1973 Masters Tournament

1973 Masters Tournament
Front cover of the 1973 Masters Guide
Tournament information
DatesApril 5–9, 1973
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]
Field82 players, 57 after cut
Cut151 (+7)
Winner's share$30,000
Champion
United States Tommy Aaron
283 (−5)
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
← 1972
1974 →

The 1973 Masters Tournament was the 37th Masters Tournament, held April 5–9 at the Augusta National Golf Club. Due to weather delays, the final round was played on Monday for the first time since 1961.[2]

Tommy Aaron, age 36, won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up J. C. Snead.[2][3] Before this win at Augusta, Aaron was best known as the player who kept Roberto De Vicenzo's incorrect scorecard at the Masters five years earlier in 1968. Ironically, Aaron's final round playing partner in 1973, Johnny Miller, recorded a higher score when keeping Aaron's card, and Aaron caught the mistake.[4] This was his third and last victory on the PGA Tour, and after this win, Aaron's best result in a major was a tie for 28th at the Masters in 1979.

Gary Player played in 52 Masters from 1957 through 2009;[5] and missed only this one, to recover from leg and abdominal surgery.[6][7][8] He returned in 1974 to win the second of his three green jackets.

Gay Brewer won the fourteenth Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a seven-under 20.[9] At the previous Masters, the 1967 champion was hospitalized in Augusta for ulcers on Wednesday night and missed the tournament.[10]

This Masters was the last as competitors for two former champions: Gene Sarazen (1935) and Ralph Guldahl (1939).

Field

1. Masters champions

George Archer (8), Gay Brewer (10,11), Billy Casper (8,9,10,12), Charles Coody (8,12), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby (8), Ralph Guldahl, Jack Nicklaus (2,3,4,8,9,11,12), Arnold Palmer (9,11,12), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead (10), Art Wall Jr.

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

Orville Moody (9), Lee Trevino (3,9,11,12)

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

Julius Boros, Raymond Floyd (10), Dave Stockton (12)

5. The first eight finishers in the 1972 U.S. Amateur

Doug Ballenger (a), Ben Crenshaw (7,8,a), Vinny Giles (6,7,a), Charles Harrison (a), Mike Killian (a), Marty West (7,a)

6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
  • Steve Melnyk forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
7. Members of the 1972 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team
8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1972 Masters Tournament

Homero Blancas (9), Gardner Dickinson (12), Al Geiberger, Hubert Green, Paul Harney, Jerry Heard (10,11), Jim Jamieson (10,11), Jerry McGee, Steve Melnyk, Bobby Mitchell (11), Lanny Wadkins (11), Tom Weiskopf (9), Bert Yancey (9,11)

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1972 U.S. Open

Don January, Don Massengale, Johnny Miller (11), Bobby Nichols, Chi-Chi Rodríguez (11), Cesar Sanudo, Jim Simons, Kermit Zarley (11)

10. Top eight players and ties from 1972 PGA Championship

Tommy Aaron, Phil Rodgers, Doug Sanders (11)

11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters

Buddy Allin, Deane Beman, Jim Colbert, Bob Dickson, Rod Funseth, Lou Graham, Dave Hill, Mike Hill, Babe Hiskey, Grier Jones, Bob Lunn, John Schlee, J. C. Snead (12), DeWitt Weaver

12. Members of the U.S. 1971 Ryder Cup team

Miller Barber, Frank Beard, Gene Littler, Mason Rudolph

13. Foreign invitations

Brian Barnes, Bob Charles (8), Gary Cowan (6,a), Bruce Crampton (8,9,11), Roberto De Vicenzo (8), Bruce Devlin (8,11), David Graham (11), Han Chang-sang, Trevor Homer (6,a), Guy Hunt, Tony Jacklin (2,3), George Knudson (11), Takaaki Kono (8), Lu Liang-Huan, Peter Oosterhuis, Masashi Ozaki, Bob Shaw (11)

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

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 5, 1973

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Tommy Aaron 68 −4
T2 United States Jack Nicklaus 69 −3
Japan Masashi Ozaki
T4 United States Bob Dickson 70 −2
United States J. C. Snead
T6 United States Grier Jones 71 −1
United States Phil Rodgers
T8 Australia David Graham 72 E
United States Hubert Green
United States Steve Melnyk
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez
United States Mason Rudolph
Mexico Cesar Sanudo
United States Dave Stockton

Source[12]

