1997 Masters Tournament

1997 Masters Tournament

Tournament information
Dates	April 10–13, 1997
Location	Augusta, Georgia
Course(s)	Augusta National Golf Club
Organized by	Augusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,925 yards (6,332 m)[1]
Field	86 players, 46 after cut
Cut	149 (+5)
Prize fund	$2,700,000
Winner's share	$486,000
Champion
Tiger Woods
270 (−18)
«1996 1998»

The 1997 Masters Tournament was the 61st Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Tiger Woods won his first major championship, twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite. Through 2015, the margin of victory and four-day score of 270 (−18) are tournament records. Woods also became both the youngest (21) and the first non-white player to win at Augusta.^[2]

Woods struggled on his first nine holes of the first round, turning at 4-over-par 40. Making four birdies and an eagle gave him a 6-under-par 30 the back nine for a 70, three shots behind first-round leader John Huston.

In the second and third rounds, Woods scored the best rounds of each day (65-66) to open up a commanding nine-shot lead. A final-round 69 gave Woods a tournament record 270 (−18), bettering the previous record of 271 set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and matched by Raymond Floyd in 1976.

Woods' victory set television ratings records for golf; the final round broadcast on Sunday was seen by an estimated 44 million viewers in the United States.^[3]

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, 1981	75	68	69	72	284	−4	4
Fred Couples	United States	1992	72	69	73	72	286	−2	T7
Bernhard Langer	Germany	1985, 1993	72	72	74	68	286	−2	T7
José María Olazábal	Spain	1994	71	70	74	72	287	−1	T12
Craig Stadler	United States	1982	77	72	71	72	292	+4	T26
Larry Mize	United States	1987	79	69	74	72	294	+6	T30
Sandy Lyle	Scotland	1988	73	73	74	75	295	+7	T34
Fuzzy Zoeller	United States	1979	75	73	69	78	295	+7	T34
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986	77	70	74	78	299	+11	T39
Ian Woosnam	Wales	1991	77	68	75	79	299	+11	T39
Ben Crenshaw	United States	1984, 1995	75	73	74	80	302	+14	45

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Gary Player	South Africa	1961, 1974, 1978	76	75	151	+7
Tommy Aaron	United States	1973	77	77	154	+10
Raymond Floyd	United States	1976	79	75	154	+10
Seve Ballesteros	Spain	1980, 1983	81	74	155	+11
Nick Faldo	England	1989, 1990, 1996	75	81	156	+12
Charles Coody	United States	1971	83	77	160	+16
Billy Casper	United States	1970	83	77	160	+16
Gay Brewer	United States	1967	84	79	163	+19
Arnold Palmer	United States	1958, 1960, 1962, 1964	89	87	176	+32
Doug Ford	United States	1957	85	94	179	+35

Source:^[4]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 10, 1997

John Huston shot 67 (−5) to lead by one stroke over Paul Stankowski. Tiger Woods shot a 40 (+4) on the first nine, but came back into the clubhouse on the back nine with a score of 30 (−6) for a 70 (−2).^[5]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	John Huston	United States	67	−5
2	Paul Stankowski	United States	68	−4
3	Paul Azinger	United States	69	−3
4	Tiger Woods	United States	70	−2
T5	Costantino Rocca	Italy	71	−1
	José María Olazábal	Spain
	Nick Price	Zimbabwe
T8	Stuart Appleby	Australia	72	E
	David Berganio, Jr.	United States
	Fred Couples	United States
	Lee Janzen	United States
	Per-Ulrik Johansson	Sweden
	Bernhard Langer	Germany
	Davis Love III	United States
	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland
	Tommy Tolles	United States
	Willie Wood	United States

