1970 Masters Tournament
Billy Casper defeated Gene Littler 69 to 74 in an 18-hole playoff on Monday to win his third major championship. It was the last 18-hole playoff at the Masters; the format was changed to sudden-death in 1976 and first used in 1979. To get into the playoff, Casper scored a final round of 71 (−1), while Littler shot a 70 to tie at 279 (−9).
Jack Nicklaus shot 69-69 on the weekend, but was hampered by a second round 75 and finished in 8th place. It was the final Masters tournament as a player for 1938 champion Henry Picard, who withdrew without finishing the first round. Three-time Masters champion Sam Snead finished in a tie for 23rd place at the age of 57. It was the Masters debut of two-time champion Tom Watson, then a 20-year-old amateur from Stanford who shot 77-76 and missed the cut by three strokes.
Harold Henning won the eleventh Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a score of 21.
Dick Schaap's The Masters: The Winning of a Golf Classic covered in detail the 1970 tournament.
Field
- 1. Masters champions
George Archer (8,9), Gay Brewer, Jack Burke Jr. (8), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Ralph Guldahl, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus (2,3,8,11), Arnold Palmer (9), Henry Picard, Gary Player (2.3,10), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr.
- Jimmy Demaret, Ben Hogan, Claude Harmon, and Byron Nelson did not play.
- The following categories only apply to Americans
- 2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)
Billy Casper (8,11), Orville Moody (9,10)
- Lee Trevino (8,11) did not play.
- 3. The Open champions (last five years)
- 4. PGA champions (last five years)
Julius Boros (9), Raymond Floyd (9,10,11), Al Geiberger (8,9), Don January (8), Dave Marr (9)
- 5. The first eight finishers in the 1969 U.S. Amateur
Charles Coe (a), Vinny Giles (7,a), John Farquhar (a), Steve Melnyk (6,7,a), Allen Miller (7,a), Ed Updegraff (7,a), Tom Watson (a), Bob Zender (a)
- 6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
- Bruce Fleisher (7) forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
- 7. Members of the 1969 U.S. Walker Cup team
John Bohmann (a), Bill Hyndman (a), Joe Inman (a), Dick Siderowf (a), Lanny Wadkins (a)
- 8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1969 Masters Tournament
Tommy Aaron (11), Miller Barber (9,10,11), Frank Beard (11), Deane Beman (9), Charles Coody (9,10), Dale Douglass (9,11), Lionel Hebert, Dave Hill (9,11), Gene Littler (11), Mason Rudolph, Dan Sikes (11), Dave Stockton, Tom Weiskopf, Bert Yancey
- 9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1969 U.S. Open
Bunky Henry, Howie Johnson, Bob Murphy, Dean Refram, Phil Rodgers, Bob Rosburg, Kermit Zarley
- 10. Top eight players and ties from 1969 PGA Championship
Bert Greene, Terry Wilcox, Jimmy Wright, Larry Ziegler
- 11. Members of the U.S. 1969 Ryder Cup team
- 12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions.
