1973 Masters Tournament
Tommy Aaron, age 36, won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up J. C. Snead. Before this win at Augusta, Aaron was best known as the player who kept Roberto De Vicenzo's incorrect scorecard at the Masters five years earlier in 1968. Ironically, Aaron's final round playing partner in 1973, Johnny Miller, recorded a higher score when keeping Aaron's card, and Aaron caught the mistake. This was his third and last victory on the PGA Tour, and after this win, Aaron's best result in a major was a tie for 28th at the Masters in 1979.
Gary Player played in 52 Masters from 1957 through 2009; and missed only this one, to recover from leg and abdominal surgery. He returned in 1974 to win the second of his three green jackets.
Gay Brewer won the fourteenth Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a seven-under 20. At the previous Masters, the 1967 champion was hospitalized in Augusta for ulcers on Wednesday night and missed the tournament.
This Masters was the last as competitors for two former champions: Gene Sarazen (1935) and Ralph Guldahl (1939).
Field
- 1. Masters champions
George Archer (8), Gay Brewer (10,11), Billy Casper (8,9,10,12), Charles Coody (8,12), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby (8), Ralph Guldahl, Jack Nicklaus (2,3,4,8,9,11,12), Arnold Palmer (9,11,12), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead (10), Art Wall Jr.
- Jack Burke Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, and Gary Player (3,4,8,9,10) did not play. Player missed his only Masters in 53 years to recover from surgery.
- The following categories only apply to Americans
- 2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)
Orville Moody (9), Lee Trevino (3,9,11,12)
- 3. The Open champions (last five years)
- 4. PGA champions (last five years)
Julius Boros, Raymond Floyd (10), Dave Stockton (12)
- 5. The first eight finishers in the 1972 U.S. Amateur
Doug Ballenger (a), Ben Crenshaw (7,8,a), Vinny Giles (6,7,a), Charles Harrison (a), Mike Killian (a), Marty West (7,a)
- Mark Hayes (7,a) forfeited his exemption by turning professional. Bruce Robertson forfeited his exemption by losing his amateur status.
- 6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
- Steve Melnyk forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
- 7. Members of the 1972 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team
- 8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1972 Masters Tournament
Homero Blancas (9), Gardner Dickinson (12), Al Geiberger, Hubert Green, Paul Harney, Jerry Heard (10,11), Jim Jamieson (10,11), Jerry McGee, Steve Melnyk, Bobby Mitchell (11), Lanny Wadkins (11), Tom Weiskopf (9), Bert Yancey (9,11)
- 9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1972 U.S. Open
Don January, Don Massengale, Johnny Miller (11), Bobby Nichols, Chi-Chi Rodríguez (11), Cesar Sanudo, Jim Simons, Kermit Zarley (11)
- 10. Top eight players and ties from 1972 PGA Championship
Tommy Aaron, Phil Rodgers, Doug Sanders (11)
- 11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Buddy Allin, Deane Beman, Jim Colbert, Bob Dickson, Rod Funseth, Lou Graham, Dave Hill, Mike Hill, Babe Hiskey, Grier Jones, Bob Lunn, John Schlee, J. C. Snead (12), DeWitt Weaver
- 12. Members of the U.S. 1971 Ryder Cup team
Miller Barber, Frank Beard, Gene Littler, Mason Rudolph
- 13. Foreign invitations
Brian Barnes, Bob Charles (8), Gary Cowan (6,a), Bruce Crampton (8,9,11), Roberto De Vicenzo (8), Bruce Devlin (8,11), David Graham (11), Han Chang-sang, Trevor Homer (6,a), Guy Hunt, Tony Jacklin (2,3), George Knudson (11), Takaaki Kono (8), Lu Liang-Huan, Peter Oosterhuis, Masashi Ozaki, Bob Shaw (11)
- Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, April 5, 1973
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommy Aaron | 68 | −4 |
T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 69 | −3 |
Masashi Ozaki | |||
T4 | Bob Dickson | 70 | −2 |
J. C. Snead | |||
T6 | Grier Jones | 71 | −1 |
Phil Rodgers | |||
T8 | David Graham | 72 | E |
Hubert Green | |||
Steve Melnyk | |||
Chi-Chi Rodríguez | |||
Mason Rudolph | |||
Cesar Sanudo | |||
Dave Stockton |
Source
Second round
Friday, April 6, 1973
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
T1 | Tommy Aaron | 68-73=141 | −3 |
Gay Brewer | 75-66=141 | ||
Bob Dickson | 70-71=141 | ||
J. C. Snead | 70-71=141 | ||
5 | Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 72-70=142 | −2 |
T6 | Bob Goalby | 73-70=143 | −1 |
Grier Jones | 71-72=143 | ||
Peter Oosterhuis | 73-70=143 | ||
Masashi Ozaki | 69-74=143 | ||
T10 | Bob Charles | 74-70=144 | E |
Gardner Dickinson | 74-70=144 | ||
Jim Jamieson | 73-71=144 | ||
Johnny Miller | 75-69=144 | ||
Mason Rudolph | 72-72=144 |
Source
Third round
Sunday, April 8, 1973
Heavy rain on Saturday morning limited play to the first several pairs when the course was deemed unplayable. The third round was restarted in the late morning on Sunday from split tees.