Second round

Friday, April 11, 1997

Woods started the round three strokes back, but a 66 gave him his first lead in a professional major championship, three shots ahead of Colin Montgomerie from Scotland.^[6]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tiger Woods	United States	70-66=136	−8
2	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	72-67=139	−5
3	Costantino Rocca	Italy	71-69=140	−4
T4	Fred Couples	United States	72-69=141	−3
	José María Olazábal	Spain	71-70=141
	Jeff Sluman	United States	74-67=141
T7	Paul Azinger	United States	69-73=142	−2
	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	71-71=142
	Paul Stankowski	United States	68-74=142
T10	Ernie Els	South Africa	73-70=143	−1
	Davis Love III	United States	72-71=143
	Tom Watson	United States	75-68=143

Third round

Saturday, April 12, 1997

Woods shot a 65 in the third round to increase his lead to nine shots; the closest competitor was Costantino Rocca from Italy.^[7]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tiger Woods	United States	70-66-65=201	−15
2	Costantino Rocca	Italy	71-69-70=210	−6
3	Paul Stankowski	United States	68-74-69=211	−5
T4	Tom Kite	United States	77-69-66=212	−4
	Tom Watson	United States	75-68-69=212
T6	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	72-67-74=213	−3
	Jeff Sluman	United States	74-67-72=213
8	Fred Couples	United States	72-69-73=214	−2
9	José María Olazábal	Spain	71-70-74=215	−1
T10	Fred Funk	United States	73-74-69=216	E
	Justin Leonard	United States	76-69-71=216
	Jesper Parnevik	Sweden	73-72-71=216
	Tommy Tolles	United States	72-72-72=216

Final round

Sunday, April 13, 1997

Woods won his first major championship, twelve strokes ahead of his nearest competitor, runner-up Tom Kite. It was the largest victory margin for a major until the U.S. Open in 2000, won by Woods with a 15-shot margin.^[8]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Tiger Woods	United States	70-66-65-69=270	−18	486,000
2	Tom Kite	United States	77-69-66-70=282	−6	291,600
3	Tommy Tolles	United States	72-72-72-67=283	−5	183,600
4	Tom Watson	United States	75-68-69-72=284	−4	129,600
T5	Costantino Rocca	Italy	71-69-70-75=285	−3	102,600
	Paul Stankowski	United States	68-74-69-74=285
T7	Fred Couples	United States	72-69-73-72=286	−2	78,570
	Bernhard Langer	Germany	72-72-74-68=286
	Justin Leonard	United States	76-69-71-70=286
	Davis Love III	United States	72-71-72-71=286
	Jeff Sluman	United States	74-67-72-73=286

Scorecard

Final round

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
Woods	−15	−16	−16	−16	−15	−15	−14	−15	−15	−15	−16	−16	−17	−18	−18	−18	−18	−18
Kite	−4	−5	−5	−4	−4	−3	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−5	−5	−6	−6
Tolles	E	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−4	−5	−5	−5
Watson	−5	−6	−6	−6	−7	−6	−3	−4	−4	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−4
Rocca	−6	−7	−7	−7	−7	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−3
Stankowski	−5	−4	−3	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−2	−3	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:^[9]

References

1. "Masters Scoreboard". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. April 11, 1997. p. 8C.
2. Reilly, Rick (April 21, 1997). "Strokes of Genius". Sports Illustrated. p. 30.
3. "Woods drives Masters ratings up". Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA). Associated Press. April 16, 1997. p. B5.
4. "Masters (scores)". Toledo Blade. April 12, 1997. p. 30.
5. "Huston: The eagle has landed". Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. April 11, 1997. p. B-1,2. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
6. "Woods charges to Masters lead". The Daily Reporter (Spencer, Iowa). Associated Press. April 12, 1997. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
7. Farrell, Andy (April 13, 1997). "Welcome to the Tiger era: US Masters: World's best a record nine shots adrift as Woods starts to take golf into a new dimension". The Independent (London). Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
8. "1997 Masters: Recap and Scores for the 1997 Masters Golf Tournament". Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
9. "Historic Leaderboards: 1997 Masters". Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved September 14, 2015.

External links

• Masters.com – past winners
• About.com: 1997 Masters
• Augusta.com – 1997 Masters leaderboard and scorecards

Coordinates: 33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W