- 13. Leading six players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Homero Blancas, Larry Hinson, Grier Jones, Dick Lotz, Chi-Chi Rodríguez, R. H. Sikes
- 14. Foreign invitations
Maurice Bembridge, Roberto Bernardini, Michael Bonallack (6,a), Peter Butler, Bob Charles, Bruce Crampton (8,9), Roberto De Vicenzo (3), Bruce Devlin (8,9), Bernard Gallacher, Harold Henning (8), Hsieh Yung-yo, Tony Jacklin (3), George Knudson (8), Takaaki Kono (8), Sukree Onsham
- Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, April 9, 1970
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommy Aaron | 68 | −4 |
T2 | Gene Littler | 69 | −3 |
Bert Yancey | |||
T4 | Charles Coody | 70 | −2 |
Bob Lunn | |||
Chi-Chi Rodríguez | |||
Dan Sikes | |||
R. H. Sikes | |||
T9 | Frank Beard | 71 | −1 |
Jack Nicklaus |
Source:
Second round
Friday, April 10, 1970
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
T1 | Gene Littler | 69-70=139 | −5 |
Bert Yancey | 69-70=139 | ||
T3 | Billy Casper | 72-68=140 | −4 |
Bob Lunn | 70-70=140 | ||
T5 | Tommy Aaron | 68-74=142 | −2 |
Gary Player | 74-68=142 | ||
T7 | Dave Hill | 73-70=143 | −1 |
Takaaki Kono | 75-68=143 | ||
T9 | Charles Coody | 70-74=144 | E |
Larry Hinson | 72-72=144 | ||
Dave Stockton | 72-72=144 |
Source:
Third round
Saturday, April 11, 1970
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Billy Casper | 72-68-68=208 | −8 |
2 | Gene Littler | 69-70-70=209 | −7 |
3 | Gary Player | 74-68-68=210 | −6 |
T4 | Tommy Aaron | 68-74-69=211 | −5 |
Charles Coody | 70-74-67=211 | ||
Bert Yancey | 69-70-72=211 | ||
T7 | Dave Hill | 73-70-70=213 | −3 |
Dave Stockton | 72-72-69=213 | ||
9 | Takaaki Kono | 75-68-71=214 | −2 |
T10 | Frank Beard | 71-76-68=215 | −1 |
Larry Hinson | 72-72-71=215 | ||
Bob Lunn | 70-70-75=215 | ||
Jack Nicklaus | 71-75-69=215 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, April 12, 1970
Final leaderboard
Champion |
Silver Cup winner (low amateur) |
(a) = amateur |
(c) = past champion |
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Billy Casper | 72-68-68-71=279 | −9 | Playoff |
Gene Littler | 69-70-70-70=279 | |||
3 | Gary Player (c) | 74-68-68-70=280 | −8 | 14,000 |
4 | Bert Yancey | 69-70-72-70=281 | −7 | 10,000 |
T5 | Tommy Aaron | 68-74-69-72=283 | −5 | 6,667 |
Dave Hill | 73-70-70-70=283 | |||
Dave Stockton | 72-72-69-70=283 | |||
8 | Jack Nicklaus (c) | 71-75-69-69=284 | −4 | 4,500 |
9 | Frank Beard | 71-76-68-70=285 | −3 | 4,000 |
T10 | Bob Lunn | 70-70-75-72=287 | −1 | 3,500 |
Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 70-76-73-68=287 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |
T12 | Charles Coody | 70-74-67-77=288 | E | 3,000 | |
Bert Greene | 75-71-70-72=288 | ||||
Tony Jacklin | 73-74-70-71=288 | ||||
Don January | 76-73-69-70=288 | ||||
Takaaki Kono | 75-68-71-74=288 | ||||
17 | Bob Charles | 75-71-71-72=289 | +1 | 2,700 | |
T18 | Howie Johnson | 75-71-73-71=290 | +2 | 2,500 | |
Dick Lotz | 74-72-72-72=290 | ||||
Orville Moody | 73-72-71-74=290 | ||||
T21 | Miller Barber | 76-73-77-65=291 | +3 | 2,250 | |
Terry Wilcox | 79-70-70-72=291 | ||||
T23 | Deane Beman | 74-72-72-74=292 | +4 | 2,020 | |
Julius Boros | 75-71-74-72=292 | ||||
Charles Coe (a) | 74-71-72-75=292 | 0 | |||
Bob Murphy | 78-70-73-71=292 | 2,020 | |||
Sam Snead (c) | 76-73-71-72=292 | ||||
Tom Weiskopf | 73-73-72-74=292 | ||||
T29 | Hsieh Yung-yo | 75-75-69-74=293 | +5 | 1,650 | |
Jimmy Wright | 75-72-71-75=293 | ||||
T31 | George Archer (c) | 73-72-74-75=294 | +6 | 1,650 | |
Gay Brewer (c) | 78-70-72-74=294 | ||||
Bruce Devlin | 72-74-78-70=294 | ||||
Larry Hinson | 72-72-71-79=294 | ||||
Ken Still | 74-73-74-73=294 | ||||
T36 | Arnold Palmer (c) | 75-73-74-73=295 | +7 | 1,575 | |
Dan Sikes | 70-77-71-77=295 | ||||
T38 | Maurice Bembridge | 77-72-70-77=296 | +8 | 1,575 | |
