1963 Masters Tournament

The 1963 Masters Tournament was the 27th Masters Tournament, held April 4–7 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. 84 players entered the tournament and 50 made the cut at eight-over-par (152).

Jack Nicklaus, 23, won the first of his record six Green Jackets with a three-foot (0.9 m) par putt on the final hole to finish one stroke ahead of runner-up Tony Lema. Nicklaus shot a 66 (−6) in the second round, which was key in his victory. It was the second of his record 18 major titles; his third came three months later at the PGA Championship in July.

Gene Sarazen, the 1935 champion, made the cut at Augusta for the final time at age 61 and finished 49th.

It was the last Masters for Horton Smith, winner of the inaugural event in 1934 and again in 1936. He was the only competitor to have participated in every edition of the tournament, and had a lung removed in 1957. Battling Hodgkin's Disease, Smith was partly aided by a golf cart and shot 91 and 86; he died six months later in Detroit at age 55, shortly after attending the Ryder Cup matches in Atlanta.

George Bayer won the Par 3 contest with a score of 23.

Field
Jack Burke Jr. (4), Jimmy Demaret (8), Doug Ford (4,9,10,11), Claude Harmon, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff (2), Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer (2,3,8,9,11), Henry Picard, Gary Player (3,4,9,10), Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith, Sam Snead (8), Art Wall Jr. (9,11), Craig Wood
 * 1. Masters champions
 * Ralph Guldahl and Ben Hogan (2,3) did not play.


 * The following categories only apply to Americans

Tommy Bolt, Billy Casper (8,11), Jack Fleck (8,10), Ed Furgol, Gene Littler (8,9,11), Dick Mayer, Jack Nicklaus (8,9,10)
 * 2. U.S. Open champions (last 10 years)


 * 3. The Open champions (last 10 years)

Jerry Barber (8,11), Walter Burkemo, Dow Finsterwald (8,11), Chick Harbert, Jay Hebert (11), Lionel Hebert (8), Bob Rosburg (9)
 * 4. PGA champions (last 10 years)

Charles Coe (6,8,a), Richard Davies (6,a), Labron Harris Jr. (6,7,a)
 * 5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions (last 10 years)


 * Deane Beman (6,9) and Harvie Ward did not play. Other champions forfeited their exemptions by turning professional.

Robert W. Gardner (a), Downing Gray (7,a), Billy Joe Patton (7,a), R. H. Sikes (a), Charlie Smith (a), Ed Updegraff (a)
 * 6. Selections for the 1963 U.S. Walker Cup team

Homero Blancas (a), Charles Coody (a), Paul Desjardins (a), Jim Gabrielsen (a), Bill Newcomb (a)
 * 7. 1962 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Julius Boros, Gay Brewer (9), Jacky Cupit, Gardner Dickinson, Paul Harney (10), Don January, Billy Maxwell (9), Johnny Pott, Mike Souchak (9,11), Ken Venturi
 * 8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1962 Masters Tournament

Bob Goalby (9), Tommy Jacobs, Bobby Nichols (10), Phil Rodgers, Doug Sanders
 * 9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1962 U.S. Open

George Bayer, Dave Ragan
 * 10. Top eight players and ties from 1962 PGA Championship

Bill Collins
 * 11. Members of the U.S. 1961 Ryder Cup team

Tony Lema, Jerry Pittman
 * 12. Two players selected for meritorious records on the fall part of the 1962 PGA Tour

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

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

Bill Hyndman (a)
 * 15. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Mason Rudolph, Dan Sikes
 * 16. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1963 PGA Tour

Al Balding (8), David Blair (a), Antonio Cerdá, Bob Charles, Chen Ching-Po, Bruce Crampton, Gerard de Wit, Juan Antonio Estrada (a), Jorge Ledesma (a), Stan Leonard, Ángel Miguel, Kel Nagle, Koichi Ono, Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Miguel Sala, Alvie Thompson
 * 17. Foreign invitations


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

First round
Thursday, April 4, 1963 Source:

Second round
Friday, April 5, 1963 Source:

Third round
Saturday, April 6, 1963 Source:

Final round
Sunday, April 7, 1963

Final leaderboard
Sources:

Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par