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Oosterhuis | 73-70-68=211 | −5 |
T2 | Bob Goalby | 73-70-71=214 | −2 |
Jim Jamieson | 73-71-70=214 | ||
J. C. Snead | 70-71-73=214 | ||
T5 | Tommy Aaron | 68-73-74=215 | −1 |
Gay Brewer | 75-66-74=215 | ||
Johnny Miller | 75-69-71=215 | ||
Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 72-70-73=215 | ||
T9 | Gardner Dickinson | 74-70-72=216 | E |
Masashi Ozaki | 69-74-73=216 |
Source
Final round
Monday, April 9, 1973
Final leaderboard
Champion |
Silver Cup winner (low amateur) |
(a) = amateur |
(c) = past champion |
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommy Aaron | 68-73-74-68=283 | −5 | 30,000 |
2 | J. C. Snead | 70-71-73-70=284 | −4 | 22,500 |
T3 | Jim Jamieson | 73-71-70-71=285 | −3 | 12,500 |
Jack Nicklaus (c) | 69-77-73-66=285 | |||
Peter Oosterhuis | 73-70-68-74=285 | |||
T6 | Bob Goalby (c) | 73-70-71-74=288 | E | 6,250 |
Johnny Miller | 75-69-71-73=288 | |||
T8 | Bruce Devlin | 73-72-72-72=289 | +1 | 4,250 |
Masashi Ozaki | 69-74-73-73=289 | |||
T10 | Gay Brewer (c) | 75-66-74-76=291 | +3 | 3,425 |
Gardner Dickinson | 74-70-72-75=291 | |||
Don January | 75-71-75-70=291 | |||
Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 72-70-73-76=291 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |
T14 | Hubert Green | 72-74-75-71=292 | +4 | 3,000 | |
Mason Rudolph | 72-72-77-71=292 | ||||
Dave Stockton | 72-74-71-75=292 | ||||
T17 | Billy Casper (c) | 75-73-72-73=293 | +5 | 2,550 | |
Bob Dickson | 70-71-76-76=293 | ||||
Lou Graham | 77-73-72-71=293 | ||||
Babe Hiskey | 74-73-72-74=293 | ||||
Gene Littler | 77-72-71-73=293 | ||||
Kermit Zarley | 74-71-77-71=293 | ||||
23 | Phil Rodgers | 71-75-75-73=294 | +6 | 2,200 | |
T24 | Frank Beard | 73-75-71-76=295 | +7 | 2,100 | |
Ben Crenshaw (a) | 73-72-74-76=295 | 0 | |||
Paul Harney | 77-71-74-73=295 | 2,100 | |||
Bobby Nichols | 79-72-76-68=295 | ||||
Arnold Palmer (c) | 77-72-76-70=295 | ||||
T29 | Bob Charles | 74-70-74-78=296 | +8 | 1,750 | |
Charles Coody (c) | 74-73-79-70=296 | ||||
David Graham | 72-74-77-73=296 | ||||
Sam Snead (c) | 74-76-73-73=296 | ||||
Lanny Wadkins | 75-74-71-76=296 | ||||
T34 | Vinny Giles (a) | 78-71-72-76=297 | +9 | 0 | |
Steve Melnyk | 72-74-79-72=297 | 1,750 | |||
Tom Weiskopf | 77-71-75-74=297 | ||||
T37 | Rod Funseth | 73-75-74-76=298 | +10 | 1,675 | |
Al Geiberger | 75-76-77-70=298 | ||||
Dave Hill | 77-70-76-75=298 | ||||
Grier Jones | 71-72-77-78=298 | ||||
Art Wall Jr. (c) | 79-69-74-76=298 | ||||
Marty West (a) | 75-70-77-76=298 | 0 | |||
T43 | George Archer (c) | 73-74-74-78=299 | +11 | 1,675 | |
Miller Barber | 78-72-80-69=299 | ||||
Jim Colbert | 74-72-76-77=299 | ||||
Bruce Crampton | 74-74-77-74=299 | ||||
Lu Liang-Huan | 74-72-75-78=299 | ||||
Bob Lunn | 76-74-72-77=299 | ||||
Cesar Sanudo | 72-75-76-76=299 | ||||
Lee Trevino | 74-75-75-75=299 | ||||
T51 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 74-74-74-78=300 | +12 | 1,600 | |
Takaaki Kono | 74-74-78-74=300 | ||||
Bert Yancey | 75-74-74-77=300 | ||||
54 | Raymond Floyd | 76-73-75-77=301 | +13 | 1,600 | |
55 | Don Massengale | 74-74-76-78=302 | +14 | 1,600 | |
56 | Jerry Heard | 76-75-72-80=303 | +15 | 1,600 | |
