary Koch69-74=143−1 Mark McCumber76-67=143 Corey Pavin71-72=143 Bob Tway70-73=143

Third round Saturday, April 12, 1986

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Greg Norman70-72-68=210−6T2 Seve Ballesteros71-68-72=211−5 Bernhard Langer74-68-69=211 Donnie Hammond73-71-67=211 Nick Price79-69-63=211T6 Tsuneyuki Nakajima70-71-71=212−4 Tom Kite70-74-68=212 Tom Watson70-74-68=212T9 Danny Edwards71-71-72=214−2 Gary Koch69-74-71=214 Sandy Lyle76-70-68=214 Mark McCumber76-67-71=214 Jack Nicklaus74-71-69=214 Corey Pavin71-72-71=214 Bob Tway70-73-71=214

Final round Sunday, April 13, 1986

Summary

In one of the most memorable and exciting final rounds in Masters history, five different players held at least a share of the lead in the final round. Seve Ballesteros gained a share of the lead on the front 9 helped by a hole-out eagle at 8. Jack Nicklaus played his first eight holes in even par, but stormed into contention with birdies at 9, 10 and 11. However, Nicklaus bogeyed the 12th to fall three behind the leaders. Greg Norman, tied for the lead at −7 as he made the turn, double-bogeyed the 10th hole to give Ballesteros the outright lead by one shot over Tom Kite. Ballesteros hit his second shot at 13 to within six feet. After Kite lagged up his own eagle putt on 13, Ballesteros holed his putt for his second eagle of the day and a three shot lead over Kite. Kite then holed his birdie putt to cut the lead back to two.

After a par at 14, Nicklaus began his legendary charge at 15. After hitting his approach to , he buried the putt for eagle to pull within two shots of Ballesteros. Nicklaus then hit his tee shot on 16 to within 3 feet and after holing his birdie putt he was within one shot of Ballesteros who was playing the 15th hole. Ballesteros, who was in prime position to go for the green in two, pull hooked his approach into the water. Failing to get up and down, Ballesteros bogeyed the hole, giving Nicklaus a share of the lead. Kite made birdie at 15 to enter into a three-way tie with Ballesteros and Nicklaus. After a wayward drive, Nicklaus hit his approach on 17 to . After long deliberation, he holed his putt on 17 for sole possession of the lead for the first time in the tournament. He two-putted for par on 18 to post −9 and a one shot lead.

Ballesteros three-putted the 17th to fall out of contention, but Kite had 12 feet for birdie on 18 to tie Nicklaus. Kite barely missed his putt on the low side to miss a playoff by one shot. Norman, left for dead after his double-bogey on 10, birdied 14, 15 and 16 to pull within one shot of the lead. After hooking his drive way left on 17, Norman made an incredible shot between two pines to within eight feet. Norman buried the birdie putt, his fourth straight, to tie for the lead. Norman then hit a perfect drive on 18, needing birdie for his first major championship. However, Norman pushed his approach shot into the gallery and subsequently missed his par putt to finish one stroke behind. Nicklaus had stormed back, shooting 30 on the back nine, to win his sixth Masters title and became the oldest Masters champion at age 46.

Both Ballesteros and Norman stated the most regretful shots of their careers were during the final round of the 1986 Masters. For Ballesteros it was his approach shot to the 15th hole and for Norman his approach shot to the 18th.

