1966 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
It was the 30th playing of this major championship at the 1966 Masters. To celebrate, Jack Nicklaus became this tournament's first back-to-back champion — but he needed a playoff to do it.
Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 288
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 7-11, 1966
Leader after first round: Jack Nicklaus, 68
Leader after second round: Paul Harney and Peter Butler, 143
Leader after third round: Jack Nicklaus and Tommy Jacobs
What Happened at the 1966 Masters
Who was the first back-to-back winner of The Masters? It was Jack Nicklaus, and he completed the feat at the 1966 Masters.Nicklaus, the 1965 champion, plus Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs all finished 72 holes tied at even-par 288 (17 strokes higher than Nicklaus' winning score the previous year). So the trio headed into an 18-hole Monday playoff, which Nicklaus won by shooting 70. Jacobs had a 72 in the playoff and Brewer a 78.
Brewer had a chance to win in regulation, but, leading by one stroke, he made bogey on the 72nd hole. He did return to win the 1967 Masters, however. Nicklaus reached even par with birdies on the 14th and 15th holes in the final round, and Jacobs with a birdie on the 15th.
In the playoff, Nicklaus and Jacobs were tied at the turn, but Jacobs bogeyed No. 10 and Nicklaus birdied the 11th. Nicklaus' margin was two from that point until the finish.
His victory at the 1966 Masters was Nicklaus' third win at The Masters (his third in four years), and his fifth major championship victory overall. It was his 18th victory on the PGA Tour. The following year, going for three in a row, Nicklaus missed the cut.
Arnold Palmer finished tied for fourth, two strokes out of the playoff. The 1966 Masters was the final playing appearance in the tournament by Byron Nelson, who missed the cut. The next back-to-back Masters champion didn't come along until Nick Faldo won in 1989-90.
1966 Masters Final Scores
| Jack Nicklaus | 68-76-72-72—288 (70) |
| Tommy Jacobs | 75-71-70-72—288 (72) |
| Gay Brewer | 74-72-72-70—288 (78) |
| Arnold Palmer | 74-70-74-72—290 |
| Doug Sanders | 74-70-75-71—290 |
| Don January | 71-73-73-75—292 |
| George Knudson | 73-76-72-71—292 |
| Raymond Floyd | 72-73-74-74—293 |
| Paul Harney | 75-68-76-74—293 |
| Billy Casper | 71-75-76-72—294 |
| Jay Hebert | 72-74-73-75—294 |
| Bob Rosburg | 73-71-76-74—294 |
| Tommy Aaron | 74-73-77-71—295 |
| Peter Butler | 72-71-79-73—295 |
| Ben Hogan | 74-71-73-77—295 |
| Ken Venturi | 75-74-73-74—296 |
| Tommy Bolt | 75-72-78-72—297 |
| Bruce Crampton | 74-75-71-77—297 |
| Terry Dill | 75-72-74-76—297 |
| Doug Ford | 75-73-73-76—297 |
| Phil Rodgers | 76-73-75-73—297 |
| Frank Beard | 77-71-77-73—298 |
| Chen Ching-Po | 75-77-76-70—298 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 74-76-74-74—298 |
| Harold Henning | 77-74-70-77—298 |
| Tony Lema | 74-74-74-76—298 |
| Bobby Nichols | 77-73-74-74—298 |
| Julius Boros | 77-73-73-76—299 |
| Bruce Devlin | 75-77-72-75—299 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 76-75-76-72—299 |
| a-Jimmy Grant | 74-74-78-73—299 |
| Gary Player | 74-77-76-72—299 |
| Rod Funseth | 80-70-76-74—300 |
| Ramon Sota | 79-73-77-71—300 |
| Mike Souchak | 71-74-77-78—300 |
| a-Bill Campbell | 76-77-76-72—301 |
| Wes Ellis | 76-75-73-77—301 |
| Dan Sikes | 76-74-75-76—301 |
| Billy Maxwell | 75-77-77-73—302 |
| R.H. Sikes | 73-78-74-77—302 |
| Dudley Wysong | 77-75-73-77—302 |
| George Bayer | 76-77-76-74—303 |
| Sam Snead | 77-72-76-78—303 |
| a-Don Allen | 74-72-75-83—304 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 75-73-79-77—304 |
| Jacky Cupit | 78-74-77-75—304 |
| Al Geiberger | 76-71-79-78—304 |
| Gene Littler | 76-76-72-80—304 |
| a-Ed Updegraff | 76-75-77-76—304 |
| a-Charlie Coe | 71-77-85-72—305 |
| a-Bob Dickson | 77-74-75-79—305 |
| Steve Oppermann | 74-74-73-84—305 |
| Randy Glover | 72-74-81-79—306 |
| a-Ron Cerrudo | 76-77-72-82—307 |
| a-Downing Gray | 75-77-76-79—307 |
| a-Ed Tutwiler | 79-74-73-81—307 |
| Dow Finsterwald | 73-76-77-82—308 |
| a-Dale Morey | 75-78-76-79—308 |
| Bob Goalby | 76-77-82-77—312 |
| a-Bob Murphy | 76-77-81-78—312 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 76-77-78-83—314 |
| a-Luis Silverio | 77-76-77-84—314 |
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