As Augusta National stages the 90th Masters, a new quiz is prompting fans to test their memory of a small but influential group of champions: just 10 European golfers have won the green jacket since “a Spaniard broke the duck” in 1980, the quiz notes, challenging readers to name every one of them.
That Spaniard was Seve Ballesteros, whose 1980 victory ended decades of U.S. dominance and helped open the door for European success at Augusta. Since then Europe’s list of Masters winners has included several multiple-time champions — most notably England’s Nick Faldo and Germany’s Bernhard Langer, each with more than one Masters title, and Spain’s José María Olazábal, who also finished among the elite on multiple occasions.
The European breakthroughs have come in waves rather than a steady trickle. Sandy Lyle’s surprise win in 1988 and Ian Woosnam’s 1991 victory highlighted the rise of British and Irish contenders in the late 1980s and early 1990s. More recently, England’s Danny Willett (2016) and Spain’s Sergio García (2017) produced headline-making wins that underscored Europe’s ongoing presence in major-tournament conversation.
Europe’s tally remains modest compared with the long line of American champions at Augusta, but the continent’s winners have often left outsized marks — from Ballesteros’s flair and Faldo’s steady comeback performances to Langer’s longevity. Several of the Europeans who have prevailed at Augusta did so more than once, and their victories frequently carried broader narratives about the changing geography of elite golf.
The quiz — part of a slate of sports and football quizzes — offers a straightforward challenge for followers of the game amid Masters week: can readers name the ten European players who have carried the green jacket back across the Atlantic since 1980? It’s a test of memory and of appreciation for some of the sport’s most memorable moments at one of golf’s most storied venues.
Augusta’s 90th edition serves not only as a competitive focal point but as a reminder of how the tournament’s history has broadened. While American names still dominate the roll call, the European winners have provided some of the tournament’s most enduring storylines — and now, for fans, a tidy trivia challenge to mark the milestone year.