The old adage in sports and in life is almost always true: If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. That, however, might be less true at The Masters, at least to a certain degree. While history has told us that winning at Augusta National in your debut is next to impossible in the modern era — even if you can come close — there is also an almost near-finite time between a player's debut and when they can actually win The Masters for the first time.
Rory McIlroy entered the 2025 Masters Tournament playing the major championship event for the 17th time in his career. Bryson DeChambeau came in playing it for the ninth time in his career. Justin Rose, meanwhile, was teeing it up for the 20th time in The Masters. All of those, however, are well past the normal amount of time it takes a player to win their first Masters.
According to Pat Mayo, the average number of times playing The Masters before your first victory is just 6.3 appearances in the tournament. Furthermore and especially relevant to McIlroy and Rose, only four players in the previous 88 times the tournament has been played have won their first Green Jacket after their 12th try.
But who holds the record for the most times playing before their first win?
Most times playing The Masters before first win
Sergio Garcia played The Masters the most times before he captured his first victory at Augusta National and finally got his hands on a Green Jacket, winning in 2017 in his 19th attempt to do so. Prior to Garcia, who won in a playoff over, incidentally, Rose, Mark O'Meara in 1998 held the mark as he won The Masters in his 15th try to do so.
The other players who have taken more than 12 tries to win their first Masters Tournament are Billy Casper and Ben Crenshaw, who won their Green Jackets in 1970 and 1984, respectively. Crenshaw actually went on to win another in 1995 on top of that as well.
So, McIlroy winning wouldn't be the most times played before winning your first time at The Masters, though Rose would be. However, given how grueling 17 tries and no wins would be and the fact that Rory also came into the 2025 tournament having not won a major in a decade, it would've always felt historic no matter what.