2026 Masters Putting Analysis: The Numbers Behind the Leaderboard
SebMonday, April 13, 2026Rory McIlroy won the 2026 Masters at -12. But the putting data from Augusta tells a richer story than the leaderboard alone. Using shot-level data from the Masters app – every putt, every distance, every round – combined with Strokes Gained putting figures, here is exactly how the green performance behind the final standings broke down.
Strokes Gained Putting: The Full Picture
Strokes Gained putting measures performance against the field average at each distance. It is the most complete single putting metric available. The 2026 Masters produced a clear separation at the top.
Collin Morikawa led the entire field at +2.14 SG:Putt – meaning he gained more than two strokes on the field with his putter alone over 72 holes. Sam Burns was second at +1.51. Max Homa third at +1.37. These three were in a different bracket to everyone else at Augusta this week.
At the other end, Jordan Spieth lost 0.48 strokes per round to the field with his putter (-0.48 total SG:Putt). Patrick Cantlay was -0.36. Matt Fitzpatrick -0.42. Xander Schauffele -0.11. Four players in the top 20 on the leaderboard who were losing ground to the field every time they picked up the putter.
McIlroy’s SG:Putt of +0.59 confirms what the raw data shows: he putted positively for a champion. Scheffler’s +0.14 is barely above zero – and given his mid-range struggles detailed below, it reflects a week where solid short-range reliability just about kept him in positive territory.
Rankings: 0-5ft Make %
Inside five feet at Augusta is where concentration is tested by severe slope and fast surfaces. Four players held a perfect record across all four rounds.
| Rank | Player | Made | Total | Make % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Young | 51 | 51 | 100% |
| 1 | Morikawa | 42 | 42 | 100% |
| 1 | Koepka | 54 | 54 | 100% |
| 1 | Day | 55 | 55 | 100% |
| 5 | Schauffele | 57 | 58 | 98.3% |
| 5 | Cantlay | 57 | 58 | 98.3% |
| 5 | Fitzpatrick | 57 | 58 | 98.3% |
| 8 | Scheffler | 55 | 56 | 98.2% |
| 9 | McNealy | 54 | 55 | 98.2% |
| 10 | Reed | 52 | 53 | 98.1% |
| 11 | Hatton | 50 | 51 | 98.0% |
| 12 | Rose | 56 | 58 | 96.6% |
| 13 | Henley | 52 | 54 | 96.3% |
| 13 | Matsuyama | 52 | 54 | 96.3% |
| 15 | Spieth | 51 | 53 | 96.2% |
| 16 | Hovland | 49 | 51 | 96.1% |
| 17 | Homa | 48 | 50 | 96.0% |
| 18 | Burns | 46 | 48 | 95.8% |
| 19 | McIlroy | 49 | 52 | 94.2% |
| 19 | Knapp | 49 | 52 | 94.2% |
The range at the top is narrow – 100% down to 94.2% across 20 players. But on a course this fast, those six percentage points represent real strokes. McIlroy’s three misses inside five feet stood out in the context of a field that was otherwise highly reliable from close range.
Rankings: 0-10ft Make %
The 0-10 foot bracket captures the full short-game range – tap-ins, par saves, and the vital scoring putts from five to ten feet. This is where birdies are converted and bogeys are avoided.
| Rank | Player | Made | Total | Make % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McNealy | 63 | 67 | 94.0% |
| 2 | Day | 66 | 71 | 92.9% |
| 3 | Burns | 63 | 70 | 90.0% |
| 4 | Homa | 62 | 69 | 89.9% |
| 5 | Hatton | 66 | 74 | 89.2% |
| 5 | Fitzpatrick | 66 | 74 | 89.2% |
| 7 | Morikawa | 60 | 68 | 88.2% |
| 8 | Scheffler | 67 | 76 | 88.2% |
| 8 | Schauffele | 67 | 76 | 88.2% |
| 10 | Koepka | 65 | 74 | 87.8% |
| 11 | Young | 64 | 73 | 87.7% |
| 12 | Hovland | 65 | 75 | 86.7% |
| 13 | McIlroy | 64 | 74 | 86.5% |
| 14 | Cantlay | 67 | 78 | 85.9% |
| 15 | Henley | 66 | 77 | 85.7% |
| 16 | Rose | 63 | 74 | 85.1% |
| 17 | Knapp | 62 | 73 | 84.9% |
| 18 | Reed | 65 | 77 | 84.4% |
| 19 | Matsuyama | 63 | 75 | 84.0% |
| 20 | Spieth | 65 | 79 | 82.3% |
McNealy at 94.0% from inside ten feet is the top of this table, but he ranked T18 overall – demonstrating that Augusta demands more than short-range excellence alone. Spieth at the bottom of this table, 82.3%, tells you everything about his week: he was leaking shots from the very distances that should be makeable.
Rankings: 0-20ft Make %
The 0-20 foot range is the definitive makeable zone at Augusta National. This is where tournaments are won and lost. Players who convert consistently from this range generate the birdie runs that move up leaderboards.
| Rank | Player | Made | Total | Make % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homa | 69 | 83 | 83.1% |
| 2 | Day | 72 | 88 | 81.8% |
| 3 | Morikawa | 65 | 80 | 81.3% |
| 4 | McIlroy | 69 | 87 | 79.3% |
| 5 | Koepka | 71 | 91 | 78.0% |
| 5 | McNealy | 71 | 91 | 78.0% |
| 7 | Hatton | 70 | 90 | 77.8% |
| 8 | Knapp | 71 | 92 | 77.2% |
| 9 | Burns | 68 | 89 | 76.4% |
| 10 | Schauffele | 71 | 93 | 76.3% |
| 11 | Young | 67 | 88 | 76.1% |
| 12 | Henley | 69 | 91 | 75.8% |
| 12 | Rose | 69 | 91 | 75.8% |
| 14 | Matsuyama | 71 | 94 | 75.5% |
| 15 | Reed | 70 | 93 | 75.3% |
| 15 | Hovland | 70 | 93 | 75.3% |
| 17 | Fitzpatrick | 70 | 94 | 74.5% |
| 18 | Cantlay | 71 | 96 | 73.9% |
| 19 | Scheffler | 71 | 97 | 73.2% |
| 20 | Spieth | 70 | 98 | 71.4% |
Homa first, Day second, Morikawa third – and none of the three won the Masters. McIlroy fourth at 79.3% is the number that confirms his champion’s putting week. Scheffler 19th at 73.2% and Spieth last at 71.4% sit at the bottom of this table: one finished a stroke behind the winner, the other seven back.
McIlroy: Champion, and a Positive Putter
McIlroy finished at -12, a stroke clear of Scheffler, with a SG:Putt of +0.59 – ninth best in the field. He gained strokes on the field with his putter. That is the headline.
From 0-20 feet – the range where putts are expected to go in – he ranked fourth in the field at 79.3% (69/87). His 5-10 foot make rate of 68.2% (15/22) was seventh best in the field. These are strong numbers on one of the most demanding putting courses in golf.
The one blemish: three missed putts inside five feet, the most of any player in the dataset. His 94.2% conversion rate inside five feet (49/52) was the lowest tracked. On Augusta’s greens, those short misses are often as much about brutal slope as poor mechanics, but the margin over Scheffler was one shot. Those three strokes are worth noting even if the broader putting picture is positive.
Scheffler: +0.14 SG:Putt and One Shot Back
Scottie Scheffler finished second at -11 with a SG:Putt of +0.14. Marginally positive – but the detail reveals where the deficit to McIlroy came from on the greens.
Inside five feet Scheffler was near-perfect: 98.2% (55/56). But from 10-15 feet he made just 37.5% (3/8). From 15-20 feet: one from 13 attempts, 7.7%. His 0-20 foot make rate of 73.2% was 19th out of 20 players – second worst in the field from makeable range. Augusta’s pin positions routinely left Scheffler in the 12-18 foot window for birdie, and he converted barely one in five from that distance. The mid-range is where the gap opened.
The T3 Pack: Same Score, Four Different Putting Stories
Russell Henley, Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, and Justin Rose all finished at -10. Their SG:Putt figures and distance breakdowns tell four very different stories.
Tyrrell Hatton (+0.28 SG:Putt) was the best putter of the group. He made 69.6% from 5-10 feet (16/23) – fourth best in the entire field – and his 0-20 foot make rate of 77.8% (70/90) ranked seventh. He did not convert a single putt from beyond 25 feet all week, but from the distances that generate birdies and save pars, Hatton delivered.
