The first winning Masters caddie to wear a numbered jumpsuit was Willie “Pappy” Stokes, who looped for champion Henry Picard in 1938 while donning the No. 12.
The jumpsuit numbers became a regular occurrence three years later, and after six years, No. 12 had hit three times.
Since then, No. 12 has been joined by three other numbers that have been worn by three different winning caddies – 6, 52 and 89, the latter being sported by Jack Nicklaus II for his dad’s last Masters title in 1986, plus the caddies of Danny Willett (2016) and Sergio Garcia (2017), Jonathan Smart and Glen Murray, respectively.
Nineteen numbers have hit twice, including No. 1, which is traditionally given to the defending champion’s caddie. The only exception is Willie Peterson, who wore No. 90 for both of Jack Nicklaus’ wins in 1965 and 1966.
“A No. 1 has never won this Tournament, you know,” Nicklaus told The Augusta Chronicle in 1966. “The fact of no repeaters doesn’t bother me, really it doesn’t make one bit of difference. I would just like things to be like last year.”
Nos. 2 and beyond are now assigned based on when players register at the start of the week.
Here’s a look of how frequent different sets of numbers were worn by winning caddies:
1-10 – 13 times
11-20 – 12
21-30 – 4
31-40 – 9
41-50 – 6
51-60 – 11
61-70 – 9
71-80 – 8
81+ – 10
Here’s the year-by-year list of winners, their caddies and their caddies’ jumpsuit numbers:
YEAR |
CHAMPION |
CADDIE |
NUMBER |
---|---|---|---|
1934 | Horton Smith | N/A | N/A |
1935 | Gene Sarazen | John H. ”Stovepipe” Gordon | N/A |
1936 | Horton Smith | N/A | N/A |
1937 | Byron Nelson | Fred Searles | N/A |
1938 | Henry Picard | Willie “Pappy” Stokes | 12 |
1939 | Ralph Guldahl | N/A | N/A |
1940 | Jimmy Demaret | Banny Smalley | N/A |
1941 | Craig Wood | Pearly Dawsey | 30 |
1942 | Byron Nelson | Fred Searles (2) | 12 |
1946 | Herman Keiser | Thomas Evans | 41 |
1947 | Jimmy Demaret | Banny Smalley (2) | 69 |
1948 | Claude Harmon | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (2) | 12 |
1949 | Sam Snead | O’Bryant Williams | 35 |
1950 | Jimmy Demaret | Banny Smalley (3) | 37 |
1951 | Ben Hogan | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (3) | 6 |
1952 | Sam Snead | O’Bryant Williams (2) | 42 |
1953 | Ben Hogan | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (4) | 2 |
1954 | Sam Snead | O’Bryant Williams (3) | 62 |
1955 | Cary Middlecoff | Clarence “Eight-Ball” Harris | 7 |
1956 | Jack Burke Jr | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (5) | 8 |
1957 | Doug Ford | George “Fireball” Franklin | 57 |
1958 | Arnold Palmer | Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery | 85 |
1959 | Art Wall | Henry Hammond | 83 |
1960 | Arnold Palmer | Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery (2) | 13 |
1961 | Gary Player | Ernest “Snipes” Nipper | 52 |
1962 | Arnold Palmer | Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery (3) | 13 |
1963 | Jack Nicklaus | Willie Peterson | 49 |
1964 | Arnold Palmer | Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery (4) | 82 |
1965 | Jack Nicklaus | Willie Peterson (2) | 90 |
1966 | Jack Nicklaus | Willie Peterson (3) | 90 |
1967 | Gay Brewer | Johnnie Frank Moore | 6 |
1968 | Bob Goalby | Frank “Marble Eye” Stokes | 21 |
1969 | George Archer | Frank “Skinny” Ware | 63 |
1970 | Billy Casper | Matthew “Shorty Mac” Palmer | 34 |
1971 | Charles Coody | Walter “Cricket” Pritchett | 7 |
1972 | Jack Nicklaus | Willie Peterson (4) | 16 |
1973 | Tommy Aaron | Cleveland Randolph | 68 |
1974 | Gary Player | Eddie “E.B.” McCoy | 39 |
1975 | Jack Nicklaus | Willie Peterson (5) | 76 |
1976 | Ray Floyd | Fred “Hop” Harrison | 36 |
1977 | Tom Watson | Leon McCladdie | 26 |
1978 | Gary Player | Eddie “E.B.” McCoy (2) | 52 |
1979 | Fuzzy Zoeller | Jariah Beard | 48 |
1980 | Seve Ballesteros | Marion Herrington | 10 |
1981 | Tom Watson | Leon McCladdie (2) | 32 |
1982 | Craig Stadler | Ben Bussey | 41 |
1983 | Seve Ballesteros | Nick DePaul | 6 |
1984 | Ben Crenshaw | Carl Jackson | 52 |
1985 | Bernhard Langer | Peter Coleman | 9 |
1986 | Jack Nicklaus | Jack Nicklaus II | 89 |
1987 | Larry Mize | Scott Steele | 72 |
1988 | Sandy Lyle | Dave Musgrove | 63 |
1989 | Nick Faldo | Andy Prodger | 36 |
1990 | Nick Faldo | Fanny Sunesson | 1 |
1991 | Ian Woosnam | Phillip Morby | 9 |
1992 | Fred Couples | Joe LaCava | 70 |
1993 | Bernhard Langer | Peter Coleman (2) | 11 |
1994 | Jose Maria Olazabal | Dave Renwick | 54 |
1995 | Ben Crenshaw | Carl Jackson (2) | 16 |
1996 | Nick Faldo | Fanny Sunesson (2) | 67 |
1997 | Tiger Woods | Mike “Fluff” Cowan | 71 |
1998 | Mark O’Meara | Jerry Higginbothem | 73 |
1999 | Jose Maria Olazabal | Brendan McCartain | 17 |
2000 | Viay Singh | Dave Renwick (2) | 19 |
2001 | Tiger Woods | Steve Williams | 71 |
2002 | Tiger Woods | Steve Williams (2) | 1 |
2003 | Mike Weir | Brennan Little | 57 |
2004 | Phil Mickelson | Jim “Bones” Mackay | 53 |
2005 | Tiger Woods | Steve Williams (3) | 67 |
2006 | Phil Mickelson | Jim “Bones” Mackay (2) | 84 |
2007 | Zach Johnson | Damon Green | 56 |
2008 | Trevor Immelman | Neil Wallace | 38 |
2009 | Angel Cabrera | Ruben Yorio | 53 |
2010 | Phil Mickelson | Jim “Bones” Mackay (3) | 58 |
2011 | Charl Schwartzel | Greg Hearmon | 77 |
2012 | Bubba Watson | Ted Scott | 15 |
2013 | Adam Scott | Steve Williams (4) | 17 |
2014 | Bubba Watson | Ted Scott (2) | 5 |
2015 | Jordan Spieth | Michael Greller | 80 |
2016 | Danny Willett | Jonathan Smart | 89 |
2017 | Sergio Garcia | Glen Murray | 89 |
2018 | Patrick Reed | Kessler Karain | 83 |
2019 | Tiger Woods | Joe LaCava (2) | 54 |
2020 | Dustin Johnson | Austin Johnson | 62 |
2021 | Hideki Matsuyama | Shota Hayafuji | 78 |
2022 | Scottie Scheffler | Ted Scott (3) | 39 |
2023 | Jon Rahm | Adam Hayes | 49 |
2024 | Scottie Scheffler | Ted Scott (4) | 28 |
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