1961 Masters Tournament

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1961 Masters Tournament
Tournament information
DatesApril 6–10, 1961
LocationAugusta, Georgia
33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020Coordinates: 33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)Augusta National Golf Club
Organized byAugusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,980 yards (6,383 m)[1]
Field88 players, 41 after cut
Cut149 (+5)
Prize fund$109,100
Winner's share$20,000
Champion
South Africa Gary Player
280 (−8)
Location Map
Augusta National is located in the United States
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in the United States
← 1960
1962 →

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.[2][3]

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.[4][5] 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.[6] 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.[7][8]

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

(a), (a), (a), Steve Spray (a), (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, , 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

(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

(a), Al Balding, (a), Antonio Cerdá, Bruce Crampton (8), Roberto De Vicenzo, Mário Gonzalez, , Stan Leonard (8), Sebastián Miguel, Ángel Miguel, Kel Nagle (3), Gary Player (3,8), Chi-Chi Rodríguez, , 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 Country Score To par
T1 Arnold Palmer  United States 68 −4
Bob Rosburg  United States
3 Gary Player South Africa South Africa 69 −3
4 Jack Nicklaus (a)  United States 70 −2
T5 Doug Ford  United States 71 −1
Paul Harney  United States
Byron Nelson  United States
Johnny Pott  United States
T9 Tommy Bolt  United States 72 E
Billy Casper  United States
Charles Coe (a)  United States
Jay Hebert  United States
Stan Leonard  Canada
Gene Littler  United States
Ken Venturi  United States

Source[9]

Second round[]

Friday, April 7, 1961

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

Source[10][11][12]

Third round[]

Saturday, April 8, 1961

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

Source:[13]

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.[2][3] 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:[14][15]

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. ^ a b "Rain washes out Masters; finish today". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 10, 1961. p. 2-part 2.
  3. ^ a b 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.

External links[]

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