1997 Masters Tournament

The 1997 Masters Tournament was the 61st Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Tiger Woods won his first major championship, twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite. The margin of victory is, as of 2024, still the largest in the tournament's history. The four-day score of 270 (−18) was also a tournament record until 2020 when it was beaten by Dustin Johnson. Woods also became both the youngest (21) and the first non-white player to win at Augusta.

Woods struggled on his first nine holes of the first round, turning at 4-over-par 40. Making four birdies and an eagle gave him a 6-under-par 30 on the back nine for a 70, three shots behind first-round leader John Huston.

In the second and third rounds, Woods scored the best rounds of each day (66-65) to open up a commanding nine-shot lead. A final-round 69 gave Woods a then tournament record 270 (−18), bettering the previous record of 271 set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and matched by Raymond Floyd in 1976.

Woods' victory set television ratings records for golf; the final round broadcast on Sunday was seen by an estimated 44 million viewers in the United States.

Field
Tommy Aaron, Seve Ballesteros, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Fred Couples (9,13), Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo (3,9,10,12,13), Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize (9,11), Jack Nicklaus, José María Olazábal, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson (10,12,13), Ian Woosnam, Fuzzy Zoeller
 * 1. Masters champions
 * George Archer, Jack Burke Jr., Bob Goalby, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, and Art Wall Jr. did not play.

Ernie Els (9,10,12,13), Lee Janzen (9,10,11), Steve Jones (10,12,13), Tom Kite, Corey Pavin (9,12,13)
 * 2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)

Tom Lehman (9,10,12,13), Greg Norman (9,10,13), Nick Price (4,9,11)
 * 3. The Open champions (last five years)
 * John Daly did not play.

Paul Azinger (9), Mark Brooks (10,11,12,13), Steve Elkington (11)
 * 4. PGA champions (last five years)

Steve Scott (a)
 * 5. U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up


 * Tiger Woods forfeited his invitation by turning professional, but qualified via categories 12 & 13.

Warren Bladon (a)
 * 6. The Amateur champion

Tim Hogarth (a)
 * 7. U.S. Amateur Public Links champion

Spider Miller (a)
 * 8. U.S. Mid-Amateur champion

Mark Calcavecchia (13), David Duval (13), David Frost, Scott Hoch (10,12,13), John Huston, Davis Love III (10,13), Jeff Maggert (13), Scott McCarron, Phil Mickelson (11,12,13), Frank Nobilo (10,11), Mark O'Meara (10,12,13), Loren Roberts (12,13), Bob Tway, Duffy Waldorf (13)
 * 9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1996 Masters

David Berganio Jr., Stewart Cink, John Cook (12,13), Dan Forsman, Jim Furyk (13), Ken Green, Colin Montgomerie, John Morse, Vijay Singh (11,13), Sam Torrance
 * 10. Top 16 players and ties from the 1996 U.S. Open

Per-Ulrik Johansson, Justin Leonard (12,13), Jesper Parnevik, Kenny Perry (13), Tommy Tolles (13)
 * 11. Top eight players and ties from 1996 PGA Championship

Stuart Appleby, Guy Boros, Michael Bradley (13), Brad Faxon (13), Ed Fiori, Fred Funk (13), Dudley Hart, David Ogrin, Clarence Rose, Jeff Sluman (13), Paul Stankowski, Steve Stricker (13), D. A. Weibring, Willie Wood, Tiger Woods (13)
 * 12. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters


 * 13. Top 30 players from the 1996 PGA Tour money list

Robert Allenby, Yoshinori Kaneko, Mark McNulty, Masashi Ozaki, Costantino Rocca, Lee Westwood
 * 14. Special foreign invitation

First round
Thursday, April 10, 1997

John Huston shot 67 (−5) to lead by one stroke over Paul Stankowski. Tiger Woods shot a 40 (+4) on the first nine, but came back into the clubhouse on the back nine with a score of 30 (−6) for a 70 (−2).

Scorecard
Source:

Second round
Friday, April 11, 1997

Woods started the round three strokes back, but a 66 gave him his first lead in a professional major championship, three shots ahead of Colin Montgomerie from Scotland.

Amateurs: Bladon (+7), Scott (+13), Hogarth (+14), Miller (+19)

Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Source:

Third round
Saturday, April 12, 1997

Woods shot a 65 in the third round for 201 (−15) and his lead increased to nine shots; the closest competitor was Costantino Rocca from Italy. Montgomerie's 74 dropped him into a tie for sixth.

Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Source:

Final round
Sunday, April 13, 1997

Summary
Woods won his first major championship, finishing 12 strokes ahead runner-up Tom Kite. It was the largest victory margin in Masters history, passing Nicklaus' 9-shot winning margin in 1965, and tied for the second largest victory margin in any major championship, only one stroke behind Old Tom Morris' 13-shot winning margin set at the 1862 Open Championship at Prestwick (a mark Woods later surpassed at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach when he won by 15 shots). Rocca and Stankowski fell into a tie for fifth.

Final leaderboard
Sources:

Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
 * {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%;

Source:
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 * Birdie
 * style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10|
 * Bogey
 * style="background: Green;" width=10|
 * Double bogey
 * style="background: Olive;" width=10|
 * Triple bogey+
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Quotes

 * "There it is – a win for the ages!" – Jim Nantz's (CBS Sports) call as Woods sunk his final putt on the 18th hole to win the tournament