Final leaderboard Champion Silver Cup winner (low amateur)(a) = amateur(c) = past champion Top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (US$)1 Jack Nicklaus (c) 74-71-69-65=279 −9 144,000T2 Tom Kite 70-74-68-68=280 −8 70,400 Greg Norman 70-72-68-70=2804 Seve Ballesteros (c) 71-68-72-70=281 −7 38,4005 Nick Price 79-69-63-71=282 −6 32,000T6 Jay Haas 76-69-71-67=283 −5 27,800 Tom Watson (c) 70-74-68-71=283T8 Tsuneyuki Nakajima 70-71-71-72=284 −4 23,200 Payne Stewart 75-71-69-69=284 Bob Tway 70-73-71-70=284 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T11 Donnie Hammond 73-71-67-74=285 −3 16,960 Sandy Lyle 76-70-68-71=285 Mark McCumber 76-67-71-71=285 Corey Pavin 71-72-71-71=285 Calvin Peete 75-71-69-70=285T16 Dave Barr 70-77-71-68=286 −2 12,000 Ben Crenshaw (c) 71-71-74-70=286 Gary Koch 69-74-71-72=286 Bernhard Langer (c) 74-68-69-75=286 Larry Mize 75-74-72-65=286T21 Curtis Strange 73-74-68-72=287 −1 9,300 Fuzzy Zoeller (c) 73-73-69-72=287T23 Chen Tze-chung 69-73-75-71=288 E 8,000 Roger Maltbie 71-75-69-73=288T25 Bill Glasson 72-74-72-71=289 +1 6,533 Peter Jacobsen 75-73-68-73=289 Scott Simpson 76-72-67-74=289T28 Danny Edwards 71-71-72-76=290 +2 5,667 David Graham 76-72-74-68=290 Johnny Miller 74-70-77-69=290T31 Fred Couples 72-77-70-72=291 +3 4,875 Bruce Lietzke 78-70-68-75=291 Dan Pohl 76-70-72-73=291 Lanny Wadkins 78-71-73-69=29135 Wayne Levi 73-76-67-76=292 +4 4,300T36 Rick Fehr 75-74-69-75=293 +5 3,850 Hubert Green 71-75-73-74=293 Larry Nelson 73-73-71-76=293 Sam Randolph (a) 75-73-72-73=293 0 Tony Sills 76-73-73-71=293 3,85041 Don Pooley 77-72-73-72=294 +6 3,400T42 Billy Kratzert 68-72-76-79=295 +7 3,200 John Mahaffey 79-69-72-75=29544 Ken Green 68-78-74-76=296 +8 3,000T45 Phil Blackmar 76-73-73-76=298 +10 2,700 Jim Thorpe 74-74-73-77=29847 Lee Trevino 76-73-73-77=299 +11 2,50048 Mark O'Meara 74-73-81-73=301 +13 2,300CUT Gary Player (c) 77-73=150 +6 Craig Stadler (c) 74-76=150 Andy Bean 75-76=151 +7 Bob Eastwood 79-72=151 Buddy Gardner 74-77=151 Gary Hallberg 78-73=151 Kenny Knox 75-76=151 George Burns 74-78=152 +8 Raymond Floyd (c) 74-78=152 Dan Forsman 78-74=152 Hale Irwin 76-76=152 Bob Lewis (a) 74-78=152 Mac O'Grady 82-70=152 Jay Sigel (a) 74-78=152 Joey Sindelar 79-73=152 Hal Sutton 80-72=152 Gay Brewer (c) 77-76=153 +9 Billy Casper (c) 78-75=153 Charles Coody (c) 76-77=153 Chip Drury (a) 76-77=153 Peter Persons (a) 76-77=153 Jack Renner 76-77=153 Jack Kay Jr. (a) 80-74=154 +10 Larry Rinker 73-81=154 Doug Tewell 74-80=154 Scott Verplank (a) 77-77=154 Mark Wiebe 76-78=154 George Archer (c) 75-80=155 +11 Tommy Aaron (c) 79-77=156 +12 Isao Aoki 79-77=156 Doug Ford (c) 78-78=156 Garth McGimpsey (a) 78-78=156 Arnold Palmer (c) 80-76=156 Michael Podolak (a) 82-74=156 Bill Rogers 80-76=156 Denis Watson 80-76=156 Tim Simpson 78-79=157 +13 Randy Sonnier (a) 81-77=158 +14 Chen Tze-ming 79-81=160 +16 Bob Goalby (c) 79-81=160

Sources:

Scorecard Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718Par454343454 443545344 Nicklaus −2 −3−3−2−2−2−2−2−3−4−5−4−5−5−7−8−9−9 Kite −3−4−3−3−3−3−3−5−5−5−6−6−7−7−8−8−8−8 Norman −6−6−6−6−6−7−7−7−7−5−5−5−5−6−7−8−9−8 Ballesteros −5−5−5−5−5−5−6−8−7−7−7−7−9−9−8−8−7−7 Price −5−5−4−5−5−5−5−5−4−5−4−4−4−5−6−6−6−6 Watson −4−4−4−4−4−3−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−5−6−6−6−5 Nakajima −4−5−5−4−4−3−3−3−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−4−4−4 Hammond −4−5−4−4−3−3−2−1−1−1−1−1−2−2−3−3−3−3 Langer −5−6−6−6−6−6−5−4−4−4−4−4−4−4−4−4−4−2 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Red;" width=10| |Eagle |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |style="background: Green;" width=10| |Double bogey |} Source:

Tournament notes Jack Nicklaus increased his record for most Masters wins to six, and most major championship wins to 18. Nicklaus became (and remains) the oldest winner of a Masters at ; the previous oldest was Gary Player at 42 in 1978.