1958 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores

The 22nd Masters played, this is the one in which the term "Amen Corner" was first used. And Arnold Palmer won it for the first time, giving "Arnie's Army" one of its biggest thrills.

Winner: Arnold Palmer, 284

Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

Tournament dates: April 3-6, 1958

Leader after first round: Ken Venturi, 68

Leader after second round: Ken Venturi, 140

Leader after third round: Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer, 211

What Happened at the 1958 Masters Tournament

There was a lot going on at the 1958 Masters, some of which has passed into golf lore. For example, the 1958 Masters is considered the place where "Arnie's Army" was born. Soldiers from a nearby military base were given free admission to Augusta National during the tournament, and they rallied behind the charismatic Arnold Palmer. They were referred to as "Arnie's Army," and that name was soon applied to all of Palmer's fans.

The 1958 Masters is where Palmer became the biggest star in golf. It was his first major championship victory, and the first of his eventual four wins at The Masters. Some propitious events through holes 11, 12 and 13 helped Palmer to the victory, and in his post-tournament article for Sports Illustrated, author Herbert Warren Wind coined the term "Amen Corner" for those holes.

So the 1958 Masters gave us the terms Arnie's Army and Amen Corner, was Palmer's first major championship, and propelled Palmer to superstardom.

It was also the site of a rules dispute between Palmer and playing partner Ken Venturi in the final round, a rules dispute that Venturi was still disputing decades later.

On the 12th hole, the par-3, Palmer's tee ball embedded in front of the green. Palmer felt he should get a free drop. Venturi and the rules official on the scene disagreed, requiring Palmer to play the ball as it lay. Palmer did, and made a double-bogey — which should have dropped him one stroke behind Venturi, with Venturi then leading.

But Palmer invoked the rule that stated that when there is doubt as to how to proceed, the golfer can drop a second ball and complete the hole with two golf balls. Before turning in his scorecard, the golfer reports the situation to the committee, which issues its ruling, and then everyone knows which ball (and, therefore, which score) is counted.

So Palmer made a double-bogey with the original, embedded ball, then dropped a second ball and made a par. Which score counted? Was Palmer leading by one, or Venturi leading by one?

Palmer made an eagle on the following hole, the 13th, and then on the 15th hole Bobby Jones arrived to inform Palmer and Venturi that Palmer's second ball — the one he dropped and with which he made par — would count.

Venturi's beef with that ruling at the time rested in his claim that Palmer didn't announce his intention to play a second ball on the 12th until after making double-bogey with the first, embedded ball. If so, that should have rendered the second ball moot; the golfer must announce his intentions before taking another stroke when invoking the rule in question.

Palmer claimed he did announce he would play a second ball before continuing with the first. It was he said-he said, and Palmer won. Nearly 40 years later, Venturi wrote in his memoir, "I firmly believe that (Palmer) did wrong and that he knows that I know he did wrong."

And Palmer has always maintained that he followed procedure correctly. Regardless, when Jones delivered the ruling on the 15th hole, it helped send Palmer to the victory. Venturi bogeyed holes 14 through 16 and finished two strokes behind, tied for fourth place. Sam Snead, who was tied with Palmer at the start of the final round, skied to a 79 and fell out of the Top 10. For Palmer, it wasn't just his first Masters title, but the first of his seven career wins in major championships. He went on to win The Masters again in 1960, 1962 and 1964.

The 1958 Masters is also notable for being the year that the Hogan Bridge and Nelson Bridge were both dedicated.

1958 Masters Final Scores

Arnold Palmer	70-73-68-73—284
Doug Ford	74-71-70-70—285
Fred Hawkins	71-75-68-71—285
Stan Leonard	72-70-73-71—286
Ken Venturi	68-72-74-72—286
Cary Middlecoff	70-73-69-75—287
Art Wall Jr.	71-72-70-74—287
a-Billy Joe Patton	72-69-73-74—288
Claude Harmon	71-76-72-70—289
Jay Hebert	72-73-73-71—289
Billy Maxwell	71-70-72-76—289
Al Mengert	73-71-69-76—289
Sam Snead	72-71-68-79—290
Jimmy Demaret	69-79-70-73—291
Ben Hogan	72-77-69-73—291
Mike Souchak	72-75-73-71—291
Dow Finsterwald	72-71-74-75—292
Chick Harbert	69-74-73-76—292
Bo Wininger	69-73-71-79—292
Billy Casper	76-71-72-74—293
Byron Nelson	71-77-74-71—293
a-Phil Rodgers	77-72-73-72—294
a-Charlie Coe	73-76-69-77—295
Ted Kroll	73-75-75-72—295
Peter Thomson	72-74-73-76—295
Al Balding	75-72-71-78—296
Bruce Crampton	73-76-72-75—296
a-Bill Hyndman	71-76-70-79—296
George Bayer	74-75-72-76—297
a-Arnold Blum	72-74-75-76—297
a-Joe Campbell	73-75-74-75—297
Tommy Bolt	74-75-74-75—298
Lionel Hebert	71-77-75-75—298
Flory Van Donck	70-74-75-79—298
Marty Furgol	74-73-75-77—299
Dave Ragan	73-73-77-76—299
Paul Runyan	73-76-73-77—299
Jim Turnesa	72-76-76-75—299
Julius Boros	73-72-78-77—300
Jack Fleck	71-76-78-75—300
Torakichi Nakamura	76-73-76-76—301
Gene Littler	75-73-74-80—302
Norman Von Nida	69-80-79-80—308

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