1961 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
Gary Player got up-and-down from a bunker on the final hole, then Arnold Palmer couldn't do the same, and that was the difference in this, the 25th edition of The Masters. Player thus became the first non-American winner of this major championship.
Winner: Gary Player, 280
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 6-10, 1961
Leader after first round: Arnold Palmer and Bob Rosburg, 68
Leader after second round: Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, 137
Leader after third round: Gary Player, 206
What Happened at the 1961 Masters Tournament
Gary Player and Arnold Palmer both hit into the greenside bunker on the 18th hole of the final round. Palmer was going for his third win at The Masters, and Player for his first. Player got up-and-down for a par, but Palmer double-bogeyed for a six and finished one stroke behind.Palmer and Player were tied for the lead after two rounds, but Player moved ahead of Palmer with a third-round 69, compared to Palmer's 73.
In the final round, things reversed: Player shot 74, Palmer 71. Player had a 40 on the back nine, despite his recovery for a par out of the bunker on the final hole. With Palmer behind him and leading, Player thought his chance at victory was gone.
Palmer took the lead after Player followed a double-bogey on the 13th hole with a bogey on the 15th. Palmer reached the final green leading by one. But after hitting into that same 18th hole bunker Player had been in, Palmer bladed his sand shot over the green, then hit his chip shot return long. Palmer needed to make a 15-foot bogey putt to force a playoff with Player, but he missed.
That exchange gave Player the win at the 1961 Masters, and made the South African the first international golfer to win The Masters. Player was also the first golfer in Masters history to receive the current trophy, a replica of the Augusta National clubhouse. That trophy was introduced this year.
Tied for second with Palmer was amateur Charlie Coe. Amateurs have finished second or tied for second three times in Masters history, and Coe's runner-up at the 1961 Masters is the most recent time it's happened. Coe was a lifelong amateur, winning the U.S. Amateur twice and playing in The Masters 19 times.
In his final Masters appearance as an amateur, Jack Nicklaus finished tied for seventh. It was his first Top 10 finish in The Masters, and Nicklaus went on to record 21 more Top 10s in this major over his career (six of them victories).
1961 Masters Final Scores
| Gary Player | 69-68-69-74—280 |
| a-Charlie Coe | 72-71-69-69—281 |
| Arnold Palmer | 68-69-73-71—281 |
| Tommy Bolt | 72-71-74-68—285 |
| Don January | 74-68-72-71—285 |
| Paul Harney | 71-73-68-74—286 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 76-70-68-73—287 |
| Billy Casper | 72-77-69-69—287 |
| Bill Collins | 74-72-67-74—287 |
| a-Jack Nicklaus | 70-75-70-72—287 |
| Walt Burkemo | 74-69-73-72—288 |
| a-Robert Gardner | 74-71-72-71—288 |
| Doug Sanders | 76-71-68-73—288 |
| Ken Venturi | 72-71-72-73—288 |
| Stan Leonard | 72-74-71-72—289 |
| Gene Littler | 72-73-72-72—289 |
| Bob Rosburg | 68-73-73-75—289 |
| Sam Snead | 74-73-69-73—289 |
| Dick Mayer | 76-72-70-73—291 |
| Johnny Pott | 71-75-72-73—291 |
| Peter Thomson | 73-76-68-74—291 |
| Robert De Vicenzo | 73-74-71-74—292 |
| Lew Worsham | 74-71-73-74—292 |
| Antonio Cerda | 73-73-72-75—293 |
| Fred Hawkins | 74-75-72-72—293 |
| Ted Kroll | 73-70-72-78—293 |
| Al Balding | 74-74-70-76—294 |
| Mason Rudolph | 77-69-72-77—295 |
| Mike Souchak | 75-72-75-73—295 |
| Jay Hebert | 72-75-69-80—296 |
| Lionel Hebert | 74-69-74-79—296 |
| Doug Ford | 71-76-78-73—298 |
| Ben Hogan | 74-73-72-79—298 |
| Byron Nelson | 71-72-78-77—298 |
| Chick Harbert | 74-73-76-76—299 |
| Bob Goalby | 74-73-76-77—300 |
| Jerry Barber | 74-72-78-77—301 |
| Miguel Sala | 74-75-78-81—308 |
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