Frank Stranahan (1947) 2nd Place
Stranahan’s strong performance at the 1947 Masters led to a tie for second place, two strokes behind winner Jimmy Demaret.
His impressive finish remains one of the best by an amateur in the tournament’s history.
Frank Stranahan is one of the most impressive and interesting amateurs in golf history.
As well as being a top-ranked amateur golfer, winning over 70 amateur tournaments, Stranahan was also a world-class weightlifter and became a competitive long-distance runner, completing over 100 marathons.
Ken Venturi (1956) 2nd Place
Venturi narrowly missed becoming the first amateur to win the Masters, finishing just one stroke behind winner Jack Burke Jr.
Venturi, just 24 years old at the time, led by four strokes heading into the final round, but a difficult closing 80 left him in second place.
Related: The Masters Tradition You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Charles Coe (1961) 2nd Place
Coe secured the best finish by an amateur in Masters history, tying for second place.
Coe finished just two shots behind the legendary Gary Player, proving that amateurs could compete at the highest level.
Billy Joe Patton (1954) 3rd Place
Patton narrowly missed out on a playoff, finishing one stroke behind Sam Snead and Ben Hogan.
If not for a double bogey on the 13th hole during the final round, he may have become the first amateur to win the Masters.
Related: 19 Facts About the Masters That You Probably Didn’t Know
Harvie Ward (1957) 4th Place
Harvie Ward, of The Match fame, was the 2nd to last amateur to finish in the top 5 at the Masters.
Ward was only 1 back at the start of play Sunday but couldn’t get anything going and had to settle for a very respectable 4th place.
In 1956, Harvie Ward teamed up with Ken Venturi against Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson in what is possibly the greatest golf match ever played and has been immortalized by Mark Frost in his book The Match: The Day The Game Of Golf Changed Forever.
Jack Nicklaus (1961) 7th Place
The Golden Bear’s last year as an Amateur resulted in a tie for 7th place at the Masters.
Incredibly, Nicklaus didn’t even win low amateur honors that year due to Charles Coe finishing 2nd!
Two years later, Nicklaus would win his first of 6 Green Jackets.
The early years of the Masters were a different time in golf.
Related: What is a Low Amateur in Golf?
Then vs. Now
In the Masters, as well as the other majors, it was fairly common for amateurs to contend.
Since there wasn’t much money in professional golf at the time, many of the top players of the day chose different careers while still managing to play golf on the side at the highest levels.
Today, with the absurd amount of money at stake, it is exceedingly rare to see an amateur finish near the top of the leaderboard in a professional golf event, let alone at a major such as the Masters.
It’s been over 60 years since an amateur finished in the top 10 at the Masters.
Will we ever see another?