1978 Masters Tournament


The 1978 Masters Tournament was the 42nd Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Gary Player overcame a 7-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth major championship. Player, age 42, shot a record-tying 64 in the final round to win by one stroke. The runners-up were Rod Funseth, defending champion Tom Watson, and 54-hole leader Hubert Green, the reigning U.S. Open champion, who shot an even-par 72.
Tied for tenth place at the start of the round, Player shot a 30 on the back nine in the summer-like heat. He holed seven putts ranging from, including a final one of for birdie at 18. The leader in the clubhouse, Player had to wait forty minutes for the final groups to finish. Funseth had five birdies, but his two bogeys were both three-putts and he parred the last three holes. Watson eagled 13 and birdied both 15 and 16, but missed an putt for par on the final hole. After a bogey at 16, Green hit an outstanding approach shot at 18 which left a birdie putt from three feet to tie, but he missed after being inadvertently distracted by a radio announcer.

Field

;1. Masters champions
Tommy Aaron, George Archer, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr., Tom Watson
;The following categories only apply to Americans
;2. U.S. Open champions
Lou Graham, Hubert Green, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, Jerry Pate
;3. The Open champions
Tom Weiskopf
;4. PGA champions
Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino, Lanny Wadkins
;5. 1977 U.S. Amateur semi-finalists
Doug Fischesser, Ralph Landrum, Jay Sigel
;6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
Dick Siderowf
;7. Members of the 1977 U.S. Walker Cup team
Mike Brannan, Gary Hallberg, Vance Heafner, Lindy Miller, Fred Ridley
;8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1977 Masters Tournament
Andy Bean, Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw, Danny Edwards, Lee Elder, Rod Funseth, Don January, Tom Kite, Billy Kratzert, Gene Littler, Rik Massengale, Andy North, John Schlee, Bob Wynn
;9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1977 U.S. Open
Wally Armstrong, Terry Diehl, Al Geiberger, Jay Haas, Joe Inman, Gary Jacobson, Lyn Lott, Mike McCullough, Steve Melnyk, Tom Purtzer
;10. Top eight players and ties from 1977 PGA Championship
Jerry McGee
;11. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Miller Barber, Dave Eichelberger, Mike Hill, Mac McLendon, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bill Rogers, Jim Simons, Ed Sneed, Leonard Thompson
;12. Members of the U.S. 1977 Ryder Cup team
Dave Hill
;13. Foreign invitations
Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Bobby Cole, Antonio Garrido, David Graham, Peter McEvoy, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Peter Oosterhuis, Masashi Ozaki, Manuel Piñero

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 6, 1978
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1John Schlee68−4
2Joe Inman69−3
T3Bill Kratzert70−2
T3Lee Trevino70−2
T5Tom Kite71−1
T5Jerry McGee71−1
T5Steve Melnyk71−1
T8Wally Armstrong72E
T8Hubert Green72E
T8Dave Hill72E
T8Don January72E
T8Gene Littler72E
T8Lyn Lott72E
T8Mac McLendon72E
T8Jack Nicklaus72E
T8Jerry Pate72E
T8Gary Player72E
T8Leonard Thompson72E
T8Tom Weiskopf72E

Source:

Second round

Friday, April 7, 1978
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Rod Funseth73-66=139−5
T1Lee Trevino70-69=139−5
T3Hale Irwin73-67=140−4
T3Gene Littler72-68=140−4
T5Hubert Green72-69=141−3
T5Leonard Thompson72-69=141−3
T5Tom Watson73-68=141−3
T8Wally Armstrong72-70=142−2
T8Miller Barber75-67=142−2
T8Joe Inman69-73=142−2
T8Don January72-70=142−2
T8Arnold Palmer73-69=142−2

Source:

Third round

Saturday, April 8, 1978
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hubert Green72-69-65=206−10
T2Rod Funseth73-66-70=209−7
T2Tom Watson73-68-68=209−7
4Gene Littler72-68-70=210−6
T5David Graham75-69-67=211−5
T5Hale Irwin73-67-71=211−5
T5Billy Kratzert70-74-67=211−5
T5Lee Trevino70-69-72=211−5
9Wally Armstrong72-70-70=212−4
T10Seve Ballesteros74-71-68=213−3
T10Gay Brewer73-71-69=213−3
T10Gary Player72-72-69=213−3
T10Tom Weiskopf72-71-70=213−3

Source:

Final round

Sunday, April 9, 1978
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1 Gary Player72-72-69-64=277−1145,000
T2Rod Funseth73-66-70-69=278−1021,667
T2Hubert Green72-69-65-72=278−1021,667
T2Tom Watson73-68-68-69=278−1021,667
T5Wally Armstrong72-70-70-68=280−811,750
T5Billy Kratzert70-74-67-69=280−811,750
7Jack Nicklaus72-73-69-67=281−710,000
8Hale Irwin73-67-71-71=282−68,500
T9David Graham75-69-67-72=283−56,750
T9Joe Inman69-73-72-69=283−56,750

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source: