The first winning Masters caddie to wear a numbered jumpsuit was Willie “Pappy” Stokes, who looped for champion Henry Picard in 1938 while donning the No. 12.
The jumpsuit numbers became a regular occurrence three years later, and after six years, No. 12 had hit three times.
Since then, No. 12 has been joined by three other numbers that have been worn by three different winning caddies – 6, 52 and 89, the latter being sported by Jack Nicklaus II for his dad’s last Masters title in 1986, plus the caddies of Danny Willett (2016) and Sergio Garcia (2017), Jonathan Smart and Glen Murray, respectively.
Nineteen numbers have hit twice, including No. 1, which is traditionally given to the defending champion’s caddie. The only exception is Willie Peterson, who wore No. 90 for both of Jack Nicklaus’ wins in 1965 and 1966.
“A No. 1 has never won this Tournament, you know,” Nicklaus told The Augusta Chronicle in 1966. “The fact of no repeaters doesn't bother me, really it doesn’t make one bit of difference. I would just like things to be like last year.”
Nos. 2 and beyond are now assigned based on when players register at the start of the week.
Here’s a look of how frequent different sets of numbers were worn by winning caddies:
1-10 – 13 times
11-20 – 12
21-30 – 4
31-40 – 9
41-50 – 6
51-60 – 11
61-70 – 9
71-80 – 8
81+ – 10
Here’s the year-by-year list of winners, their caddies and their caddies’ jumpsuit numbers:
| YEAR | CHAMPION | CADDIE | NUMBER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Horton Smith | N/A | N/A |
| 1935 | Gene Sarazen | John H. ”Stovepipe” Gordon | N/A |
| 1936 | Horton Smith | N/A | N/A |
| 1937 | Byron Nelson | Fred Searles | N/A |
| 1938 | Henry Picard | Willie “Pappy” Stokes | 12 |
| 1939 | Ralph Guldahl | N/A | N/A |
| 1940 | Jimmy Demaret | Banny Smalley | N/A |
| 1941 | Craig Wood | Pearly Dawsey | 30 |
| 1942 | Byron Nelson | Fred Searles (2) | 12 |
| 1946 | Herman Keiser | Thomas Evans | 41 |
| 1947 | Jimmy Demaret | Banny Smalley (2) | 69 |
| 1948 | Claude Harmon | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (2) | 12 |
| 1949 | Sam Snead | O’Bryant Williams | 35 |
| 1950 | Jimmy Demaret | Banny Smalley (3) | 37 |
| 1951 | Ben Hogan | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (3) | 6 |
| 1952 | Sam Snead | O’Bryant Williams (2) | 42 |
| 1953 | Ben Hogan | Willie “Pappy” Stokes (4) | 2 |
| 1954 | Sam Snead | O’Bryant Williams (3) | 62 |
| 1955 |
Cary ...
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