1979 Masters Tournament
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | April 12–15, 1979 |
Location | Augusta, Georgia |
Course(s) | Augusta National Golf Club |
Organized by | Augusta National Golf Club |
Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Statistics | |
Par | 72 |
Length | 7,040 yards (6,437 m)[1] |
Field | 72 players, 45 after cut |
Cut | 145 (+1) |
Winner's share | $50,000 |
Champion | |
Fuzzy Zoeller | |
280 (−8), playoff | |
«1978 1980» |
The 1979 Masters Tournament was the 43rd Masters Tournament, held April 12–15 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Fuzzy Zoeller won his only Masters, the first of his two major titles, with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff with Ed Sneed and Tom Watson.[2] Jack Nicklaus climbed up the leaderboard on Sunday with a 69 (−3), but bogeyed 17 to finish a stroke out of the playoff; Tom Kite had a double bogey at 16 for an even par 72 in the final round to finish fifth, three strokes back.[3]
Second and third round leader Sneed seemed to have a commanding three-shot lead with only three holes to go, but bogeyed the final three holes to card a final round 76 (+4) and fell into the playoff. It was the debut of the sudden-death format at Augusta, adopted by the Masters in 1976.[4] Its last playoff was nine years earlier in 1970, then a full 18-hole round on Monday.
The sudden-death playoff began on the tenth hole, a downhill par-4, where all three players missed birdie putts and parred. On the second hole, the par-4 11th, Sneed failed to hole a bunker shot and Watson a birdie putt, and then Zoeller made his from 6 feet (2 m) to win.[5]
Zoeller, age 27, was the first to win the Masters in his initial attempt since Gene Sarazen in 1935, the second edition of the tournament.[2] In his fifth season on tour, it was Zoeller's second win, the first came less than three months earlier at the Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational. He won his other major five years later at the 1984 U.S. Open, also in a playoff.
The second round was suspended for two hours Friday afternoon due to heavy rain and tornado warnings. Due to the delay, not all golfers were able to complete their second rounds on Friday and the cut line was not determined until these rounds were completed on Saturday morning. Normally scheduled to conclude on the second Sunday of April, this Masters was held a week later, as was 1984.
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Watson | United States | 1977 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 280 | −8 | T2 |
Jack Nicklaus | United States | 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 | 69 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 281 | −7 | 4 |
Raymond Floyd | United States | 1976 | 70 | 68 | 73 | 77 | 288 | E | T17 |
Gary Player | South Africa | 1961, 1974, 1978 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 71 | 288 | E | T17 |
Tommy Aaron | United States | 1973 | 72 | 73 | 76 | 70 | 291 | +3 | T28 |
Charles Coody | United States | 1971 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 76 | 293 | +5 | T34 |
Billy Casper | United States | 1970 | 69 | 75 | 80 | 75 | 299 | +11 | 43 |
Missed the cut
Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arnold Palmer | United States | 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 | 74 | 72 | 146 | +2 |
Sam Snead | United States | 1949, 1952, 1954 | 74 | 74 | 148 | +4 |
Art Wall, Jr. | United States | 1959 | 74 | 75 | 149 | +5 |
Gay Brewer | United States | 1967 | 75 | 75 | 150 | +6 |
Bob Goalby | United States | 1968 | 79 | 81 | 160 | +16 |
Doug Ford | United States | 1957 | 77 | WD |
Source:[6]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, April 12, 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bruce Lietzke | United States | 67 | −5 |
T2 | Tom Watson | United States | 68 | −4 |
Joe Inman | United States | |||
Leonard Thompson | United States | |||
Ed Sneed | United States | |||
T6 | Craig Stadler | United States | 69 | −3 |
Jack Nicklaus | United States | |||
Lou Graham | United States | |||
Billy Casper | United States | |||
Andy Bean | United States |
Second round
Friday, April 13, 1979
Saturday, April 14, 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Ed Sneed | United States | 68-67=135 | −9 |
Craig Stadler | United States | 69-66=135 | ||
T3 | Raymond Floyd | United States | 70-68=138 | −6 |
Leonard Thompson | United States | 68-70=138 | ||
T5 | Miller Barber | United States | 75-64=139 | −5 |
Tom Watson | United States | 68-71=139 | ||
Joe Inman | United States | 68-71=139 | ||
T8 | Seve Ballesteros | Spain | 72-68=140 | −4 |
Jack Nicklaus | United States | 69-71=140 | ||
Lou Graham | United States | 69-71=140 | ||
Lindy Miller | United States | 73-67=140 |
Third round
Saturday, April 14, 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ed Sneed | United States | 68-67-69=204 | −12 |
T2 | Tom Watson | United States | 68-71-70=209 | −7 |
Craig Stadler | United States | 69-66-74=209 | ||
T4 | Bruce Lietzke | United States | 67-75-68=210 | −6 |
Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | 70-71-69=210 | ||
T6 | Tom Kite | United States | 71-72-68=211 | −5 |
Jack Newton | Australia | 70-72-69=211 | ||
Miller Barber | United States | 75-64-72=211 | ||
Raymond Floyd | United States | 70-68-73=211 | ||
Leonard Thompson | United States | 68-70-73=211 |
Final round
Sunday, April 15, 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | 70-71-69-70=280 | −8 | Playoff |
Tom Watson | United States | 68-71-70-71=280 | |||
Ed Sneed | United States | 68-67-69-76=280 | |||
4 | Jack Nicklaus | United States | 69-71-72-69=281 | −7 | 15,000 |
5 | Tom Kite | United States | 71-72-68-72=283 | −5 | 13,000 |
6 | Bruce Lietzke | United States | 67-75-68-74=284 | −4 | 11,500 |
T7 | Craig Stadler | United States | 69-66-74-76=285 | −3 | 9,000 |
Leonard Thompson | United States | 68-70-73-74=285 | |||
Lanny Wadkins | United States | 73-69-70-73=285 | |||
T10 | Hubert Green | United States | 74-69-72-71=286 | −2 | 6,500 |
Gene Littler | United States | 74-71-69-72=286 |
Scorecard
Final round
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[2]
Playoff
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | 4-3 | −1 | 50,000 |
T2 | Ed Sneed | United States | 4-x | 30,000 | |
Tom Watson | United States | 4-4 |
- Sudden-death playoff began on hole #10 and ended at hole #11, when Zoeller birdied.[2]
References
- 1 2 "Masters scores (final)". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. April 16, 1979. p. 16.
- 1 2 3 4 "Sneed's collapse gives Zoeller win". Eugene Register-Guard. wire services. April 16, 1979. p. 1B.
- ↑ "Zoeller is surprise winner following Masters playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. April 16, 1979. p. 16.
- ↑ "Masters playoff format is changed". CNN.com. April 7, 2004. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ↑ Jenkins, Dan (April 23, 1979). "Fuzzy came in loud and clear". Sports Illustrated: 30. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
- 1 2 "1979 Masters". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
External links
- Masters.com – Past winners and results
- About.com - 1979 Masters
- Augusta.com – 1979 Masters leaderboard and scorecards
Coordinates: 33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W