1966 Masters Tournament
Tournament information
DatesApril 7–11, 1966
LocationAugusta, Georgia
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]
Field103 players, 64 after cut
Cut153 (+9)
Winner's share$20,000
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
288 (E), playoff
Location Map
Augusta National is located in the United States
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in the United States
Augusta National is located in Georgia
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in Georgia
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The 1966 Masters Tournament was the 30th Masters Tournament, held April 7–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Jack Nicklaus, age 26, earned his third Green Jacket in an 18-hole Monday playoff and became the first back-to-back champion at the Masters.[2][3] He ended regulation at even-par 288, tied with Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. Nicklaus shot a 70 in the extra round on Monday to defeat Jacobs (72) and Brewer (78).[4] Nicklaus' score the previous year in 1965 was significantly lower at 271 (−17), a record which stood for 32 years.

On Sunday, Brewer shot a 33 (−3) on the front nine and then had eight pars as he came to the 72nd hole with a one-shot lead. After hitting his approach shot onto the green, he three-putted from 75 feet (23 m), missing a 5-foot (1.5 m) putt for par to win.[5] This was the last Masters that two-time champion Byron Nelson played in; he shot 76 and 78 and missed the cut by one stroke. The 36-hole cut at 153 (+9) was the highest to date, exceeded only in 1982.

A close friend of Nicklaus was among four that died in a private plane crash in Tennessee on Wednesday,[6] while en route to Augusta from Columbus, Ohio.[7] Nicklaus learned of the incident late that night and responded with a 68 in the first round,[8] but fell back with a 76 on Friday.

It was the fifth of 18 major titles for Nicklaus, and his only successful defense of a major. Three months later, he completed the first of his three career grand slams at Muirfield in the Open Championship. Later back-to-back winners at Augusta were Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990, both playoffs) and Tiger Woods (2001 and 2002).

Terry Dill won the seventh Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a score of 22.

Brewer rebounded and won the tournament the next year, while Nicklaus' attempt at three consecutive titles ended early with a rare missed cut. Jacobs never won a major; he was also a runner-up in the U.S. Open in 1964 at Congressional.

CBS commentator Jack Whitaker referred to the gallery at the end of the 18-hole Monday playoff as a "mob" and was banned from the next five Masters (1967–1971).[9]

Course

Main article: Augusta National Golf Club
Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 White Pine 400 4 10 Camellia 470 4
2 Woodbine 555 5 11 Dogwood 445 4
3 Flowering Peach 355 4 12 Golden Bell 155 3
4 Palm 220 3 13 Azalea 475 5
5 Magnolia 450 4 14 Chinese Fir 420 4
6 Juniper 190 3 15 Firethorn 520 5
7 Pampas 365 4 16 Redbud 190 3
8 Yellow Jasmine 530 5 17 Nandina 400 4
9 Carolina Cherry 420 4 18 Holly 420 4
Out 3,485 36 In 3,495 36
Source:[1][10][11] Total 6,980 72

^ Holes 1, 2, 4, and 11 were later renamed.

Field

1. Masters champions

Jack Burke Jr. (4,10), Doug Ford, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan (8), Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff (2), Byron Nelson (8), Jack Nicklaus (2,4,8,10), Arnold Palmer (2,3,8,11), Henry Picard, Gary Player (2,3,4,8,9), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead (10), Art Wall Jr.

The following categories only apply to Americans
2. U.S. Open champions (last 10 years)

Tommy Bolt (8), Julius Boros (9,11), Billy Casper (10,11), Gene Littler (8,9,11), Dick Mayer, Ken Venturi (11)

3. The Open champions (last 10 years)

Tony Lema (8,9,11)

4. PGA champions (last 10 years)

Jerry Barber, Dow Finsterwald (8), Jay Hebert, Lionel Hebert, Dave Marr (10,11), Bobby Nichols, Bob Rosburg

5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions (last 10 years)

Deane Beman (6,9,a), William C. Campbell (6,7,a), Charles Coe (a), Richard Davies (a), Bob Murphy (7,a), Harvie Ward (a)

6. Members of the 1965 U.S. Walker Cup team

Don Allen (7,a), Dave Eichelberger (a), Downing Gray (a), John Mark Hopkins (a), Dale Morey (a), Billy Joe Patton (a), Ed Tutwiler (a), Ed Updegraff (a)

7. The first eight finishers and ties in the 1965 U.S. Amateur

Tommy Barnes Jr. (a), Ron Cerrudo (a), Bob Dickson (a), Jimmy Grant (a), Bert Greene (a), Rod Horn (a), Cesar Sanudo (a), James Vickers (a)[12]

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1965 Masters Tournament

Tommy Aaron (10), George Bayer, Frank Beard (9), Terry Dill, Wes Ellis, Al Geiberger (9), Paul Harney, Tommy Jacobs (11), Mason Rudolph (9), Doug Sanders (9), Dan Sikes

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1965 U.S. Open

Gay Brewer, Raymond Floyd, Billy Maxwell, Steve Oppermann, Dudley Wysong

10. Top eight players and ties from 1965 PGA Championship

Jacky Cupit, Gardner Dickinson, Rod Funseth, Bob McCallister, Bo Wininger

11. Members of the U.S. 1965 Ryder Cup team

Don January, Johnny Pott

12. Two players selected for meritorious records on the fall part of the 1965 PGA Tour

Charles Coody, Randy Glover

13. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions

Mike Souchak

14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Bob Goalby

15. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Bunky Henry (a)

16. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1966 PGA Tour

Phil Rodgers, R. H. Sikes

17. Foreign invitations

Peter Alliss, Michael Bonallack (5,a), Peter Butler, Bob Charles (3), Chen Ching-Po, Neil Coles, Bruce Crampton (8), Roberto De Vicenzo, Bruce Devlin (8,9,10), Rodney Foster (a), Jean Garaïalde, Harold Henning, Jimmy Hitchcock, Bernard Hunt, Tomoo Ishii, George Knudson (8), Cobie Legrange, Kel Nagle (3,8,9), Lionel Platts, Luis Silverio (a), Ramón Sota (8), Dave Thomas, George Will

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 7, 1966

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 68 −4
T2 United States Billy Casper 71 −1
United States Charles Coe (a)
United States Don January
United States Mike Souchak
T6 England Peter Butler 72 E
United States Raymond Floyd
United States Randy Glover
United States Jay Hebert
T10 United States Dow Finsterwald 73 +1
United States Lionel Hebert
United States Rod Horn (a)
Canada George Knudson
United States Bob Rosburg
United States R. H. Sikes

Source[8][13][14]

Second round

Friday, April 8, 1966

Place Player Score To par
T1 England Peter Butler 72-71=143 −1
United States Paul Harney 75-68=143
T3 United States Don January 71-73=144 E
United States Jack Nicklaus 68-76=144
United States Arnold Palmer 74-70=144
United States Bob Rosburg 73-71=144
United States Doug Sanders 74-70=144
T8 United States Raymond Floyd 72-73=145 +1
United States Ben Hogan 74-71=145
United States Mike Souchak 71-74=145

Source[15][16]

Third round

Saturday, April 9, 1966

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Tommy Jacobs 75-71-70=216 E
United States Jack Nicklaus 68-76-72=216
3 United States Don January 71-73-73=217 +1
T4 United States Gay Brewer 74-72-72=218 +2
United States Ben Hogan 74-71-73=218
United States Arnold Palmer 74-70-74=218
T7 United States Raymond Floyd 72-73-74=219 +3
United States Paul Harney 75-68-76=219
United States Jay Hebert 72-74-73=219
United States Doug Sanders 74-70-75=219

Source[17]

Final round

Sunday, April 10, 1966

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
T1 United States Gay Brewer 74-72-72-70=288 E Playoff
United States Tommy Jacobs 75-71-70-72=288
United States Jack Nicklaus (c) 68-76-72-72=288
T4 United States Arnold Palmer (c) 74-70-74-72=290 +2 5,700
United States Doug Sanders 74-70-75-71=290
T6 United States Don January 71-73-73-75=292 +4 3,900
Canada George Knudson 73-76-72-71=292
T8 United States Raymond Floyd 72-73-74-74=293 +5 2,500
United States Paul Harney 75-68-76-74=293
T10 United States Billy Casper 71-75-76-72=294 +6 1,770
United States Jay Hebert 72-74-73-75=294
United States Bob Rosburg 73-71-76-74=294

Sources:[18][19][20][21]

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
United States Nicklaus +1 E E +1 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E E E E
United States Jacobs E E E E E E E +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 E E E E
United States Brewer +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 E
United States Palmer +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E E E E +1 E +1 +1 +1 +1 +2
United States Sanders +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +3 +4 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2
United States January +2 +1 E +1 +2 +4 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +4 +3 +3 +4 +4
Canada Knudson +5 +5 +4 +5 +4 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +5 +4 +4 +3 +4 +4 +4
United States Hogan +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +5 +5 +7 +7

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Playoff

Monday, April 11, 1966

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 70 −2 20,000
2 United States Tommy Jacobs 72 E 12,300
3 United States Gay Brewer 78 +6 8,300

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
United States Nicklaus E −1 −1 E E −1 −1 −2 −1 −1 −2 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2
United States Jacobs −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −1 E E +1 +1 +1 E E E E
United States Brewer E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +5 +5 +5 +4 +3 +5 +6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Masters Data". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 7, 1966.
  2. ^ "Another title for Nicklaus". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 12, 1966. p. 3B.
  3. ^ a b MacDonald, Jim (April 12, 1966). "A vision of Mastery". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 22.
  4. ^ Wright, Alfred (April 18, 1966). "Three was a crowd". Sports Illustrated. p. 36.
  5. ^ "Masters fit to be tied: 3 at 288". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. April 11, 1966. p. 1C.
  6. ^ "Elizabethton, Tenn.: Fiery crash". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 7, 1966. p. 11B.
  7. ^ MacDonald, Jim (April 8, 1966). "Death of Nicklaus friend saddens Masters leader". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 16.
  8. ^ a b Speer, Ron (April 8, 1966). "Nicklaus strokes 4-under-par 68 for opening round lead in Masters". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 12.
  9. ^ Rothenberg, Fred (April 12, 1979). "Jack Whitaker's welcome now". Boca Raton News. (Florida). Associated Press. p. 2B.
  10. ^ "Map of Masters: Augusta National Golf Club". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 5, 1966. p. 1D.
  11. ^ "Hole-by-hole analysis of Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 7, 1966. p. 1%.
  12. ^ "Bob Murphy Golf Titlist". Youngstown Vindicator. September 19, 1965. p. D6.
  13. ^ "Masters golf scoreboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 8, 1966. p. 12.
  14. ^ "Grim Nicklaus holds lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 8, 1966. p. 3B.
  15. ^ "Masters scorecard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 9, 1966. p. 8.
  16. ^ "Harney, Butler lead Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 9, 1966. p. 1B.
  17. ^ "Hogan beats Palmer in Masters battle". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 10, 1966. p. 1B.
  18. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  19. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  20. ^ "3 for the money". Toledo Blade. Ohio. Associated Press. April 11, 1966. p. 21.
  21. ^ "Green coat playoff battle under way". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 11, 1966. p. 2B.

External links

1966 Men's major golf championships
Masters Tournaments
PGA Tour on CBS
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