1977 Masters Winner and Scores: Watson Holds Off Nicklaus

Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus engaged in two duels at majors in 1977, most famously at the British Open. But first they duelled here, at the 1977 Masters, the 41st time The Masters was played. Watson came out on top in both cases, leading to many golf historians pointing to this event where the Nicklaus Era of golf was overtaken by Watson's era.

Winner: Tom Watson, 276

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

Tournament dates: April 7-10, 1977

Leader after first round: Hubert Green, 67

Leader after second round: Tom Watson and Rod Funseth, 139

Leader after third round: Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw, 209

What Happened in the 1977 Masters Tournament

Looking back, we can see that Tom Watson was the best player in golf by 1977. At the time, though, that view of Watson wasn't yet cemented. The 1977 Masters is where it started to take hold. Watson was a major champion by this time, but had faltered down the stretch in more majors than he had won coming into this tournament.

Here, though, Watson was three ahead of Jack Nicklaus going into the final round. Nicklaus, playing one group in front of Watson in the final round, threw a 66 at him. But Watson answered with his own 67.

It was all-even late in the round. With Nicklaus in the fairway on No. 18, Watson stood on the 17th green tied with Nicklaus for the lead. Watson had a 20-footer for birdie, and when he rolled it in the loud crowd roar made Nicklaus hesitate on his approach to the 18th green. Now down by one, Nicklaus needed to birdie the final hole, and tried a more aggressive shot. He mishit it, put the approach into a bunker, and made bogey.

Watson parred out on No. 18 and claimed the first of his two Green Jackets by two strokes. It was the second of Watson's eight career majors. A few months later, Watson and Nicklaus engaged in their most-famous duel, at the 1977 British Open. There Watson and Nicklaus played the final two rounds together, Watson shooting 66-65, Nicklaus 66-66, Watson winning by one. Nicklaus finished runner-up to Watson at four different majors. The 1977 Masters was the first of those.

Ben Crenshaw was the co-leader with Watson after 54 holes. But Crenshaw, who later won two Masters titles, struggled to a final-round 76. Billy Casper, 1970 Masters winner, tied for 14th place in what was his final Top 20 finish in a major.

1977 Masters Final Scores

Tom Watson	70-69-70-67—276
Jack Nicklaus	72-70-70-66—278
Tom Kite	70-73-70-67—280
Rik Massengale	70-73-67-70—280
Hale Irwin	70-74-70-68—282
David Graham	75-67-73-69—284
Lou Graham	75-71-69-69—284
Ben Crenshaw	71-69-69-76—285
Raymond Floyd	71-72-71-71—285
Hubert Green	67-74-72-72—285
Don January	69-76-71-69—285
Gene Littler	71-72-73-69—285
John Schlee	75-73-69-68—285
Billy Casper	72-72-73-69—286
Jim Colbert	72-71-69-74—286
Rod Funseth	72-67-74-73—286
Jerry Pate	70-72-74-70—286
Tom Weiskopf	73-71-71-71—286
George Archer	74-74-69-70—287
Andy Bean	74-70-71-72—287
Danny Edwards	72-74-68-73—287
Lee Elder	76-68-72-71—287
Gary Player	71-70-72-74—287
Billy Kratzert	69-71-78-70—288
Andy North	74-74-71-69—288
Arnold Palmer	76-71-71-70—288
Bob Wynn	75-73-70-70—288
Isao Aoki	73-76-70-70—289
Bruce Lietzke	73-71-72-73—289
Jerry McGee	73-73-72-71—289
Graham Marsh	77-72-72-69—290
Bob Murphy	74-72-71-73—290
Seve Ballesteros	74-75-70-72—291
Mark Hayes	71-72-72-76—291
Tommy Aaron	73-72-73-74—292
Johnny Miller	78-71-69-74—292
B. Shearer	74-67-75-76—292
Art Wall Jr.	75-74-71-72—292
Dave Hill	71-72-76-74—293
J.C. Snead	72-76-73-72—293
Dave Stockton	73-72-75-73—293
Bud Allin	71-74-75-74—294
Bruce Devlin	75-69-77-73—294
Gary Koch	78-71-72-73—294
Mac McLendon	72-70-78-75—295
Lyn Lott	76-72-77-71—296
Peter Oosterhuis	73-75-76-72—296
Mike Morley	75-73-73-76—297
a-Bill Sander	80-69-78-72—299
a-John Fought	73-74-78-78—303

Previous and next:
1976 Masters - 1978 Masters