Bruce Crampton | 75-71-75-75=296 | ||||
Dale Douglass | 76-74-72-74=296 | ||||
Vinny Giles (a) | 78-72-72-74=296 | 0 | |||
Grier Jones | 73-75-73-75=296 | 1,575 | |||
43 | Steve Melnyk (a) | 73-76-71-77=297 | +9 | 0 | |
44 | Bob Rosburg | 77-73-75-73=298 | +10 | 1,500 | |
T45 | Al Geiberger | 73-77-74-75=299 | +11 | 1,500 | |
George Knudson | 73-72-78-76=299 | ||||
47 | R. H. Sikes | 70-75-77-78=300 | +12 | 1,500 | |
48 | Dean Refram | 76-74-78-75=303 | +15 | 1,500 | |
CUT | Roberto De Vicenzo | 78-73=151 | +7 | ||
Bernard Gallacher | 77-74=151 | ||||
Harold Henning | 74-77=151 | ||||
Bunky Henry | 77-74=151 | ||||
Dave Marr | 75-76=151 | ||||
Lanny Wadkins (a) | 79-72=151 | ||||
Raymond Floyd | 76-76=152 | +8 | |||
Bill Hyndman (a) | 76-76=152 | ||||
Mason Rudolph | 76-76=152 | ||||
Ed Updegraff (a) | 78-74=152 | ||||
Art Wall Jr. (c) | 76-76=152 | ||||
Kermit Zarley | 74-78=152 | ||||
Lionel Hebert | 75-78=153 | +9 | |||
Cary Middlecoff (c) | 78-75=153 | ||||
Tom Watson (a) | 77-76=153 | ||||
Peter Butler | 82-72=154 | +10 | |||
John Farquhar (a) | 74-80=154 | ||||
Larry Ziegler | 76-78=154 | ||||
Homero Blancas | 81-74=155 | +11 | |||
Doug Ford (c) | 76-79=155 | ||||
Bob Goalby (c) | 77-78=155 | ||||
Gene Sarazen (c) | 81-74=155 | ||||
Bob Zender (a) | 77-78=155 | ||||
Joe Inman (a) | 77-79=156 | +12 | |||
Dick Siderowf (a) | 80-76=156 | ||||
Allen Miller (a) | 81-76=157 | +13 | |||
Phil Rodgers | 78-79=157 | ||||
Jack Burke Jr. (c) | 78-80=158 | +14 | |||
Herman Keiser (c) | 79-79=158 | ||||
John Bohmann (a) | 81-78=159 | +15 | |||
Roberto Bernardini | 80-80=160 | +16 | |||
Michael Bonallack (a) | 75-86=161 | +17 | |||
Sukree Onsham | 78-84=162 | +18 | |||
Ralph Guldahl (c) | 84-83=167 | +23 | |||
WD | Henry Picard (c) |
Sources:
Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey |
Playoff
Monday, April 13, 1970
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Billy Casper | 69 | −3 | 25,000 |
2 | Gene Littler | 74 | +2 | 17,500 |
Source:
Scorecard
Source:
References
- ^ "Scoreboard: Masters (second round)". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. 2B.
- ^ "Masters scores (second round)". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. 10.
- ^ "Masters playoff format is changed". CNN.com. April 7, 2004. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (April 20, 1970). "All yours, Billy boy". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
- ^ "Aaron leads first round". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. April 10, 1970. p. C1.
- ^ "Yancey, Littler deadlock". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. B2.
- ^ Schaap, Dick (1970). The Masters: The Winning of a Golf Classic. Random House.
- ^ "Melnyk shoots a 70, Wins Amateur Title". Milwaukee Sentinel. August 31, 1969. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ "Amateur". Milwaukee Sentinel. August 31, 1969. p. 4, part 2.
- ^ "Masters still without black competitors". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 8, 1970. p. 3E.
- ^ "Tommy Aaron's 68 tops Masters field". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). April 10, 1970. p. 18.
- ^ "Yancey, Littler pace Masters with 139s". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. 1B.
- ^ "Golf: Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 12, 1970. p. 6B.
- ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "Golf buddies Littler and Casper play off for Masters title today". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. April 13, 1970. p. 13.
- ^ "Casper Surges Past Littler for Masters Title". Tri-City Herald. Associated Press. April 14, 1970. p. 10. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
External links
- Masters.com – past winners and results
- Augusta.com – 1970 Masters leaderboard and scorecards