The 1978 Masters Tournament was the 42nd Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Gary Player overcame a 7-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth major championship. Player, age 42, shot a record-tying 64 (−8) in the final round to win by one stroke. The runners-up were Rod Funseth, defending champion Tom Watson, and 54-hole leader Hubert Green, the reigning U.S. Open champion, who shot an even-par 72.[2][3]
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | April 6–9, 1978 |
Location | Augusta, Georgia 33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W |
Course(s) | Augusta National Golf Club |
Organized by | Augusta National Golf Club |
Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Statistics | |
Par | 72 |
Length | 7,040 yards (6,437 m)[1] |
Field | 78 players, 53 after cut |
Cut | 149 ( 5) |
Winner's share | $45,000 |
Champion | |
Gary Player | |
277 (−11) | |
Location map | |
Location in Georgia | |
Tied for tenth place at the start of the round, Player shot a 30 on the back nine in the summer-like heat. He holed seven putts ranging from 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 m), including a final one of 15 feet (4.6 m) for birdie at 18. The leader in the clubhouse, Player had to wait forty minutes for the final groups to finish. Funseth had five birdies, but his two bogeys were both three-putts and he parred the last three holes. Watson eagled 13 and birdied both 15 and 16, but missed an 8-foot (2.4 m) putt for par on the final hole. After a bogey at 16, Green hit an outstanding approach shot at 18 which left a birdie putt from three feet (0.9 m) to tie, but he missed after being inadvertently distracted by a radio announcer.[3][4][5]
Player became the oldest winner of the Masters and the first over forty in nearly a quarter century; Sam Snead won his third green jacket at age 41 in 1954. Player retained the honor for eight years, until Jack Nicklaus won his sixth at 46 in 1986.
Field
edit- 1. Masters champions
Tommy Aaron, George Archer (8), Gay Brewer, Billy Casper (8), Charles Coody (10), Raymond Floyd (8,11,12), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus (4,8,9,10,11,12), Arnold Palmer (8), Gary Player (3,8,9), Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr., Tom Watson (3,8,9,10,11,12)
- Jack Burke Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, and Gene Sarazen did not play.
- The following categories only apply to Americans
- 2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)
Lou Graham (8,9,10,12), Hubert Green (8,9,11,12), Hale Irwin (8,11,12), Johnny Miller (3), Jerry Pate (8,10,11)
- 3. The Open champions (last five years)
Tom Weiskopf (8,9,11)
- 4. PGA champions (last five years)
Dave Stockton (12), Lee Trevino (11), Lanny Wadkins (10,11,12)
- 5. 1977 U.S. Amateur semi-finalists
Doug Fischesser (a), Ralph Landrum (a), Jay Sigel (7,a)
- John Fought (6,7) forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
- 6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
Dick Siderowf (7,a)
- Bill Sander (7) forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
- 7. Members of the 1977 U.S. Walker Cup team
Mike Brannan (a), Gary Hallberg (a), Vance Heafner (a), Lindy Miller (a), Fred Ridley (a)
- Scott Simpson forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
- 8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1977 Masters Tournament
Andy Bean, Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw (11), Danny Edwards, Lee Elder, Rod Funseth (9), Don January (10,12), Tom Kite, Billy Kratzert (11), Gene Littler (10,11), Rik Massengale, Andy North (11), John Schlee, Bob Wynn
- 9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1977 U.S. Open
Wally Armstrong, Terry Diehl, Al Geiberger (10,11), Jay Haas (11), Joe Inman, Gary Jacobson, Lyn Lott, Mike McCullough, Steve Melnyk, Tom Purtzer
- 10. Top eight players and ties from 1977 PGA Championship
Jerry McGee (11,12)
- 11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Miller Barber, Dave Eichelberger, Mike Hill, Mac McLendon, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bill Rogers, Jim Simons, Ed Sneed (12), Leonard Thompson
- 12. Members of the U.S. 1977 Ryder Cup team
- 13. Foreign invitations
Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros (11), Bobby Cole (11), Antonio Garrido, David Graham (8), Peter McEvoy (6,a), Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Peter Oosterhuis (9), Masashi Ozaki, Manuel Piñero
- Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.
