1965 Masters Tournament


The 1965 Masters Tournament was the 29th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Jack Nicklaus, age 25, won the second of his six Masters titles with a score of 271, at the time a tournament record, three strokes better than Ben Hogan's 274 in 1953. It was equaled in 1976 by Raymond Floyd and surpassed in 1997 by Tiger Woods' 270. Nicklaus' winning margin of nine strokes also stood until 1997, when Woods was victorious by twelve strokes to win his first green jacket. It was the fourth of a record 18 major titles won by Nicklaus in his career.
The "Big Three" were tied for the lead after 36 holes at 138, but Nicklaus shot a 64 on Saturday to post a 202, a gain of five shots on Player and eight on Palmer. Nicklaus' round tied the course record set by Lloyd Mangrum in the first round in 1940; it was lowered to 63 by Nick Price in the third round in 1986.
Nicklaus totally over-powered the Augusta National course, hitting short-irons into most of the par four holes and mid-irons into many of the par five holes, especially during his record-tying third round 64. After the tournament was over, when asked about Nicklaus' performance that week Bobby Jones said, "He plays a game with which I am not familiar."
Byron Nelson, age 53, tied for fifteenth place, the last cut made at Augusta by the two-time champion.
Art Wall, Jr. won the sixth Par 3 contest with a score of 20.

Field

;1. Masters champions
Jack Burke Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Doug Ford, Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Henry Picard, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr.
;The following categories only apply to Americans
;2. U.S. Open champions
Tommy Bolt, Julius Boros, Billy Casper, Jack Fleck, Gene Littler, Dick Mayer, Ken Venturi
;3. The Open champions
Tony Lema
;4. PGA champions
Jerry Barber, Dow Finsterwald, Jay Hebert, Lionel Hebert, Bobby Nichols, Bob Rosburg
;5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
Deane Beman, William C. Campbell, Charles Coe, Richard Davies
;6. Members of the 1963 U.S. Walker Cup team
Robert W. Gardner, Downing Gray, Billy Joe Patton, Charlie Smith, Ed Updegraff
;7. 1964 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists
Don Allen, Dave Eichelberger, Gene Ferrell, John Mark Hopkins, Dale Morey, Ed Tutwiler
;8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1964 Masters Tournament
Jim Ferrier, Al Geiberger, Paul Harney, Don January, Dave Marr, Billy Maxwell, Johnny Pott, Mason Rudolph, Dan Sikes, Mike Souchak, Bo Wininger
;9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1964 U.S. Open
George Bayer, Gay Brewer, Bill Collins, Terry Dill, Ray Floyd, Ed Furgol, Tommy Jacobs
;10. Top eight players and ties from 1964 PGA Championship
Tom Nieporte
;11. Members of the U.S. 1963 Ryder Cup team
Bob Goalby, Dave Ragan
;12. Two players selected for meritorious records on the fall part of the 1964 PGA Tour
Frank Beard, Jack McGowan
;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
Tommy Aaron
;15. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions
Bill Hyndman
;16. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1965 PGA Tour
Doug Sanders, Bert Weaver
;17. Foreign invitations
Peter Butler, Bob Charles, Chen Ching-Po, Gary Cowan, Bruce Crampton, Bruce Devlin, Harold Henning, Bernard Hunt, Geoffrey Hunt, Tomoo Ishii, George Knudson, Cobie Legrange, Stan Leonard, Kel Nagle, Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Leopoldo Ruiz, Ramón Sota, Nick Weslock

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 8, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Gary Player65−7
T2Tommy Aaron67−5
T2Tony Lema67−5
T2Jack Nicklaus67−5
T2Dan Sikes67−5
6Frank Beard68−4
T7George Bayer69−3
T7Tommy Bolt69−3
T7Wes Ellis69−3
T7Raymond Floyd69−3
T7Doug Sanders69−3

Source:

Second round

Friday, April 9, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jack Nicklaus67-71=138−6
T1Arnold Palmer70-68=138−6
T1Gary Player65-73=138−6
4Dan Sikes67-72=139−5
5Tony Lema67-73=140−4
T6Tommy Aaron67-74=141−3
T6Doug Sanders69-72=141−3
8Bo Wininger70-72=142−2
9George Bayer69-74=143−1
T10Billy Casper72-72=144E
T10Bruce Crampton72-72=144E
T10Byron Nelson70-74=144E
T10Bobby Nichols73-71=144E
T10Tom Nieporte71-73=144E
T10Ramón Sota71-73=144E

Source:

Third round

Saturday, April 10, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jack Nicklaus67-71-64=202−14
2Gary Player65-73-69=207−9
T3Arnold Palmer70-68-72=210−6
T3Dan Sikes67-72-71=210−6
5Mason Rudolph70-75-66=211−5
T6Tommy Aaron67-74-71=212−4
T6Gene Littler71-74-67=212−4
T8George Knudson72-73-69=214−2
T8Ramón Sota71-73-70=214−2
T10Billy Casper72-72-71=215−1
T10Doug Sanders69-72-74=215−1

Source:

Scorecard

Third round, ties course record 31-33=64
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par454343454443545344
NicklausE−1−1−2−2−3−4−5−5−5−5−5−6−6−7−8−8−8

Final round

Sunday, April 11, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Jack Nicklaus67-71-64-69=271−1720,000
T2Arnold Palmer70-68-72-70=280−810,200
T2Gary Player65-73-69-73=280−810,200
4Mason Rudolph70-75-66-72=283−56,200
5Dan Sikes67-72-71-75=285−35,000
T6Gene Littler71-74-67-74=286−23,800
T6Ramón Sota71-73-70-72=286−23,800
T8Frank Beard68-77-72-70=287−12,400
T8Tommy Bolt69-78-69-71=287−12,400
10George Knudson72-73-69-74=288E1,800

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
BirdieBogeyDouble bogey