Augusta, GA … The Masters has long been revered not for the remarkable post-card setting that is Augusta National but the wonderful traditions that is part of Masters week.

This year’s Masters is the 80th staging of the season’s first Major and we look first to 1936 when Horton Smith captured the third Master, and then every 10 years to 2006 when Phil Mickelson won a second straight Major.

1936 – American Horton Smith wrote his name into Masters folklore winning the first staging of the Masters in 1934 and then created history in winning the Masters for a second time in 1936.  Still officially named the “Augusta National Invitation Tournament,” the purse was $5,000 with a winner’s share of $1,500.

Due to heavy rains, the first round of play was postponed until Friday and with Sunday’s play was also postponed and the third and fourth rounds were played on Monday. On the back nine of the final round, Smith sank a 50-foot chip-in for birdie at the 14th hole, and a follow-up birdie at the 15th hole to win again.

Horton Smith winner of the Masters in 1936 and two years after winning a first.

1946 – Herman Keiser was born in the same town as Horton Smith – Springfield, Missouri – and won the first Masters following World War 11 finishing one shot clear of Ben Hogan and with both players three-putting the last.

In 1942, Keiser interrupted his career to join the U.S. Navy and for three years served as a storekeeper aboard the USS Cincinnati before being discharged in 1945 and returned to play on the PGA Tour.

1956 – Jack Burke, Jnr had been to church on Sunday and arrived at the course with just 15 minutes to warm up.  He won his first Major and only Masters, and the first Masters played without a 36-hole cut, and the first Masters CBS televised the final two rounds.

Burke had been eight shots back but his 71, and one of only two scores under par, for a 289 tally that along with Sam Snead in 1954 and Zach Johnson in 2007 remain the highest winning tally in Masters history.

Bobby Jones congratulates Jackie Burke Jrn in winning the 1956 Masters.

1966 – A close friend of Jack Nicklaus had died in a plane crash on the eve of the Masters.  Nicklaus honoured his memory shooting a first day 66 but after a 76 on day two, he went onto to earn a third Green Jacket but only following an 18-hole play-off shooting a 70 to defeat Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer.

Nicklaus’ victory was his fifth of 18 Majors, and his only successful defense of a major. Three months later, he completed the first of his three career Grand Slams in winning the Open Championship at Muirfield.

1976 – Raymond Floyd cruised to an eight shot victory over Ben Crenshaw to tie the 72-hole record of 17-under par to tie the then record of Jack Nicklaus.

His 54-hole total of 201 (−15) also was the lowest ever. It was the second of Floyd’s four Major titles.

And 1976 marked the first time the Masters introduced a sudden-death play-off that was first used in 1979.  Prior to 1976, play-offs were full 18-hole rounds on Monday.

1986 – Jack Nicklaus captured an 18th Major with a one-stroke victory shooting a final round 65 that included a back nine of 30.  At age 46, Nicklaus also became the oldest winner of the Masters.

The win also gave Nicklaus a record six Masters victories, the first in 1963, less than ten months after his first major win at the 1962 U.S. Open.

Jack Nicklaus rallies to win an 18th Masters.

1996 – It is Monday morning in Australia and people have delayed going to work to watch the outcome of the Masters to see whether Greg Norman will become the first Australian to win the Masters.  In the Augusta press room half of the journalists have written their story simply waiting for the victory quotes from Greg Norman.

Norman goes into the final round leading by six shots but finds himself paired with arch rival Nick Faldo.  Norman implodes shooting a horror 78 with Faldo carding a 67 to win by five.

2006 – Phil Mickelson wins a second Masters and a third Major in nine starts, and second in a row after capturing the 2005 PGA Championship. Mickelson grabbed four birdies in a final-round 3-under-par 69, which was good enough for a two-shot victory.

He finished at 7-under 281 on the toughened-up Augusta National Golf Club, the highest winning total since Canadian Mike Weir shot the same score in 2003.

2016 – ?