Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.

Phil Mickelson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although Phil Mickelson finished out of the Top Ten in last year’s Masters for only the second time since 1999, he is looking for a Top Ten finish that will put him in elite company in the storied history of the tournament. Mickleson has 13 Top Ten finishes in the Masters since his first tee shot at Augusta in 1991. Six legendary golfers have 14 or more Top Ten finishes in the Masters. They are:

22: Jack Nicklaus

17: Ben Hogan

16: Gary Player, Sam Snead, Tom Watson

14: Byron Nelson

Only two golfers finished in the Top Ten in both 2011 and 2010, Tiger Woods and K.J. Choi. In fact, Tiger has an active streak of seven straight Top Ten finishes in the Masters. In addition, of the 10 golfers who finished in the Top Ten last year, five had never been in the Masters Top Ten before: champion Charl Schwartzel, Jason Day, Geoff Oglivy, Bo Van Pelt and Ryan Palmer.

In looking at those golfers who have finished in the Top Ten since 2000, 73 different golfers have one or more Top Ten finishes this century. Of those, 28 have finished in the Top Ten on two or more occasions. Here’s a look at the golfers who have finished in the Top Ten in the Masters most often in this century (2000-2011).

10: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods

6: Vijay Singh

5: Angel Cabrera, Ernie Els

3: Luke Donald, K.J. Choi, Fred Couples, Chad Campbell, Jim Furyk, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Retief Goosen, Jose Maria Olazabal, Chris DiMarco

Of the 15 golfers listed above, only Mickelson, Woods, Singh, Cabrera, Couples, Olazabal have won a Masters.