1977 Masters Tournament


The 1977 Masters Tournament was the 41st Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Tom Watson, age 27, won the first of his two green jackets, two strokes ahead of runner-up Jack Nicklaus. The two were tied after 68 holes, then Watson birdied the par-4 17th. Needing a birdie to tie, Nicklaus bogeyed the final hole, one of 19 times in his career that he was the runner-up in a major championship. It was the second of Watson's eight major championships, and he won a second Masters in 1981.
The pair again dueled for a major title in the final round in July in Scotland, at the Open Championship at Turnberry, also won by Watson.
Although he had won a major in 1975 and led the PGA Tour in season earnings entering this Masters, Watson had been labeled a "choker" early in his pro career, known for relinquishing leads in the final round of majors and regular events. Notable among these was the U.S. Open in 1974 at Winged Foot; his win here and in Scotland put that to rest.

Field

;1. Masters champions
Tommy Aaron, George Archer, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr.
;The following categories only apply to Americans
;2. U.S. Open champions
Lou Graham, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, Jerry Pate
;3. The Open champions
Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf
;4. PGA champions
Dave Stockton
;5. 1976 U.S. Amateur semi-finalists
James T. Mason, C. Parker Moore Jr., Bill Sander, Stan Souza
;6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
Vinny Giles, Fred Ridley, Dick Siderowf
;7. Members of the 1976 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team
John Fought
;8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1976 Masters Tournament
Buddy Allin, Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw, Al Geiberger, Hubert Green, Dave Hill, Tom Kite, Gene Littler, Roger Maltbie, Rik Massengale, Jerry McGee, Curtis Strange, Larry Ziegler
;9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1976 U.S. Open
Butch Baird, Rod Funseth, Mark Hayes, Don January, Lyn Lott, Mike Morley, Andy North, J. C. Snead
;10. Top eight players and ties from 1976 PGA Championship
Gil Morgan, John Schlee
;11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Andy Bean, Woody Blackburn, Danny Edwards, Lee Elder, Gibby Gilbert, Joe Inman, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Bruce Lietzke, Mac McLendon, Tom Purtzer, Bob Wynn
;12. Members of the U.S. 1975 Ryder Cup team
Bob Murphy
;13. Foreign invitations
Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Bruce Devlin, David Graham, Dale Hayes, Tommy Horton, John Lister, Graham Marsh, Takashi Murakami, Jack Newton, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Peter Oosterhuis, Bob Shearer

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 7, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hubert Green67−5
T2Don January69−3
T2Billy Kratzert69−3
T4Hale Irwin70−2
T4Tom Kite70−2
T4Rik Massengale70−2
T4Jerry Pate70−2
T4Tom Watson70−2
T9Buddy Allin71−1
T9Ben Crenshaw71−1
T9Raymond Floyd71−1
T9Mark Hayes71−1
T9Dave Hill71−1
T9Gene Littler71−1
T9Gary Player71−1

Source:

Second round

Friday, April 8, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Rod Funseth72-67=139−5
T1Tom Watson70-69=139−5
T3Ben Crenshaw71-69=140−4
T3Billy Kratzert69-71=140−4
T5Hubert Green67-74=141−3
T5Gary Player71-70=141−3
T5Bob Shearer74-67=141−3
T8David Graham75-67=142−2
T8Mac McLendon72-70=142−2
T8Jack Nicklaus72-70=142−2
T8Jerry Pate70-72=142−2

Source:

Third round

Saturday, April 9, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Ben Crenshaw71-69-69=209−7
T1Tom Watson70-69-70=209−7
3Rik Massengale70-73-67=210−6
T4Jim Colbert72-71-69=212−4
T4Jack Nicklaus72-70-70=212−4
T6Rod Funseth72-67-74=213−3
T6Hubert Green67-74-72=213−3
T6Tom Kite70-73-70=213−3
T6Gary Player71-70-72=213−3
T10Danny Edwards72-74-68=214−2
T10Raymond Floyd71-72-71=214−2
T10Hale Irwin70-74-70=214−2
T10Don January69-76-69=214−2

Source:

Final round

Sunday, April 10, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Tom Watson70-69-70-67=276−1240,000
2Jack Nicklaus72-70-70-66=278−1030,000
T3Tom Kite70-73-70-67=280−817,500
T3Rik Massengale70-73-67-70=280−817,500
5Hale Irwin70-74-70-68=282−612,500
T6David Graham75-67-73-69=284−410,500
T6Lou Graham75-71-69-69=284−410,500
T8Ben Crenshaw71-69-69-76=285−35,667
T8Raymond Floyd71-72-71-71=285−35,667
T8Hubert Green67-74-72-72=285−35,667
T8Don January69-76-69-71=285−35,667
T8Gene Littler71-72-73-69=285−35,667
T8John Schlee75-73-69-68=285−35,667

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Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+

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