Cameron Young (+0.49 SG:Putt) was perfect inside five feet – 100% from 51 attempts across four rounds. Not one miss. He also holed two putts from beyond 25 feet, a return only one other player matched all week. Mid-range was his vulnerability (0% from 15-20 feet), but from close range he was as automatic as anyone at Augusta this week.
Russell Henley (+0.14 SG:Putt) was consistent without being spectacular – 63.4% overall make rate, solid from every range. His approach play was the story of his week (SG:APP +2.40, best in the field), but the putting held up well enough to stay in contention.
Justin Rose (+0.06 SG:Putt) was almost exactly field average with the putter. His T3 finish was earned primarily through ball-striking (SG:APP +1.56, SG:OTT +0.97). From 5-10 feet he made just 43.8% (7/16) – worst in the 20-player dataset. The SG:Putt figure of +0.06 reflects an ability to compensate with reliability closer to the hole, but from prime birdie range Rose was significantly below average.
Morikawa: +2.14 SG:Putt, a Bad Back, and T7
Collin Morikawa’s +2.14 SG:Putt was the standout performance of the tournament. But the number carries extra weight when you factor in the context: Morikawa was managing a back injury throughout the week at Augusta. Limited range of movement in his swing meant he could not rely on his long game to the same degree as usual – his SG:OTT of -0.65 reflects that directly. He was losing ground off the tee and had to find it somewhere else.
He found it on the greens. Morikawa was 100% inside five feet (42/42). He made 69.2% from 5-10 feet (18/26) – fifth best in the field. From beyond 20 feet he was exceptional: 17.9% conversion rate (5/28), including a remarkable 36.4% (4/11) from 20-25 feet. Nobody else was within touching distance from that range. His 0-20 foot make rate of 81.3% ranked third in the field.
The putter carried him to T7 at -9 despite a compromised physical week. With full fitness and those putting numbers, the leaderboard conversation looks very different.
Sam Burns (+1.51 SG:Putt) produced the single standout individual stat of the week: 77.3% from 5-10 feet (17/22). No other player in the field was above 75% from that range. Burns was converting birdie putts that the rest of the top of the leaderboard was missing. His 0-20 foot make rate of 76.4% ranked ninth overall.
Knapp: A First-Timer Who Read the Greens
Jake Knapp finished 11th at -7 on his Masters debut with a SG:Putt of +0.52. He ranked second in the field from 10-15 feet at 53.8% (7/13), third from 10-20 feet combined at 47.4% (9/19), and his 0-20 foot make rate of 77.2% ranked eighth. For a player reading Augusta’s greens for the first time, that is a serious performance.
Spieth: -0.48 SG:Putt and Seven Back
Jordan Spieth finished T12 at -5. He lost 0.48 strokes to the field with his putter – the worst SG:Putt of any player who made the cut. With his career record at Augusta, including his 2015 Masters victory, that number is the defining story of his week.
Spieth hit 125 total putts – more than any other player in the dataset. His 0-20 foot make rate of 71.4% (70/98) was the worst in the field. From 5-10 feet he made 53.8% (14/26) – 17th of 20 players. From 10-15 feet, 28.6% (4/14). He also faced 26 putts from 5-10 feet – only Morikawa saw as many from that range, and Morikawa made 69.2% of them.
The gap to McIlroy is seven shots. The putting deficit accounts for a substantial portion of that.
Matsuyama: Best Raw Make Rate, T12
Hideki Matsuyama led the field in overall make rate at 64.9% (72/111) and was the best putter from 10-20 feet combined (42.1%). His SG:Putt was +0.53. The T12 finish at -5 reflects what happened off the greens, not on them.
The Final Word on the Greens
The 2026 Masters leaderboard and the putting data tell a coherent story. McIlroy putted well enough to win – fourth from makeable range, positive SG:Putt. Scheffler’s mid-range conversion rate was the second worst in the field and he finished second. Spieth lost ground to the field with his putter all week and ended up seven back.
Morikawa and Burns were the two best putters at Augusta this week. Neither lifted the trophy. Morikawa was doing it on one good back. Augusta National has a way of demanding excellence in every area of the game – and this data shows exactly where the 2026 field found their edges, and where they left shots behind.