The final round of the 2025 Masters arrived with an immense amount of hype with Rory McIroy and Bryson DeChambeau set to duel for the green jacket, and a pack of stars hoping to chase them down. But a playoff may be needed to decide the winner.
Seventy-two holes are often not enough to determine a winner at major championships, and each major has a different playoff format. The U.S. Open has a two-hole aggregate playoff while the PGA Championship plays three and the Open Championship plays four.
How Masters playoffs work
The playoff format at the Masters is a simple sudden-death format.
Should there be a tie after 72 holes at Augusta National, the players will return to the 18th tee box to play the first sudden-death hole.
Should the players still be tied after the first playoff hole, they will go play No. 10. They will alternate between 18 and 10 until a winner is crowned.
The Masters had a 36-hole playoff format when Gene Sarazen defeated Craig Wood to win in 1935 and complete the career Grand Slam. After that, the Masters went to an 18-hole playoff until switching to sudden death in 1976. The first time the sudden-death format was used came in 1979 when Fuzzy Zoeller beat Ed Sneed and Tom Watson.
There have been 10 playoffs since Zoeller’s win in 1979. The last sudden-death playoff at the Masters came in 2017 when Sergio Garcia defeated Justin Rose with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Adam Scott defeated Angel Cabrera on the second playoff hole in 2013. Bubba Watson beat Louis Oosthuizen in the same way in 2012. Angel Cabrera beat Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry with a par on the second playoff hole in 2009.
In 2005, Tiger Woods beat Chris DiMarco with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
