1961 Masters Tournament

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.

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. 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. Using his putter from off the green, he failed to get the fourth shot close, then missed the 15 ft bogey putt which would have forced a playoff.

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
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)
 * 1. Masters champions
 * Ralph Guldahl (2), Henry Picard (4), and Art Wall Jr. (11) did not play.


 * The following categories only apply to Americans

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
 * 2. U.S. Open champions

Jock Hutchison (4), Denny Shute (4)
 * 3. The Open 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
 * 4. PGA champions

Deane Beman (6,7,a), Dick Chapman (a), Charles Coe (6,a), Jack Nicklaus (6,8,9,a), Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)
 * 5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions

William C. Campbell (a), Bill Hyndman (7,a), Chuck Kocsis (a), Billy Joe Patton (8,a), Bud Taylor (8,a), Ward Wettlaufer (a)
 * 6. Members of the 1959 U.S. Walker Cup team


 * Tommy Aaron had turned professional. Campbell and Kocsis were reserves for the team. Harvie Ward did not play.

John Farquhar (a), Robert W. Gardner (a), Charles Lewis III (a), Steve Spray (a), Claude Wild (a)
 * 7. 1960 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Fred Hawkins, Don January (10), Ted Kroll (9), Mike Souchak (9,11), Ken Venturi
 * 8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1960 Masters Tournament


 * Ed Oliver did not play.

Jerry Barber, George Bayer, Don Cherry (a), Paul Harney, Bob Harris, Dutch Harrison, Johnny Pott
 * 9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1960 U.S. Open

Wes Ellis, Doug Sanders
 * 10. Top eight players and ties from 1960 PGA Championship


 * Jim Ferrier (4) did not play


 * 11. Members of the U.S. 1959 Ryder Cup team

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

Bob Goalby
 * 13. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Bob Cochran (a)
 * 14. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Bill Collins, Mason Rudolph
 * 15. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1961 PGA Tour

Keith Alexander (a), Al Balding, Phil Brownlee (a), Antonio Cerdá, Bruce Crampton (8), Roberto De Vicenzo, Mário Gonzalez, Bill Kerr, Stan Leonard (8), Sebastián Miguel, Ángel Miguel, Kel Nagle (3), Gary Player (3,8), Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Miguel Sala, Peter Thomson (3)
 * 16. Foreign invitations


 * Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

First round
Thursday, April 6, 1961

Source

Second round
Friday, April 7, 1961

Source

Third round
Saturday, April 8, 1961

Source:

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. 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
Sources:

Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
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