These are the 16 past Masters champions not playing Augusta National in 2025
As everyone knows, if you win the Masters, you get a lifetime exemption.
It's one of the tournament's many long-standing traditions, but eventually, all past champs stop competing for one reason or another.
While some have had to be nudged, most know when to hang up the spikes.
Whether a past champ is still playing, all green jacket winners return to Augusta National Golf Club for all the festivities, including the Champions Dinner.
In 2025, there are 15 winners of the green jacket who will not play. Here's a closer look.
Tommy Aaron
The 1973 champion won the Masters the same year that TV coverage first starting showing the 12th hole. He made 42 starts in all and last played in 2005. Aaron also won the Par 3 Contest, doing so in 1984.
Charles Coody
Coody birdied the 15th and 16th holes to hold off Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller to win it in 1971. Coody last played the Masters Tournament in 2006, his 40th start.
Ben Crenshaw
Crenshaw competed in the Masters 44 times. The two-time (1984, 1995) champ last teed it up in 2015. His 44 starts were consecutive, which ties him for fourth all-time. He's one of 18 multiple-time winners.
Nick Faldo
Sir Nick Faldo has three green jackets: 1989, 1990 and 1996. He's one of three golfers to go back-to-back. His 1996 win coincided with the launch of the official Masters website. Faldo last played Augusta in 2006.
Raymond Floyd
Floyd won the 1976 Masters, the same year the tournament announced a sudden-death playoff format, which wasn't needed as Floyd shot a four-day total of 271 to set a then-tournament record. In his Masters career, Floyd has 22 eagles, second-most to Jack Nicklaus' 24. He has 45 starts and last played in 2009. Floyd won the 1990 Par 3 Contest.
Trevor Immelman
Immelman returns to Augusta every year not just as a past champion but also as the lead analyst on CBS. The 2008 champ, who defeated Tiger Woods by three that year despite a final-round 75, last competed in 2019.
Sandy Lyle
Lyle won the Masters in 1988, one of this six career PGA Tour wins. Lyle birdied the 18th after his tee shot found a fairway bunker, just the fourth birdie on 18 by the tournament winner, something that's only happened six times. He won the Par 3 Contest back-to-back in 1997 and 1998. He made the last of his 42 Masters starts in 2023.
Larry Mize
Mize, the 1987 winner, made the last of his 40 starts, all consecutive, in 2023. The Augusta native defeated Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in a playoff after his memorable chip-in for birdie on the 11th hole.
Jack Nicklaus
He won the first of his record six green jackets in 1963. He won hist last in 1986. He was the first to win the title back-to-back. He holds several tournament records, including most birdies (506) and most eagles (24) all-time. Jack Nicklaus last played in 2005. In his Masters career, he made 40 consecutive starts and 45 in all. In 2010, he joined Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter, a role he has fulfilled every year since.
Mark O'Meara
O'Meara, who played the Masters 34 times, last competed in 2018. The winner of the 1998 touranment after trailing after each of the first, second and third rounds, O'Meara is one of eight champions who never led over the first three days. To take that one step further, he's one of three whose only lead all week was on the very last hole. He's also the oldest first-time winner (41 years, 89 days).
Gary Player
Player holds the mark for most starts in Masters history with 52. He has 15 top-10s and 22 top-25s at Augusta. He has 30 cuts made, the third-most, and 23 consecutive cuts made, tied with Fred Couples for second behind Tiger Woods' 24. He last played in 2009 at age 73, which set the mark for to oldest to make a Masters start. His four aces all-time are the most in tournament history. In 2012, the three-time Masters champ (1961, 1974, 1978) became an honorary starter.
Craig Stadler
The Walrus made 38 starts in all, including 36 in a row, but played his last Masters in 2014. His swan song made him the first and only dad to play in the same Masters with his son. The 1982 champ is one of eight champs to post an over-par final round. He led by six with nine holes left in 1982 but needed a playoff to claim the green jacket. The 1982 tournament was the first year that there was TV coverage of the first and second rounds.
Tom Watson
A two-time (1977, 1981) Masters champ, Watson made 43 starts, with 42 of them coming consecutively. He nine top 5s, tied for fourth most, with two wins and three seconds. He's one of 18 to have more than one win at Augusta. Last competing in 2016, Watson joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as an honorary starter in 2022. He's the oldest (68) Par 3 Contest winner (2018).
Tiger Woods
The 15-time major champion announced on March 11 that he ruptured his left Achilles tendon while training and had surgery to repair the tendon. He will be out indefinitely.
Ian Woosnam
After making 32 starts, the 1991 Masters champ last competed in 2021.
Fuzzy Zoeller
One of three rookies to win a green jacket, Zoeller's 1979 win was one of eight times the tournament champ did not lead after 18, 36 or 54 holes. He was also the first to win in the sudden-death format that was first instituted three years prior. He defeated Tom Watson and Ed Sneed (who led five shots ahead of the final round) with a birdie on the 11th, which was the second playoff hole. Fuzzy made 31 starts and stopped competing at the 2009 Masters.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Masters 2025: These 16 past champions are not playing in 2025
