1970 Masters Tournament
The 1970 Masters Tournament was the 34th Masters Tournament, held April 9–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. A field of 83 players started the tournament and 48 made the 36-hole cut at 150.
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, while Littler shot a 70 to tie at 279.
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 championsGeorge Archer, Gay Brewer, Jack Burke Jr., Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Ralph Guldahl, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Henry Picard, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr.
- Jimmy Demaret, Ben Hogan, Claude Harmon, and Byron Nelson did not play.
;2. U.S. Open champions
Billy Casper, Orville Moody
- Lee Trevino did not play.
;4. PGA champions
Julius Boros, Raymond Floyd, Al Geiberger, Don January, Dave Marr
;5. The first eight finishers in the 1969 U.S. Amateur
Charles Coe, Vinny Giles, John Farquhar, Steve Melnyk, Allen Miller, Ed Updegraff, Tom Watson, Bob Zender
;6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
- Bruce Fleisher forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
John Bohmann, Bill Hyndman, Joe Inman, Dick Siderowf, Lanny Wadkins
;8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1969 Masters Tournament
Tommy Aaron, Miller Barber, Frank Beard, Deane Beman, Charles Coody, Dale Douglass, Lionel Hebert, Dave Hill, Gene Littler, Mason Rudolph, Dan Sikes, 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
Ken Still
;12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions.
Bob Lunn
;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, Peter Butler, Bob Charles, Bruce Crampton, Roberto De Vicenzo, Bruce Devlin, Bernard Gallacher, Harold Henning, Hsieh Yung-yo, Tony Jacklin, George Knudson, Takaaki Kono, Sukree Onsham
- Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.
Nationalities in the field
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
SourceMissed the cut
SourceRound summaries
First round
Thursday, April 8, 1970| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Tommy Aaron | 68 | −4 | |
| T2 | Gene Littler | 69 | −3 | |
| T2 | Bert Yancey | 69 | −3 | |
| T4 | Charles Coody | 70 | −2 | |
| T4 | Bob Lunn | 70 | −2 | |
| T4 | Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 70 | −2 | |
| T4 | Dan Sikes | 70 | −2 | |
| T4 | R. H. Sikes | 70 | −2 | |
| T9 | Frank Beard | 71 | −1 | |
| T9 | Jack Nicklaus | 71 | −1 |
Source:
Second round
Friday, April 10, 1970| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| T1 | Gene Littler | 69-70=139 | −5 | |
| T1 | Bert Yancey | 69-70=139 | −5 | |
| T3 | Billy Casper | 72-68=140 | −4 | |
| T3 | Bob Lunn | 70-70=140 | −4 | |
| T5 | Tommy Aaron | 68-74=142 | −2 | |
| T5 | Gary Player | 74-68=142 | −2 | |
| T7 | Dave Hill | 73-70=143 | −1 | |
| T7 | Takaaki Kono | 75-68=143 | −1 | |
| T9 | Charles Coody | 70-74=144 | E | |
| T9 | Larry Hinson | 72-72=144 | E | |
| T9 | Dave Stockton | 72-72=144 | E |
Source:
Third round
Saturday, April 11, 1970| Place | Player | Country | 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 | |
| T4 | Charles Coody | 70-74-67=211 | −5 | |
| T4 | Bert Yancey | 69-70-72=211 | −5 | |
| T7 | Dave Hill | 73-70-70=213 | −3 | |
| T7 | Dave Stockton | 72-72-69=213 | −3 | |
| 9 | Takaaki Kono | 75-68-71=214 | −2 | |
| T10 | Frank Beard | 71-76-68=215 | −1 | |
| T10 | Larry Hinson | 72-72-71=215 | −1 | |
| T10 | Bob Lunn | 70-70-75=215 | −1 | |
| T10 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-75-69=215 | −1 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, April 12, 1970| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money |
| T1 | Billy Casper | 72-68-68-71=279 | −9 | Playoff | |
| T1 | Gene Littler | 69-70-70-70=279 | −9 | Playoff | |
| 3 | Gary Player | 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 | |
| T5 | Dave Hill | 73-70-70-70=283 | −5 | 6,667 | |
| T5 | Dave Stockton | 72-72-69-70=283 | −5 | 6,667 | |
| 8 | Jack Nicklaus | 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 | |
| T10 | Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 70-76-73-68=287 | −1 | 3,500 |
Source:
Scorecard
Final round| 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 |
 Casper | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 |
| Littler | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −10 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 |
 Player | −6 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −8 |
| Yancey | −5 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −7 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
| Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey |
Playoff
Monday, April 13, 1970| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money |
| 1 | Billy Casper | 69 | −3 | 25,000 | |
| 2 | Gene Littler | 74 | +2 | 17,500 |
Source: