1968 Masters Tournament
Tournament information
DatesApril 11–14, 1968
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]
Field74 players, 52 after cut
Cut149 (+5)
Winner's share$20,000
Champion
United States Bob Goalby
277 (−11)
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

The 1968 Masters Tournament was the 32nd Masters Tournament, held April 11–14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Bob Goalby won his only major championship, one stroke ahead of Roberto De Vicenzo, the reigning British Open champion.[2] On the back nine in the final round, Goalby birdied 13 and 14 and eagled 15 to record a 66 (−6) and a total of 277 (−11).

At first it appeared that he had tied De Vicenzo and the two would meet in an 18-hole Monday playoff, but De Vicenzo returned an incorrect scorecard showing a par 4 on the 17th hole, instead of a birdie 3, sunk with a two-foot putt. Playing partner Tommy Aaron incorrectly marked the 4 and De Vicenzo failed to catch the mistake and signed the scorecard. USGA rules stated that the higher written score signed by a golfer on his card must stand,[3] and the error gave Goalby the championship.[1][2]

Speaking to the press after the error, De Vincenzo said, "What a stupid I am."[4]

Ironically, Goalby discovered a scoring error he had made on the card he was keeping for Raymond Floyd, his playing partner in the final round, which he corrected at the scorer's tent. He had marked Floyd down for a par-3 on the 16th hole, when Floyd had actually bogeyed the hole. Floyd ended up in a tie for seventh place with, among others, Aaron. Both Aaron and Floyd would win the Masters in future years, Aaron in 1973 and Floyd in 1976.

Jack Nicklaus tied for fifth place and third-round leader Gary Player finished tied for seventh. Lee Trevino, 28, made his Masters debut and was two strokes back after three rounds, tied for seventh place. A rough back nine of 43 (+7) pushed his score to 80 and he finished tied for 40th. Two months later, he won the 1968 U.S. Open, the first of his six major titles. The Masters was the only major that eluded him; his best finish was a tie for tenth, in 1975 and 1985. Citing incompatibility, Trevino skipped Augusta three times in the early 1970s,[5][6][7] and missed in 1977 due to a bad back.[8]

In his fourteenth Masters at age 38, four-time champion Arnold Palmer found the water three times during a second round 79 for 151 and missed the cut for the first time at Augusta.[9][10] He made the next seven cuts, through 1975.

Bob Rosburg won the ninth Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a score of 22. Claude Harmon, 51, had consecutive aces at the fourth and fifth holes, but tied for third at 24.[11] The next day, Harmon withdrew in the first round after a nine-hole score of 40.[12]

Course

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1White Pine400410Camellia4704
2Woodbine555511Dogwood4454
3Flowering Peach355412Golden Bell1553
4Palm220313Azalea4755
5Magnolia450414Chinese Fir4204
6Juniper190315Firethorn5205
7Pampas365416Redbud1903
8Yellow Jasmine530517Nandina4004
9Carolina Cherry420418Holly4204
Out3,48536In3,49536
Source:[1][13]Total6,98072

^ Holes 1, 2, 4, and 11 were later renamed.

Field

1. Masters champions

Gay Brewer (8,11), Jack Burke Jr., Doug Ford, Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus (2,3,4,9,10), Arnold Palmer (8,9,11), Henry Picard, Gary Player (2,8,9), Sam Snead (8), Art Wall Jr. (9)

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

Julius Boros (8,10,11), Billy Casper (8,9,11), Ken Venturi (8)

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

Al Geiberger (10,11), Don January (9,10), Dave Marr (8,9), Bobby Nichols (8,11)

5. The first eight finishers in the 1967 U.S. Amateur

Vinny Giles (a), William C. Campbell (7,a), Downing Gray (7,a), Doug Olson (a)[14][15]

6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
7. Members of the 1967 U.S. Walker Cup team

Jack Lewis Jr. (a), Ed Tutwiler (a)

  • Don Allen (a) declined his invitation because of the birth of his first child. Jimmy Grant forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1967 Masters Tournament

Tommy Aaron, George Archer, Jacky Cupit, Wes Ellis (9), Paul Harney, Jay Hebert, Lionel Hebert, Bob Rosburg, Mason Rudolph, Doug Sanders (11), Bert Yancey

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1967 U.S. Open

Deane Beman, Gardner Dickinson (11), Bob Goalby (10), Dutch Harrison, Jerry Pittman, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf

10. Top eight players and ties from 1967 PGA Championship

Frank Beard, Don Bies, Gene Littler (11), Don Massengale, Dan Sikes

11. Members of the U.S. 1967 Ryder Cup team

Johnny Pott

12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions.

