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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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1961 Masters Tournament
The 1961 Masters Tournament was the 25th Masters Tournament, held April 6–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Due to heavy rains and flooding of several greens, Sunday's final round was halted before 4 p.m. and the scores were erased, even though ten players had completed their rounds. Third round leader Gary Player was even par through eleven holes, and defending champion Arnold Palmer was two-under through nine. The entire round was replayed the next day.

In the final round on Monday, Player defeated Palmer and amateur Charles Coe by one stroke to become the first international champion at the Masters. Player made an up and down from the bunker on the final hole but thought he had lost the tournament, after carding a disappointing 40 (+4) on the back nine. In the final pairing with a one-shot lead, Palmer needed a par on the final hole for the win. From the fairway, his approach shot also landed in the bunker right of the green. With a poor lie, Palmer's bunker shot went past the hole and off the green and down a hillock. Using his putter from off the green, he failed to get the fourth shot close, then missed the 15-foot (4.5 m) bogey putt which would have forced a playoff.

It was the first of three green jackets for Player, age 25, and the second of his nine major titles. His other wins at Augusta came over a decade later in 1974 and 1978. Jack Nicklaus, 21, recorded the first of his 22 top-10 finishes at the Masters, his last as an amateur. He tied for seventh, but the low amateur honors went to Coe. Nicklaus regained the U.S. Amateur title in September at Pebble Beach and turned professional in November.

A field of 88 players entered the tournament and 41 of them made the cut at five-over-par (149).

Amateur Deane Beman won the Par 3 contest with a score of 22; he turned pro in 1967 and later became the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, from 1974 to 1994.

Field

1. Masters champions

Jack Burke Jr. (4,8,11), Jimmy Demaret, Doug Ford (4,10,11), Claude Harmon (8), Ben Hogan (2,3,4,8,9), Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff (2,11), Byron Nelson (2,4), Arnold Palmer (2,8,9,10), Gene Sarazen (2,3,4), Horton Smith, Sam Snead (3,4,8,10,11), Craig Wood (2)

The following categories only apply to Americans
2. U.S. Open champions

Tommy Bolt (8), Julius Boros (8,9,11), Billy Burke, Billy Casper (8,9), Jack Fleck (9), Ed Furgol, Tony Manero, Lloyd Mangrum, Dick Mayer, Fred McLeod, Sam Parks Jr., Lew Worsham

3. The Open champions

Jock Hutchison (4), Denny Shute (4)

4. PGA champions

Walter Burkemo, Dow Finsterwald (8,9,11), Vic Ghezzi, Chick Harbert, Chandler Harper, Jay Hebert (10,11), Lionel Hebert (8), Johnny Revolta, Bob Rosburg (8,11), Jim Turnesa

5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions

Deane Beman (6,7,a), Dick Chapman (a), Charles Coe (6,a), Jack Nicklaus (6,8,9,a), Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)

6. Members of the 1959 U.S. Walker Cup team

William C. Campbell (a), Bill Hyndman (7,a), Chuck Kocsis (a), Billy Joe Patton (8,a), Bud Taylor (8,a), Ward Wettlaufer (a)

  • Tommy Aaron had turned professional. Campbell and Kocsis were reserves for the team. Harvie Ward did not play.
7. 1960 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

John Farquhar (a), Robert W. Gardner (a), Charles Lewis III (a), Steve Spray (a), Claude Wild (a)

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1960 Masters Tournament

Fred Hawkins, Don January (10), Ted Kroll (9), Mike Souchak (9,11), Ken Venturi

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1960 U.S. Open

Jerry Barber, George Bayer, Don Cherry (a), Paul Harney, Bob Harris, Dutch Harrison, Johnny Pott

10. Top eight players and ties from 1960 PGA Championship

Wes Ellis, Doug Sanders

11. Members of the U.S. 1959 Ryder Cup team
12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions

Gene Littler

13. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Bob Goalby

14. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Bob Cochran (a)

15. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1961 PGA Tour

Bill Collins, Mason Rudolph

16. Foreign invitations

Keith Alexander (a), Al Balding, Phil Brownlee (a), Antonio Cerdá, Bruce Crampton (8), Roberto De Vicenzo, Mário Gonzalez, Bill Kerr, Stan Leonard (8), Sebastián Miguel, Ángel Miguel, Kel Nagle (3), Gary Player (3,8), Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Miguel Sala, Peter Thomson (3)