Second round

Friday, April 6, 1973

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Tommy Aaron 68-73=141 −3
United States Gay Brewer 75-66=141
United States Bob Dickson 70-71=141
United States J. C. Snead 70-71=141
5 United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez 72-70=142 −2
T6 United States Bob Goalby 73-70=143 −1
United States Grier Jones 71-72=143
England Peter Oosterhuis 73-70=143
Japan Masashi Ozaki 69-74=143
T10 United States Bob Charles 74-70=144 E
United States Gardner Dickinson 74-70=144
United States Jim Jamieson 73-71=144
United States Johnny Miller 75-69=144
United States Mason Rudolph 72-72=144

Source[13]

Third round

Sunday, April 8, 1973

Heavy rain on Saturday morning limited play to the first several pairs when the course was deemed unplayable. The third round was restarted in the late morning on Sunday from split tees.[14]

Place Player Score To par
1 England Peter Oosterhuis 73-70-68=211 −5
T2 United States Bob Goalby 73-70-71=214 −2
United States Jim Jamieson 73-71-70=214
United States J. C. Snead 70-71-73=214
T5 United States Tommy Aaron 68-73-74=215 −1
United States Gay Brewer 75-66-74=215
United States Johnny Miller 75-69-71=215
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez 72-70-73=215
T9 United States Gardner Dickinson 74-70-72=216 E
Japan Masashi Ozaki 69-74-73=216

Source[15][16]

Final round

Monday, April 9, 1973

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1 United States Tommy Aaron 68-73-74-68=283 −5 30,000
2 United States J. C. Snead 70-71-73-70=284 −4 22,500
T3 United States Jim Jamieson 73-71-70-71=285 −3 12,500
United States Jack Nicklaus (c) 69-77-73-66=285
England Peter Oosterhuis 73-70-68-74=285
T6 United States Bob Goalby (c) 73-70-71-74=288 E 6,250
United States Johnny Miller 75-69-71-73=288
T8 Australia Bruce Devlin 73-72-72-72=289 +1 4,250
Japan Masashi Ozaki 69-74-73-73=289
T10 United States Gay Brewer (c) 75-66-74-76=291 +3 3,425
United States Gardner Dickinson 74-70-72-75=291
United States Don January 75-71-75-70=291
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez 72-70-73-76=291

Sources:[17][18][19]

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 Aaron −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −4 −3 −3 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5
United States Snead −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4
United States Jamieson −3 −4 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3
United States Nicklaus +2 +1 +1 +2 +1 E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −1 −2 −2 −2 −3
England Oosterhuis −5 −5 −6 −5 −5 −5 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −3 −4 −4 −3 −3 −3 −3
United States Goalby −2 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 E E +1 +1 +1 +1 E
United States Miller −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 E

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

References

  1. ^ Grimsley, Will (April 6, 1973). "Aaron's 68 paces Masters". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 22.
  2. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (April 16, 1973). "Jack fell down and lost his crown". Sports Illustrated. p. 24.
  3. ^ Gundelfinger, Phil (April 10, 1973). "Georgian Aaron wins Masters with a 283". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 18.
  4. ^ "Aaron can count strokes, money". Ellensburg Daily Record. (Washington). UPI. April 10, 1973. p. 6.
  5. ^ "Who Played the Most Masters Tournaments?". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Major surgery hinders Player from starting tour". Spartanburg Herald. (South Carolina). Associated Press. February 23, 1973. p. B4.
  7. ^ a b "Gary Player reached Masters on pass of hat". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 5, 1973. p. 20.
  8. ^ "The Masters: Gary Player's 50th appearance". Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  9. ^ "Brewer takes Par Three test". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 5, 1973. p. 19.
  10. ^ "Golfer Brewer: ulcers, hernia". Montreal Gazette. UPI. April 11, 1972. p. 16.
  11. ^ Robinson, Dave (April 3, 1973). "Robertson Loses Amateur Status". The Stanford Daily.
  12. ^ "Aaron gets lucky, leads Masters by 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. April 6, 1973. p. 1, part 2.
  13. ^ "Brewer charges, Nicklaus falters". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 7, 1973. p. 1, part 2.
  14. ^ "Rain postpones Masters classic". Sunday Star-News. (Wilmington, North Carolina). UPI. April 8, 1973. p. 1C.
  15. ^ "Englishman takes Masters lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 9, 1973. p. 1, part 2.
  16. ^ "Oosterhuis has three stroke Masters lead". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). UPI. April 9, 1973. p. 1C.
  17. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  18. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  19. ^ "Masters cash box". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 10, 1973. p. 20.