1976 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores

Raymond Floyd dominated the 1976 Masters from start to finish, tying the tournament's scoring record. It was the 40th time the tournament was played.

Winner: Ray Floyd, 271

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

Tournament dates: April 8-11, 1976

Leader after first round: Ray Floyd, 65

Leader after second round: Ray Floyd, 131

Leader after third round: Ray Floyd, 201

What Happened at the 1976 Masters Tournament

Raymond Floyd ran away from the field at the 1976 Masters, winning by eight strokes and tying or setting multiple scoring records along the way. Floyd opened 65-66 and closed with a pair of 70s to finish at 17-under 271, which tied the tournament record at that time (since broken), first established by Jack Nicklaus in the 1965 Masters.

Floyd also set tournament records (since broken) for low start by the eventual winner (65), best score after 36 holes (131), and best start after 54 holes (201). Floyd was the fourth wire-to-wire winner in Masters history. His 271 winning total stood as the tournament scoring record until Tiger Woods lowered it at the 1997 Masters.

For Floyd, it was the beginning of the second half of his career, the half of his career in which he was considered among the best players on tour.

Although Floyd was a major champion before the 1976 Masters — he won the 1969 PGA Championship — he was considered something of an underachiever to this point. He had a reputation early in his career as a playboy (he even had "managed" an all-girl, topless rock band). In 13 previous seasons on tour, Floyd had only six wins, and only one in the 1970s. But after the 1976 Masters, Floyd won two more majors (and threatened in many others) and 15 more PGA Tour titles total.

Floyd led by one after a first-round 65; by five over Nicklaus after the second round; and by eight over Nicklaus following the third round. His 8-stroke winning margin was over runner-up Ben Crenshaw, with Nicklaus finishing third.

Billy Casper, a 3-time major winner (including the 1970 Masters) finished eighth. It was the final Top 10 finish in a major by Casper. Future 2-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange was low amateur with a tie for 15th. Fred McLeod, one of the two original Masters honorary starters, performed the ceremonial opening drive for the final time this year. He was 94 years old and died about a month later.

1976 Masters Final Scores

Raymond Floyd	65-66-70-70—271
Ben Crenshaw	70-70-72-67—279
Jack Nicklaus	67-69-73-73—282
Larry Ziegler	67-71-72-72—282
Charles Coody	72-69-70-74—285
Hale Irwin	71-77-67-70—285
Tom Kite	73-67-72-73—285
Billy Casper	71-76-71-69—287
Roger Maltbie	72-75-70-71—288
Graham Marsh	73-68-75-72—288
Tom Weiskopf	73-71-70-74—288
Jim Colbert	71-72-74-72—289
Lou Graham	68-73-72-76—289
Gene Littler	71-72-74-72—289
Al Geiberger	75-70-73-73—291
Dave Hill	69-73-76-73—291
Jerry McGee	71-73-72-75—291
a-Curtis Strange	71-76-73-71—291
Bud Allin	69-76-72-75—292
Bruce Devlin	77-69-72-74—292
Hubert Green	71-66-78-77—292
Dale Hayes	75-74-73-70—292
Gay Brewer	75-74-71-73—293
Rik Massengale	70-72-78-73—293
Johnny Miller	71-73-74-75—293
Peter Oosterhuis	76-74-75-68—293
Bruce Crampton	74-76-71-73—294
Bob Murphy	72-74-76-73—295
Eddie Pearce	71-71-79-74—295
Gary Player	73-73-70-79—295
Lee Trevino	75-75-69-76—295
Art Wall Jr.	74-71-75-75—295
Don January	73-74-76-73—296
Jumbo Ozaki	72-75-75-74—296
Tom Watson	77-73-76-70—296
Joe Inman	74-75-71-77—297
Takashi Murakami	74-71-80-73—298
Andy North	66-81-75-76—298
Bob Gilder	71-75-76-77—299
John Mahaffey	72-74-78-75—299
Bob Shearer	73-75-76-75—299
Tommy Aaron	73-76-77-74—300
Frank Beard	74-75-78-74—301
J.C. Snead	72-77-76-76—301
Pat Fitzsimons	71-79-77-76—303
a-Dick Siderowf	76-73-77-81—307
Bobby Cole	75-74-78-82—309

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