Round summaries
editFirst round
editThursday, April 6, 1978
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | John Schlee | 68 | −4 |
2 | Joe Inman | 69 | −3 |
T3 | Billy Kratzert | 70 | −2 |
Lee Trevino | |||
T5 | Tom Kite | 71 | −1 |
Jerry McGee | |||
Steve Melnyk | |||
T8 | Wally Armstrong | 72 | E |
Hubert Green | |||
Dave Hill | |||
Don January | |||
Gene Littler | |||
Lyn Lott | |||
Mac McLendon | |||
Jack Nicklaus | |||
Jerry Pate | |||
Gary Player | |||
Leonard Thompson | |||
Tom Weiskopf |
Source:[6]
Second round
editFriday, April 7, 1978
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
T1 | Rod Funseth | 73-66=139 | −5 |
Lee Trevino | 70-69=139 | ||
T3 | Hale Irwin | 73-67=140 | −4 |
Gene Littler | 72-68=140 | ||
T5 | Hubert Green | 72-69=141 | −3 |
Leonard Thompson | 72-69=141 | ||
Tom Watson | 73-68=141 | ||
T8 | Wally Armstrong | 72-70=142 | −2 |
Miller Barber | 75-67=142 | ||
Joe Inman | 69-73=142 | ||
Don January | 72-70=142 | ||
Arnold Palmer | 73-69=142 |
Source:[7]
Third round
editSaturday, April 8, 1978
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hubert Green | 72-69-65=206 | −10 |
T2 | Rod Funseth | 73-66-70=209 | −7 |
Tom Watson | 73-68-68=209 | ||
4 | Gene Littler | 72-68-70=210 | −6 |
T5 | David Graham | 75-69-67=211 | −5 |
Hale Irwin | 73-67-71=211 | ||
Billy Kratzert | 70-74-67=211 | ||
Lee Trevino | 70-69-72=211 | ||
9 | Wally Armstrong | 72-70-70=212 | −4 |
T10 | Seve Ballesteros | 74-71-68=213 | −3 |
Gay Brewer | 73-71-69=213 | ||
Gary Player | 72-72-69=213 | ||
Tom Weiskopf | 72-71-70=213 |
Source:[8]
Final round
editSunday, April 9, 1978
Final leaderboard
editChampion |
Silver Cup winner (low amateur) |
(a) = amateur |
(c) = past champion |
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gary Player (c) | 72-72-69-64=277 | −11 | 45,000 |
T2 | Rod Funseth | 73-66-70-69=278 | −10 | 21,667 |
Hubert Green | 72-69-65-72=278 | |||
Tom Watson (c) | 73-68-68-69=278 | |||
T5 | Wally Armstrong | 72-70-70-68=280 | −8 | 11,750 |
Billy Kratzert | 70-74-67-69=280 | |||
7 | Jack Nicklaus (c) | 72-73-69-67=281 | −7 | 10,000 |
8 | Hale Irwin | 73-67-71-71=282 | −6 | 8,500 |
T9 | David Graham | 75-69-67-72=283 | −5 | 6,750 |
Joe Inman | 69-73-72-69=283 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |
T11 | Don January | 72-70-72-70=284 | −4 | 4,417 | |
Jerry McGee | 71-73-71-69=284 | ||||
Tom Weiskopf | 72-71-70-71=284 | ||||
T14 | Peter Oosterhuis | 74-70-70-71=285 | −3 | 3,300 | |
Lee Trevino | 70-69-72-74=285 | ||||
T16 | Raymond Floyd (c) | 76-71-71-68=286 | −2 | 2,950 | |
Lindy Miller (a) | 74-71-70-71=286 | 0 | |||
T18 | Seve Ballesteros | 74-71-68-74=287 | −1 | 2,550 | |
Tom Kite | 71-74-71-71=287 | ||||
Gil Morgan | 73-73-70-71=287 | ||||
Jerry Pate | 72-71-72-72=287 | ||||
Ed Sneed | 74-70-70-73=287 | ||||
Lanny Wadkins | 74-70-73-70=287 | ||||
T24 | Miller Barber | 75-67-73-73=288 | E | 2,200 | |
Andy Bean | 76-68-73-71=288 | ||||
Gene Littler | 72-68-70-78=288 | ||||
Leonard Thompson | 72-69-75-72=288 | ||||
28 | Bobby Cole | 77-70-70-72=289 | 1 | 2,000 | |
T29 | Gay Brewer (c) | 73-71-69-77=290 | 2 | 1,975 | |
Mac McLendon | 72-72-72-74=290 | ||||
Bill Rogers | 76-70-68-76=290 | ||||
