1977 Masters Tournament Explained

1977 Masters Tournament
Dates:April 7–10, 1977
Location:Augusta, Georgia
Course:Augusta National Golf Club
Org:Augusta National Golf Club
Tour:PGA Tour
Par:72
Yardage:7030yd[1]
Field:77 players, 50 after cut[2]
Cut:149 (+5)
Winners Share:$40,000
Champion: Tom Watson
Score:276 (−12)
Previous:1976
Next:1978
Map:USA#USA Georgia
Map Relief:yes
Map Label:Augusta National
Coordinates:33.503°N -82.02°W

The 1977 Masters Tournament was the 41st Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Tom Watson, age 27, won the first of his two green jackets, two strokes ahead of runner-up Jack Nicklaus.[3] [4] [5] The two were tied after 68 holes, then Watson birdied the par-4 17th. Needing a birdie to tie, Nicklaus bogeyed the final hole, one of 19 times in his career that he was the runner-up in a major championship.[6] [7] It was the second of Watson's eight major championships, and he won a second Masters in 1981.[8]

The pair again dueled for a major title in the final round in July in Scotland, at the Open Championship at Turnberry, also won by Watson.

Although he had won a major in 1975 and led the PGA Tour in season earnings entering this Masters,[9] Watson had been labeled a "choker" early in his pro career, known for relinquishing leads in the final round of majors and regular events.[3] [4] [5] Notable among these was the U.S. Open in 1974 at Winged Foot;[10] his win here and in Scotland put that to rest.

Field

1. Masters championsTommy Aaron, George Archer (11), Gay Brewer (8), Billy Casper (8,12), Charles Coody (8,10), Raymond Floyd (8,9,10,12), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus (2,4,8,9,10,11,12), Arnold Palmer, Gary Player (3,4), Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr.
The following categories only apply to Americans
2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)Lou Graham (8,12), Hale Irwin (8,12), Johnny Miller (3,8,9,12), Jerry Pate (9,10,11)
3. The Open champions (last five years)Tom Watson (9,11), Tom Weiskopf (8,9,10,12)
4. PGA champions (last five years)Dave Stockton (10)
5. 1976 U.S. Amateur semi-finalistsJames T. Mason (a), Cary Parker Moore Jr. (a), Bill Sander (6,7,a), Stan Souza (a)
6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur championsVinny Giles (a), Fred Ridley (7,a), Dick Siderowf (7,a)
7. Members of the 1976 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy teamJohn Fought (a)
8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1976 Masters TournamentBuddy Allin (11), Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw (9,10,11), Al Geiberger (9,11,12), Hubert Green (9), Dave Hill (11), Tom Kite (11), Gene Littler (12), Roger Maltbie (11), Rik Massengale (11), Jerry McGee (10), Curtis Strange, Larry Ziegler (11)
9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1976 U.S. OpenButch Baird (11), Rod Funseth, Mark Hayes (11), Don January (10,11), Lyn Lott, Mike Morley, Andy North, J. C. Snead (11,12)
10. Top eight players and ties from 1976 PGA ChampionshipGil Morgan, John Schlee
11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous MastersAndy Bean, Woody Blackburn, Danny Edwards, Lee Elder, Gibby Gilbert, Joe Inman, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Bruce Lietzke, Mac McLendon, Tom Purtzer, Bob Wynn
12. Members of the U.S. 1975 Ryder Cup teamBob Murphy
13. Foreign invitationsIsao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Bruce Devlin (8), David Graham (10,11), Dale Hayes (8), Tommy Horton, John Lister (11), Graham Marsh (8,11), Takashi Murakami, Jack Newton, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Peter Oosterhuis (8), Bob Shearer

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 7, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 67 −5
T2 69 −3
T4 70 −2
T9 71 −1
Source:[11]

Second round

Friday, April 8, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1 72-67=139 −5
70-69=139
T3 71-69=140 −4
69-71=140
T5 67-74=141 −3
71-70=141
74-67=141
T8 75-67=142 −2
72-70=142
72-70=142
70-72=142
Source:[1] [2] [12]

Third round

Saturday, April 9, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1 71-69-69=209 −7
70-69-70=209
3 70-73-67=210 −6
T4 72-71-69=212 −4
72-70-70=212
T6 72-67-74=213 −3
67-74-72=213
70-73-70=213
71-70-72=213
T10 72-74-68=214 −2
71-72-71=214
70-74-70=214
69-76-69=214
Source:[13]

Final round

Sunday, April 10, 1977

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10!Place!!Player!!Score!!To par!!Money (US$)
1 70-69-70-67=276 −12 40,000
2 Jack Nicklaus (c) 72-70-70-66=278 −10 30,000
T3 70-73-70-67=280 −8 17,500
70-73-67-70=280
5 70-74-70-68=282 −6 12,500
T6 75-67-73-69=284 −4 10,500
75-71-69-69=284
T8 71-69-69-76=285 −3 5,667
Raymond Floyd (c) 71-72-71-71=285
67-74-72-72=285
69-76-69-71=285
71-72-73-69=285
75-73-69-68=285

Sources:[14] [15]

Scorecard

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  101112131415161718
Par454343454443545344
Watson −7−7−7−7−8−9−10−11−11−10−10−10−11−10−11−11−12−12
Nicklaus −5−6−6−6−6−6−6−7−7−8−8−9−10−10−11−11−11−10
Massengale −6−7−7−7−8−8−9−10−10−9−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8
Crenshaw −7−6−5−5−5−5−5−5−5−5−4−2−2−2−3−3−3−3
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+
Source:[4] [7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Funseth fires 67 for lead. Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. April 9, 1977. 17.
  2. News: Will Watson choke on the Masters? . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . wire reports . April 9, 1977 . 1C.
  3. News: Watson doesn't wilt this time . Chicago Tribune . Condon . David . April 11, 1977 . 1, sec. 6 .
  4. News: Watson Masters Augusta - self . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Parascenzo . Mario . April 11, 1977 . 14.
  5. News: No choking for Watson . Spokane Daily Chronicle . (Washington). Associated Press . April 11, 1977 . 19.
  6. What a beauty of a Masters . Sports Illustrated . Jenkins . Dan . Dan Jenkins . April 18, 1977 . 24.
  7. News: Watson Masters Nicklaus by 2. Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 11, 1977 . 1-part 2.
  8. True Grit at Augusta . Sports Illustrated . Jenkins . Dan . Dan Jenkins . April 20, 1981. 34.
  9. News: PGA Top money winners . Chicago Tribune . April 5, 1977. 6, sec. 4 .
  10. Hale Irwin, sole survivor . Sports Illustrated . Jenkins . Dan . Dan Jenkins . June 24, 1974 . 18.
  11. News: Youth can't overcome Green at Masters . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . Associated Press . April 8, 1977 . 1B.
  12. News: Golf: Masters, second round . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . April 9, 1977 . 8.
  13. News: Crenshaw, Watson tied in scramble at Masters . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . wire reports . April 10, 1977 . 3B .
  14. Web site: Masters – Past Winners & Results . Augusta National Inc. . April 20, 2021.
  15. Web site: Past results – Masters tournament . PGA Tour . April 20, 2021.

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