Texas Longhorns Stand Alone With Three Masters Champions

Scottie Scheffler’s brilliant performance at Augusta National this year brought the University of Texas at Austin (UT) its third green jacket. And a lone spot in the PGA record books: Most College Alums to win a Masters Tournament (3).

Scheffler (25) graduated from UT in 2018 where he played for four years and brought the team three BIG 12 championships. Among other notable distinctions, Scheffler was named the “Phil Mickelson” Freshman of the Year in 2015.

He joins Jordan Spieth who played at UT for two years (2011-2012) and won the NCAA championship in his freshman year. He turned pro after the 2012 season and won the Masters in 2015.

Ben Crenshaw played at UT for three years (1971-1973). And, he was a member of a dominant Longhorn golf team that won the NCAA championship all three years Crenshaw was there. He went pro after the 1973 season and won a Green Jacket in 1984 and then again in 1995.

Scheffler’s win separates UT from three other colleges with two Masters victories apiece. Those colleges are:

• University of Houston (*)
• University of Georgia (**)
• Stanford University

We’ve been tracking Scheffler and a few other top golfers and hoping that legislators would make Texas sports betting legal. However, it’s still a work in progress and we’re keeping our eye on proponents like Beto O’Rourke to help push it along.

Houston Cougars

UH alums Fuzzy Zoeller who played for three years at Houston before turning pro, and Fred Couples who played for two both have one green jacket a piece. Zoeller adds the notable distinction of winning the Masters in his first appearance (1979).

Couples won his green Jacket in 1992. The asterisk for Houston represents the great Nick Faldo who won a Masters in 1989 after attending UH. However, the Brit never finished a semester in his American collegiate career, so adding him to the list isn’t entirely fair.

Georgia Bulldogs

The Bulldogs have two Masters Champions. One in Bubba Watson, who won the Masters in 2012 and 2014, and Patrick Reed, winner in 2018. They, like Houston, also have an asterisk in this list due to a counting error at the 1968 Masters that led to Bob Goalby, Bulldog alum, winning the Green Jacket.

Goalby’s win is not often cited alongside Watson’s and Reed’s in the annals of Bulldog golf because it came on something of a technicality. After four rounds Goalby had tied Robert De Vicenzo and was set for a playoff. But De Vicenzo had tragically made an error on his scorecard, giving himself one more stroke than he had.

So, while the two were officially tied after 72 holes, De Vicenzo scored his card incorrectly putting him one stroke behind Goalby. He then signed the card before catching the error. Which, per the rules of golf, sealed his fate and gave Goalby the victory.

Stanford Cardinal

The Cardinal own a PGA distinction of their own with seven Masters Victories. This outpaces Ohio State’s six (all by the great Jack Nicklaus) and Wake Forest’s four (the work of the great Arnold Palmer).

Tiger Woods’s run of five Green Jackets leads the way for Stanford and Tom Watson contributes the other two.

Lighting the tower

After Scheffler won the Masters this past April, UT lit the clock tower burnt orange in his honor. The tower burnt bright into the night. And it rose high enough into the Austin sky for all the other colleges in the country to see and take note: The Longhorns now stand alone.