Tommy Jacobs

13. Leading six players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in PGA Tour events since the previous Masters

Miller Barber, Charles Coody, Raymond Floyd, Dave Hill, R. H. Sikes, Kermit Zarley

14. Foreign invitations

Al Balding (9), Peter Butler (8), Joe Carr (a), Bob Charles (3), Chen Ching-Po, Clive Clark, Gary Cowan (6,a), Roberto De Vicenzo (3,8), Bruce Devlin (8), Malcolm Gregson, Harold Henning, Tommy Horton, Tony Jacklin (8), George Knudson, Kel Nagle (9), Hideyo Sugimoto, Raul Travieso

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

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 11, 1968

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Billy Casper68−4
T2United States Tommy Aaron69−3
Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo
Australia Bruce Devlin
England Tony Jacklin
United States Jack Nicklaus
T7United States Bob Goalby70−2
United States Jerry Pittman
United States Kermit Zarley
T10United States Raymond Floyd71−1
United States Vinny Giles (a)
United States Don January
United States Herman Keiser
Japan Hideyo Sugimoto
United States Lee Trevino
United States Bert Yancey

Source:[16][12]

Second round

Friday, April 12, 1968

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Don January71-68=139−5
South Africa Gary Player72-67=139
T3United States Frank Beard75-65=140−4
United States Bob Goalby70-70=140
United States Jack Nicklaus69-71=140
6United States Tommy Aaron69-72=141−3
T7Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo69-73=142−2
Australia Bruce Devlin69-73=142
United States Raymond Floyd71-71=142
England Tony Jacklin69-73=142
United States Bert Yancey71-71=142

Source:[17][18][19]

Third round

Saturday, April 13, 1968

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1South Africa Gary Player72-67-71=210−6
T2United States Frank Beard75-65-71=211−5
United States Raymond Floyd71-71-69=211
Australia Bruce Devlin69-73-69=211
United States Bob Goalby70-70-71=211
United States Don January71-68-72=211
T7United States Miller Barber75-69-68=212−4
Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo69-73-70=212
United States Lee Trevino71-72-69=212
T10United States Tommy Aaron69-72-72=213−3
United States Jerry Pittman70-73-70=213

Source:[20]

Final round

Sunday, April 14, 1968

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (US$)
1United States Bob Goalby70-70-71-66=277−1120,000
2Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo69-73-70-66=278−1015,000
3United States Bert Yancey71-71-72-65=279−910,000
4Australia Bruce Devlin69-73-69-69=280−87,500
T5United States Frank Beard75-65-71-70=281−75,500
United States Jack Nicklaus (c)69-71-74-67=281
T7United States Tommy Aaron69-72-72-69=282−63,460
United States Raymond Floyd71-71-69-71=282
United States Lionel Hebert72-71-71-68=282
United States Jerry Pittman70-73-70-69=282
South Africa Gary Player (c)72-67-71-72=282

Sources:[21][22]

Scorecard

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 
Par454343454443545344
United States Goalby−5−5−5−5−6−7−7−8−8−8−8−8−9−10−12−12−11−11
Argentina De Vicenzo−6−7−8−8−8−8−8−9−9−9−9−10−10−10−11−11−11^−10
United States Yancey−2−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−5−5−5−5−6−6−7−8−9−9
Australia Devlin−6−7−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−8−9−8−8−8
United States Beard−5−5−5−5−5−5−5−3−3−3−4−4−5−5−6−6−6−7
United States Nicklaus−2−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−4−4−5−4−5−5−6−6−7−7
United States Floyd−5−5−5−5−5−4−4−5−5−5−4−5−6−6−7−6−6−6
United States January−5−5−5−5−6−6−6−6−6−6−6−5−4−4−5−5−4−4

^ De Vicenzo actually birdied the 17th hole, but signed for a par on his scorecard.

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Stain mars Goalby's jacket". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. April 15, 1968. p. 19.
  2. 1 2 Wright, Alfred (April 22, 1968). "Golf's craziest drama". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  3. ↑ Green, Bob (April 15, 1968). "Goalby's 277 captures Masters as scoring error costs De Vicenzo tie". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 15.
  4. ↑ "1968: De Vicenzo signs for wrong score, Goalby wins Masters".
  5. ↑ "Lee Trevino to skip Masters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 17, 1969. p. 20.
  6. ↑ Addie, Bob (April 11, 1973). "Have Trevino, Masters parted company for good?". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). (Washington Post). p. 10.
  7. ↑ Mizell, Hubert (April 8, 1978). "Trevino, Masters still not compatible". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). p. 1C.
  8. ↑ Green, Bob (March 24, 1977). "Trevino to miss Masters". Free Lance-Star. (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Associated Press. p. 8.
  9. ↑ "'Worst ever here' – Arnie". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 13, 1968. p. 12.
  10. ↑ Gundelfinger, Phil (April 13, 1968). "Player, January tie in Masters; Arnie out". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12.
  11. ↑ "Harmon holds pair of aces". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 12, 1968.
  12. 1 2 "(Masters scores)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 12, 1968. p. 22.
  13. ↑ "Augusta National Golf club: map". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 10, 1969. p. 27.
  14. ↑ "Amateur Title Won by Dickson". Youngstown Vindicator. September 3, 1967. p. D1.
  15. ↑ "Amateur Title". Youngstown Vindicator. September 3, 1967. p. D1.
  16. ↑ "Bill Casper conquers jitters for 68 to lead international Masters field". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 12, 1968. p. 18.
  17. ↑ "Masters scoreboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 13, 1968. p. 13.
  18. ↑ "Birdies push Don January, Player to lead in Masters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 13, 1968. p. 10.
  19. ↑ "Golf: Masters". Miami News. April 13, 1968. p. 2B.
  20. ↑ "Mob pursues Gary Player". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 14, 1968. p. 1, sports.
  21. ↑ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
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