T32 | Jim Colbert | 74-73-75-69=291 | 3 | 1,950 | |
Terry Diehl | 74-72-74-71=291 | ||||
Johnny Miller | 77-72-72-70=291 | ||||
Andy North | 73-76-72-70=291 | ||||
36 | Tommy Aaron (c) | 73-74-71-74=292 | 4 | 1,925 | |
T37 | Ben Crenshaw | 75-70-74-74=293 | 5 | 1,900 | |
Mike Hill | 73-75-74-71=293 | ||||
Arnold Palmer (c) | 73-69-74-77=293 | ||||
Tom Purtzer | 78-69-74-72=293 | ||||
41 | Lyn Lott | 72-76-71-75=294 | 6 | 1,875 | |
T42 | Lee Elder | 73-75-74-73=295 | 7 | 1,850 | |
Al Geiberger | 75-73-75-72=295 | ||||
John Schlee | 68-75-77-75=295 | ||||
T45 | Vance Heafner (a) | 73-74-74-75=296 | 8 | 0 | |
Dave Hill | 72-76-74-74=296 | 1,825 | |||
T47 | Jay Haas | 74-73-74-76=297 | 9 | 1,800 | |
Gary Hallberg (a) | 73-73-78-73=297 | 0 | |||
49 | Dick Siderowf (a) | 77-72-78-71=298 | 10 | ||
50 | Bob Wynn | 74-70-78-77=299 | 11 | 1,750 | |
51 | Steve Melnyk | 71-78-75-76=300 | 12 | 1,725 | |
52 | Bob Goalby (c) | 73-75-78-75=301 | 13 | 1,700 | |
53 | Peter McEvoy (a) | 73-75-77-77=302 | 14 | 0 | |
CUT | Charles Coody (c) | 75-75=150 | 6 | ||
Dave Eichelberger | 79-71=150 | ||||
Lou Graham | 75-75=150 | ||||
Masashi Ozaki | 76-74=150 | ||||
Manuel Piñero | 78-72=150 | ||||
Billy Casper (c) | 76-75=151 | 7 | |||
Mike Morley | 78-73=151 | ||||
Dave Stockton | 76-75=151 | ||||
Isao Aoki | 79-73=152 | 8 | |||
Art Wall Jr. (c) | 74-78=152 | ||||
Gary Jacobson | 79-74=153 | 9 | |||
Jay Sigel (a) | 76-77=153 | ||||
Doug Ford (c) | 78-76=154 | 10 | |||
Sam Snead (c) | 79-75=154 | ||||
Antonio Garrido | 77-78=155 | 11 | |||
Ralph Landrum (a) | 79-77=156 | 12 | |||
Rik Massengale | 81-75=156 | ||||
Jim Simons | 79-77=156 | ||||
Danny Edwards | 79-79=158 | 14 | |||
Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 80-80=160 | 16 | |||
Mike Brannan (a) | 80-82=162 | 18 | |||
Doug Fischesser (a) | 81-84=165 | 21 | |||
Fred Ridley (a) | 84-81=165 | ||||
WD | George Archer (c) | 81 | 9 | ||
Mike McCullough | 82 | 10 |
Scorecard
editCumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Eagle Birdie Bogey
Source:[4]
References
edit- ^ Parascenzo, Marino (April 7, 1978). "The Masters leader – Oh, Schlee". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 10. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ Parascenzo, Marino (April 10, 1978). "3rd win to Player in Masters". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (April 17, 1978). "And then there was one". Sports Illustrated. p. 16. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ a b Loomis, Tom (April 10, 1978). "Champ Player fired 64, then 'choked'". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 14.
- ^ "What Are the Worst Choke Jobs in Golf History?". Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ "Schlee tames Masters field". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 7, 1978. p. 3D.
- ^ "Trevino plays to center stage at Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 8, 1978. p. 1C.
- ^ "Green chips his way three ahead in Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service. April 9, 1978. p. 2B.
- ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
External links
edit- Masters.com – past winners
- Augusta.com – 1978 Masters leaderboard and scorecards