1970 Masters Tournament
Tournament information
DatesApril 9–13, 1970
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]
Field83 players, 48 after cut[2]
Cut150 (+6)[1]
Winner's share$25,000
Champion
United States Billy Casper
279 (−9), 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
← 1969
1971 →

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 (+6).

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.[3] To get into the playoff, Casper scored a final round of 71 (−1), while Littler shot a 70 to tie at 279 (−9).[4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

Field

1. Masters champions

George Archer (8,9), Gay Brewer, Jack Burke Jr. (8), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Ralph Guldahl, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus (2,3,8,11), Arnold Palmer (9), Henry Picard, Gary Player (2.3,10), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr.

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

Billy Casper (8,11), Orville Moody (9,10)

3. The Open champions (last five years)
4. PGA champions (last five years)

Julius Boros (9), Raymond Floyd (9,10,11), Al Geiberger (8,9), Don January (8), Dave Marr (9)

5. The first eight finishers in the 1969 U.S. Amateur

Charles Coe (a), Vinny Giles (7,a), John Farquhar (a), Steve Melnyk (6,7,a), Allen Miller (7,a), Ed Updegraff (7,a), Tom Watson (a), Bob Zender (a)[8][9]

6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
7. Members of the 1969 U.S. Walker Cup team

John Bohmann (a), Bill Hyndman (a), Joe Inman (a), Dick Siderowf (a), Lanny Wadkins (a)

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1969 Masters Tournament

Tommy Aaron (11), Miller Barber (9,10,11), Frank Beard (11), Deane Beman (9), Charles Coody (9,10), Dale Douglass (9,11), Lionel Hebert, Dave Hill (9,11), Gene Littler (11), Mason Rudolph, Dan Sikes (11), 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.[10]

Bob Lunn

13. Leading six players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in PGA Tour events since the previous Masters[10]

Homero Blancas, Larry Hinson, Grier Jones, Dick Lotz, Chi-Chi Rodríguez, R. H. Sikes

14. Foreign invitations

Maurice Bembridge, Roberto Bernardini, Michael Bonallack (6,a), Peter Butler, Bob Charles, Bruce Crampton (8,9), Roberto De Vicenzo (3), Bruce Devlin (8,9), Bernard Gallacher, Harold Henning (8), Hsieh Yung-yo, Tony Jacklin (3), George Knudson (8), Takaaki Kono (8), Sukree Onsham

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 8, 1970

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Tommy Aaron 68 −4
T2 United States Gene Littler 69 −3
United States Bert Yancey
T4 United States Charles Coody 70 −2
United States Bob Lunn
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez
United States Dan Sikes
United States R. H. Sikes
T9 United States Frank Beard 71 −1
United States Jack Nicklaus

Source:[11]

Second round

Friday, April 10, 1970

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Gene Littler 69-70=139 −5
United States Bert Yancey 69-70=139
T3 United States Billy Casper 72-68=140 −4
United States Bob Lunn 70-70=140
T5 United States Tommy Aaron 68-74=142 −2
South Africa Gary Player 74-68=142
T7 United States Dave Hill 73-70=143 −1
Japan Takaaki Kono 75-68=143
T9 United States Charles Coody 70-74=144 E
United States Larry Hinson 72-72=144
United States Dave Stockton 72-72=144

Source:[12]

Third round

Saturday, April 11, 1970

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Billy Casper 72-68-68=208 −8
2 United States Gene Littler 69-70-70=209 −7
3 South Africa Gary Player 74-68-68=210 −6
T4 United States Tommy Aaron 68-74-69=211 −5
United States Charles Coody 70-74-67=211
United States Bert Yancey 69-70-72=211
T7 United States Dave Hill 73-70-70=213 −3
United States Dave Stockton 72-72-69=213
9 Japan Takaaki Kono 75-68-71=214 −2
T10 United States Frank Beard 71-76-68=215 −1
United States Larry Hinson 72-72-71=215
United States Bob Lunn 70-70-75=215
United States Jack Nicklaus 71-75-69=215

Source:[13]

Final round

Sunday, April 12, 1970

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 Billy Casper 72-68-68-71=279 −9 Playoff
United States Gene Littler 69-70-70-70=279
3 South Africa Gary Player (c) 74-68-68-70=280 −8 14,000
4 United States Bert Yancey 69-70-72-70=281 −7 10,000
T5 United States Tommy Aaron 68-74-69-72=283 −5 6,667
United States Dave Hill 73-70-70-70=283
United States Dave Stockton 72-72-69-70=283
8 United States Jack Nicklaus (c) 71-75-69-69=284 −4 4,500
9 United States Frank Beard 71-76-68-70=285 −3 4,000
T10 United States Bob Lunn 70-70-75-72=287 −1 3,500
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez 70-76-73-68=287

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
United States Casper −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9 −7 −8 −8 −7 −7 −8 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9
United States Littler −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −9 −8 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9
South Africa Player −6 −6 −6 −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −8 −9 −8 −8 −9 −9 −8
United States 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 Score To par Money ($)
1 United States Billy Casper 69 −3 25,000
2 United States Gene Littler 74 +2 17,500

Source:[16]

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 Casper −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −2 −3 −2 −2 −1 −1 −2 −3 −3
United States Littler E +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +4 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +3 +2

Source:[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Scoreboard: Masters (second round)". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. 2B.
  2. ^ "Masters scores (second round)". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. 10.
  3. ^ "Masters playoff format is changed". CNN.com. April 7, 2004. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Dan (April 20, 1970). "All yours, Billy boy". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  5. ^ "Aaron leads first round". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. April 10, 1970. p. C1.
  6. ^ "Yancey, Littler deadlock". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. B2.
  7. ^ Schaap, Dick (1970). The Masters: The Winning of a Golf Classic. Random House.
  8. ^ "Melnyk shoots a 70, Wins Amateur Title". Milwaukee Sentinel. August 31, 1969. p. 1, part 2.
  9. ^ "Amateur". Milwaukee Sentinel. August 31, 1969. p. 4, part 2.
  10. ^ a b "Masters still without black competitors". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 8, 1970. p. 3E.
  11. ^ "Tommy Aaron's 68 tops Masters field". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). April 10, 1970. p. 18.
  12. ^ "Yancey, Littler pace Masters with 139s". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 11, 1970. p. 1B.
  13. ^ "Golf: Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 12, 1970. p. 6B.
  14. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  16. ^ "Golf buddies Littler and Casper play off for Masters title today". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. April 13, 1970. p. 13.
  17. ^ "Casper Surges Past Littler for Masters Title". Tri-City Herald. Associated Press. April 14, 1970. p. 10. Retrieved June 28, 2012.

External links

1970 Men's major golf championships
Masters Tournaments
PGA Tour on CBS
Categories