Steve Davis won his third Masters title, nine years after his last win in 1988, by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final.

O'Sullivan, who was playing in his third consecutive Masters final, took an 8–4 lead before Davis came back to win six successive frames and clinch the title with a 10–8 victory.

[1] The final was notable for featuring snooker's first ever streaker, 22-year-old secretary Lianne Crofts, who invaded the playing area at the beginning of the third frame.

[1][2] The wild-card players included Paul Hunter, who would later go on to win 3 Masters titles in 4 years between 2001 and 2004.

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: In the preliminary round, the qualifier and wild-card players played the 15th and 16th seeds:[3][4] [3][4] Brian Morgan won the qualifying tournament, known as the 1996 Benson & Hedges Championship at the time.