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

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 6, 1961

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Arnold Palmer 68 −4
United States Bob Rosburg
3 South Africa Gary Player 69 −3
4 United States Jack Nicklaus (a) 70 −2
T5 United States Doug Ford 71 −1
United States Paul Harney
United States Byron Nelson
United States Johnny Pott
T9 United States Tommy Bolt 72 E
United States Billy Casper
United States Charles Coe (a)
United States Jay Hebert
Canada Stan Leonard
United States Gene Littler
United States Ken Venturi

Source

Second round

Friday, April 7, 1961

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Arnold Palmer 68-69=137 −7
South Africa Gary Player 69-68=137
3 United States Bob Rosburg 68-73=141 −3
4 United States Don January 74-68=142 −2
T5 United States Tommy Bolt 72-71=143 −1
United States Walter Burkemo 74-69=143
United States Charles Coe (a) 72-71=143
United States Lionel Hebert 74-69=143
United States Ted Kroll 73-70=143
United States Byron Nelson 71-72=143
United States Ken Venturi 72-71=143

Source

Third round

Saturday, April 8, 1961

Place Player Score To par
1 South Africa Gary Player 69-68-69=206 −10
2 United States Arnold Palmer 68-69-73=210 −6
T3 United States Charles Coe (a) 72-71-69=212 −4
United States Paul Harney 71-73-68=212
5 United States Bill Collins 74-72-67=213 −3
T6 United States Jack Burke Jr. 76-70-68=214 −2
United States Don January 74-68-72=214
United States Bob Rosburg 68-73-73=214
T9 United States Ted Kroll 73-70-72=215 −1
United States Jack Nicklaus (a) 70-75-70=215
United States Doug Sanders 76-71-68=215
United States Ken Venturi 72-71-72=215

Source:

Final round

Sunday, April 9, 1961
Monday, April 10, 1961

Summary

Play on Sunday was washed out due to heavy rain and wind shortly after 4 pm and all scores were erased; the final round was replayed on Monday. Although Player was the leader after 54 holes, he finished his round nearly an hour ahead of Palmer's double-bogey at the final hole.

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1 South Africa Gary Player 69-68-69-74=280 −8 20,000
T2 United States Charles Coe (a) 72-71-69-69=281 −7 0
United States Arnold Palmer (c) 68-69-73-71=281 12,000
T4 United States Tommy Bolt 72-71-74-68=285 −3 7,000
United States Don January 74-68-72-71=285
6 United States Paul Harney 71-73-68-74=286 −2 4,800
T7 United States Jack Burke Jr. (c) 76-70-68-73=287 −1 3,200
United States Billy Casper 72-77-69-69=287
United States Bill Collins 74-72-67-74=287
United States Jack Nicklaus (a) 70-75-70-72=287 0

Sources:

Scorecard

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
South Africa Player −11 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12 −11 −11 −11 −9 −9 −8 −8 −8 −8
United States Palmer −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −7
United States Coe −4 −5 −5 −6 −6 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −4 −4 −5 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

References

  1. ^ "Player, Palmer tie for Masters lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 8, 1961. p. 1-part 2.
  2. ^ "Rain washes out Masters; finish today". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 10, 1961. p. 2-part 2.
  3. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 10, 1961). "Masters washed out by rain". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 4.
  4. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 11, 1961). "Palmer flops on 18th, Player takes Masters". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 3.
  5. ^ "Player wins Masters (280)". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 11, 1961. p. 3-part 2.
  6. ^ Bisher, Furman (April 11, 1961). "Palmer played it like a duffer". Miami News. p. 1C.
  7. ^ Wright, Alfred (April 17, 1961). "A duel golfers will never forget". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  8. ^ Gundelfinger, Phil (April 11, 1961). "Player wins as Palmer blows lead". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  9. ^ Gundelfinger, Phil (April 7, 1961). "Palmer, Rosburg fire 68s, lead Masters". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 20.
  10. ^ "Second-round Masters golf scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 8, 1961. p. 14.
  11. ^ "Masters golf tourney scores". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. April 8, 1961. p. 8.
  12. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 8, 1961). "Gary Player catches Palmer at 137". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 5.
  13. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 9, 1961). "Player pulls ahead of Palmer in Masters golf". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
  14. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
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