Top of leaderboard crowded at Masters: What’s the playoff format?

The leaderboard is crowded on Masters Sunday.

How crowded? We’re talking about a four-way tie with almost half of the final round of the 2024 tournament in the books.

For a moment Sunday, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg were all tied at 6-under par. Then:

▪ Scheffler and Morikawa both moved to 7-under with all four golfers through eight holes. Aberg joined them at 7-under a hole later with a long birdie putt on No. 9 — but he was back to 5-under after a double-bogey on the 11th hole.

▪ Morikawa posted double-bogey on 9 and 11, dropping him to 3-under.

▪ Scheffler birdied No. 9 to move to 8-under, then birdied 10 to get to 9-under. He slipped to 8-under with a bogey on 11.

▪ Homa birdied No. 10 to get to 7-under — but he suffered a double-bogey on 12 to go to 5-under.

All that means, for now, Scheffler regained a three-stroke lead with six holes to go.

If two or more are tied when the day is up, they’ll advance to a sudden death playoff.

According to the Masters organizers: “If there is a tie after 72 holes of play, a sudden-death playoff will commence at hole No. 18. Hole Nos. 18 and 10 will be played alternately until a champion is decided.”

Last Masters playoff

The last time the green jacket was decided in a playoff came in 2017, when Sergio Garcia beat Justin Rose. Both players shot 9-under for the tournament to advance to the sudden-death finale.

Other winners in sudden-death since the format was adopted include: Nick Faldo (1989, 1990); Fuzzy Zoeller (1979); Craig Stadler (1982); Larry Mize (1987); Mike Weir (2003); Tiger Woods (2005); Angel Cabrera (2009); Bubba Watson (2012); and Adam Scott (2013).

This story was originally published April 14, 2024 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Top of leaderboard crowded at Masters: What’s the playoff format?."