1960 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1960 Masters was the 24th time the tournament was played. Arnold Palmer won this year for his second Masters win, birdying the final two holes to pip Ken Venturi by one stroke.
Winner: Arnold Palmer, 282
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 7-10, 1960
Leader after first round: Arnold Palmer, 67
Leader after second round: Arnold Palmer, 140
Leader after third round: Arnold Palmer, 212
What Happened in the 1960 Masters Tournament
Arnold Palmer went wire-to-wire to win the 1960 Masters, holding the outright lead after each round. But he had to birdie the final two holes to beat runner-up Ken Venturi by one stroke.It was Palmer's second victory in The Masters, after his 1958 win in which Palmer and Venturi were involved in a major rules dispute. The ultimate ruling on that dispute favored Palmer, and Venturi was still complaining about it decades later.
In 1960, Venturi was one of five golfers trailing Palmer by one stroke going into the final round. When Venturi finished the front nine, he had the lead at 6-under; when Palmer made the turn, he was at 4-under. Venturi bogeyed No. 11 to drop to 5-under, then made all pars the rest of the way. He posted 283 as the clubhouse leader.
Nothing much was happening for Palmer over the first seven holes of the back nine, all pars. He missed a birdie putt on the 16th when the ball bounced off the flagstick (it was legal then to leave the flagstick in the hole).
On the 17th tee, Palmer trailed Venturi by one. Then he tied Venturi with a 20-foot birdie putt that just barely reached and dropped into the hole. On the final hole, Palmer knocked his approach shot to four feet, then made the birdie putt to claim the victory.
Palmer was just the second wire-to-wire winner of The Masters, after Craig Wood (1941). It was Palmer's 18th career win on the PGA Tour and his second overall major championship victory.
Venturi, who, like Palmer, scored 70 in the final round, finished solo second. One of the golfers who started the final round tied for second place was Ben Hogan. But Hogan had a 76 and finished tied for sixth.
There was another rules issue at the 1960 Masters, too. In the first round, Dow Finsterwald, after holing out on one hole, dropped his ball back onto the green and hit a few practice strokes. At the time, that was only a violation of a local rule put in place by Augusta National. Finsterwald was unaware of that, but after being informed the next day reported his rules violation. He received a two-stroke penalty, and he wound up finishing in third place by ... two strokes.
Jack Nicklaus, playing as an amateur in his second Masters, made his first Masters cut and finished tied for 13th. Nicklaus and Billy Joe Patton shared low amateur honors.
And a big Masters tradition was introduced this year: The Par-3 Contest was played for the first time. Sam Snead was the first winner.
1960 Masters Final Scores
| Arnold Palmer | 67-73-72-70—282 |
| Ken Venturi | 73-69-71-70—283 |
| Dow Finsterwald | 71-70-72-71—284 |
| Billy Casper | 71-71-71-74—287 |
| Julius Boros | 72-71-70-75—288 |
| Walt Burkemo | 72-69-75-73—289 |
| Ben Hogan | 73-68-72-76—289 |
| Gary Player | 72-71-72-74—289 |
| Lionel Hebert | 74-70-73-73—290 |
| Stan Leonard | 72-72-72-74—290 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 72-72-74-74—292 |
| Sam Snead | 73-74-72-73—292 |
| Ted Kroll | 72-76-71-74—293 |
| a-Jack Nicklaus | 75-71-72-75—293 |
| a-Billy Joe Patton | 75-72-74-72—293 |
| Bruce Crampton | 74-73-75-72—294 |
| Claude Harmon | 69-72-75-78—294 |
| Fred Hawkins | 69-78-72-75—294 |
| Mike Souchak | 72-75-72-75—294 |
| Tommy Bolt | 73-74-75-73—295 |
| Don January | 70-72-74-79—295 |
| Ed Oliver | 74-75-73-73—295 |
| Bob Rosburg | 74-74-71-76—295 |
| a-Frank Taylor | 70-74-73-78—295 |
| a-Tommy Aaron | 74-75-75-73—297 |
| Doug Ford | 74-72-80-71—297 |
| Billy Maxwell | 72-71-79-75—297 |
| Dave Ragan | 74-73-75-75—297 |
| George Bayer | 73-73-80-72—298 |
| a-Deane Beman | 71-72-77-78—298 |
| a-Dick Crawford | 74-72-75-77—298 |
| Doug Sanders | 73-71-81-73—298 |
| a-Gene Andrews | 73-76-77-73—299 |
| Jerry Barber | 76-73-74-77—300 |
| Jack Fleck | 78-71-77-74—300 |
| a-Chuck Kocsis | 76-72-78-74—300 |
| Dave Marr | 73-77-77-73—300 |
| Harry Weetman | 70-78-74-78—300 |
| a-Charlie Coe | 72-74-78-77—301 |
| Chick Harbert | 73-77-74-77—301 |
| Jay Hebert | 69-77-78-77—301 |
| Jim Turnesa | 76-73-73-79—301 |
| Lloyd Mangrum | 74-74-76-78—302 |
| Lew Worsham | 72-76-74-84—306 |
| a-Ward Wettlaufer | 73-77-83-78—311 |
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1959 Masters - 1961 Masters
Sources:
Augusta.com. "Historic Leaderboard: 1960 Masters," https://www.augusta.com/masters/historic/leaderboards/1960
Augusta.com. "The 1960s, Masters History," https://www.augusta.com/masters/history/1960s
Augusta National Golf Club. Masters 2024 Media Guide, "1960 Masters Tournament"
Wind, Herbert Warren. "Gasps for a fabulous finish," Sports Illustrated, April 18, 1960, via Internet Archive, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1071149/index.htm