57 | John Schlee | 76-73-74-82=305 | +17 | 1,600 | |
CUT | Buddy Allin | 76-76=152 | +8 | ||
Deane Beman | 77-75=152 | ||||
Gary Cowan (a) | 74-78=152 | ||||
Han Chang-sang | 77-75=152 | ||||
Tony Jacklin | 77-75=152 | ||||
Bob Shaw | 74-78=152 | ||||
Jerry McGee | 81-72=153 | +9 | |||
Julius Boros | 75-79=154 | +10 | |||
Doug Ford (c) | 76-78=154 | ||||
Mike Killian (a) | 79-76=155 | +11 | |||
Bobby Mitchell | 81-74=155 | ||||
Brian Barnes | 79-77=156 | +12 | |||
George Knudson | 79-77=156 | ||||
Mike Hill | 79-78=157 | +13 | |||
Jim Simons | 79-78=157 | ||||
Doug Ballenger (a) | 81-77=158 | +14 | |||
Homero Blancas | 81-77=158 | ||||
Orville Moody | 81-77=158 | ||||
DeWitt Weaver | 81-77=158 | ||||
Guy Hunt | 78-81=159 | +15 | |||
Doug Sanders | 83-78=161 | +17 | |||
Ralph Guldahl (c) | 82-80=162 | +18 | |||
Charles Harrison (a) | 81-81=162 | ||||
Trevor Homer (a) | 81-88=169 | +25 | |||
Gene Sarazen (c) | 88-86=174 | +30 |
Sources:
Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey |
References
- ^ Grimsley, Will (April 6, 1973). "Aaron's 68 paces Masters". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 22.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (April 16, 1973). "Jack fell down and lost his crown". Sports Illustrated. p. 24.
- ^ Gundelfinger, Phil (April 10, 1973). "Georgian Aaron wins Masters with a 283". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 18.
- ^ "Aaron can count strokes, money". Ellensburg Daily Record. (Washington). UPI. April 10, 1973. p. 6.
- ^ "Who Played the Most Masters Tournaments?". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
- ^ "Major surgery hinders Player from starting tour". Spartanburg Herald. (South Carolina). Associated Press. February 23, 1973. p. B4.
- ^ "Gary Player reached Masters on pass of hat". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 5, 1973. p. 20.
- ^ "The Masters: Gary Player's 50th appearance". Retrieved April 14, 2013.
- ^ "Brewer takes Par Three test". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 5, 1973. p. 19.
- ^ "Golfer Brewer: ulcers, hernia". Montreal Gazette. UPI. April 11, 1972. p. 16.
- ^ Robinson, Dave (April 3, 1973). "Robertson Loses Amateur Status". The Stanford Daily.
- ^ "Aaron gets lucky, leads Masters by 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. April 6, 1973. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ "Brewer charges, Nicklaus falters". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 7, 1973. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ "Rain postpones Masters classic". Sunday Star-News. (Wilmington, North Carolina). UPI. April 8, 1973. p. 1C.
- ^ "Englishman takes Masters lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 9, 1973. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ "Oosterhuis has three stroke Masters lead". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). UPI. April 9, 1973. p. 1C.
- ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "Masters cash box". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 10, 1973. p. 20.
External links
- Masters.com – past winners and results
- Augusta.com – 1973 Masters leaderboard and scorecards