1977 Masters Tournament

1977 Masters Tournament
Front cover of the 1977 Masters Guide
Tournament information
DatesApril 7–10, 1977
LocationAugusta, Georgia
33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)Augusta National Golf Club
Organized byAugusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length7,030 yards (6,428 m)[1]
Field77 players, 50 after cut[2]
Cut149 (+5)
Winner's share$40,000
Champion
United States Tom Watson
276 (−12)
Location map
Augusta National is located in the United States
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in the United States
Augusta National is located in Georgia
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in Georgia
← 1976
1978 →

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

[edit]
1. Masters champions

Tommy 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)

  • Lee Trevino (4,11,12) was recovering from back surgery and did not play
4. PGA champions (last five years)

Dave Stockton (10)

5. 1976 U.S. Amateur semi-finalists

James T. Mason (a), Cary Parker Moore Jr. (a), Bill Sander (6,7,a), Stan Souza (a)

6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions

Vinny Giles (a), Fred Ridley (7,a), Dick Siderowf (7,a)

7. Members of the 1976 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team

John Fought (a)

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1976 Masters Tournament

Buddy 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. Open

Butch 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 Championship

Gil Morgan, John Schlee

11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters

Andy 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 team

Bob Murphy

13. Foreign invitations

Isao 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

  • Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

Round summaries

[edit]

First round

[edit]

Thursday, April 7, 1977

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Hubert Green 67 −5
T2 United States Don January 69 −3
United States Billy Kratzert
T4 United States Hale Irwin 70 −2
United States Tom Kite
United States Rik Massengale
United States Jerry Pate
United States Tom Watson
T9 United States Buddy Allin 71 −1
United States Ben Crenshaw
United States Raymond Floyd
United States Mark Hayes
United States Dave Hill
United States Gene Littler
South Africa Gary Player

Source:[11]

Second round

[edit]

Friday, April 8, 1977

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Rod Funseth 72-67=139 −5
United States Tom Watson 70-69=139
T3 United States Ben Crenshaw 71-69=140 −4
United States Billy Kratzert 69-71=140
T5 United States Hubert Green 67-74=141 −3
South Africa Gary Player 71-70=141
Australia Bob Shearer 74-67=141
T8 Australia David Graham 75-67=142 −2
United States Mac McLendon 72-70=142
United States Jack Nicklaus 72-70=142
United States Jerry Pate 70-72=142

Source:[1][2][12]

Third round

[edit]

Saturday, April 9, 1977

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Ben Crenshaw 71-69-69=209 −7
United States Tom Watson 70-69-70=209
3 United States Rik Massengale 70-73-67=210 −6
T4 United States Jim Colbert 72-71-69=212 −4
United States Jack Nicklaus 72-70-70=212
T6 United States Rod Funseth 72-67-74=213 −3
United States Hubert Green 67-74-72=213
United States Tom Kite 70-73-70=213
South Africa Gary Player 71-70-72=213
T10 United States Danny Edwards 72-74-68=214 −2
United States Raymond Floyd 71-72-71=214
United States Hale Irwin 70-74-70=214
United States Don January 69-76-69=214

Source:[13]

Final round

[edit]

Sunday, April 10, 1977

Final leaderboard

[edit]
Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1 United States Tom Watson 70-69-70-67=276 −12 40,000
2 United States Jack Nicklaus (c) 72-70-70-66=278 −10 30,000
T3 United States Tom Kite 70-73-70-67=280 −8 17,500
United States Rik Massengale 70-73-67-70=280
5 United States Hale Irwin 70-74-70-68=282 −6 12,500
T6 Australia David Graham 75-67-73-69=284 −4 10,500
United States Lou Graham 75-71-69-69=284
T8 United States Ben Crenshaw 71-69-69-76=285 −3 5,667
United States Raymond Floyd (c) 71-72-71-71=285
United States Hubert Green 67-74-72-72=285
United States Don January 69-76-69-71=285
United States Gene Littler 71-72-73-69=285
United States John Schlee 75-73-69-68=285

Sources:[14][15]

Scorecard

[edit]
Hole   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9   10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4
United States Watson −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −9 −10 −11 −11 −10 −10 −10 −11 −10 −11 −11 −12 −12
United States Nicklaus −5 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −8 −8 −9 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11 −10
United States Massengale −6 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −9 −10 −10 −9 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8
United States 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

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[4][7]

References

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