1968 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1968 Masters was the 32nd time the tournament was played. It ended with a rules controversy after Roberto De Vicenzo, who otherwise would have gone into a playoff for the trophy, signed an incorrect scorecard. Instead, Bob Goalby was the victor.
Winner: Bob Goalby, 277
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 11-14, 1968
Leader after first round: Billy Casper, 68
Leader after second round: Gary Player and Don January, 139
Leader after third round: Gary Player, 210
What Happened in the 1968 Masters Tournament
The 1968 Masters is remembered for one of the most infamous mistakes in major championship history: The Roberto De Vicenzo scorecard incident. De Vicenzo, from Argentina, was in his mid-40s at the 1968 Masters, but was still winning regularly around the world. In fact, he was the reigning British Open champion when he arrived at Augusta in 1968.De Vicenzo opened the final round in contention, then thrust himself to the top of the leaderboard with a mostly impeccable fourth round. He shot 31 on the front nine, then a record. He closed with a birdie on No. 17 but a bogey on the final hole, and posted 65.
At the end of the final round, De Vicenzo was tied with Bob Goalby at 277. The two should have returned on Monday for an 18-hole playoff.
Except that De Vicenzo's final-round playing partner and marker, Tommy Aaron, made a mistake on De Vicenzo's scorecard. Aaron gave De Vicenzo a par (4) on the 17th hole rather than the birdie (3) De Vicenzo actually made. And De Vicenzo failed to catch the error.
When he signed the scorecard, De Vicenzo was guilty of turning in an incorrect scorecard. Under the rules of the time, the higher score that De Vicenzo signed for stood, meaning that he was credited with a 66 rather than the 65 he actually shot. And that meant that he finished one stroke off the lead rather than tied and heading into a playoff.
So De Vicenzo finished second at the 1968 Masters and Bob Goalby was the winner. When De Vicenzo realized his mistake, he exclaimed "What a stupid I am!" Words that live on in golf history. De Vicenzo never won another major, although he did win the PGA Tour's Houston Open three weeks later.
(Tommy Aaron went on to win the 1973 Masters, where, ironically, he caught a mistake on his own scorecard made by his playing partner.)
The scorecard incident has overshadowed the fact that Goalby was the winner, but Goalby did his part to earn the Green Jacket, closing with a final-round 66 that included a 4-under stretch in holes 13-15. Goalby won 11 times on the PGA Tour.
Something else that happened at the 1968 Masters: Arnold Palmer missed the cut. It was Arnie's first missed cut at The Masters, a tournament he won four times. The other two members of the era's "big three," Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, both finished in the Top 10. In fact, Player was the third-round leader but a 72 in Round 4 dropped him into a tie for seventh.
Lee Trevino made his Masters debut this year. He was tied for seventh after three rounds, two strokes off the lead, but scored 80 in the final round and dropped to 40th. Tom Weiskopf, who eventually finished runner-up in The Masters four times but did win the British Open, made his Masters debut and tied for 16th.
1968 Masters Final Scores
| Bob Goalby | 70-70-71-66—277 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 69-73-70-66—278 |
| Bert Yancey | 71-71-72-65—279 |
| Bruce Devlin | 69-73-69-69—280 |
| Frank Beard | 75-65-71-70—281 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 69-71-74-67—281 |
| Tommy Aaron | 69-72-72-69—282 |
| Raymond Floyd | 71-71-69-71—282 |
| Lionel Hebert | 72-71-71-68—282 |
| Jerry Pittman | 70-73-70-69—282 |
| Gary Player | 72-67-71-72—282 |
| Miller Barber | 75-69-68-71—283 |
| Doug Sanders | 76-69-70-68—283 |
| Don January | 71-68-72-73—284 |
| Mason Rudolph | 73-73-72-66—284 |
| Julius Boros | 73-71-70-71—285 |
| Billy Casper | 68-75-73-69—285 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 74-71-69-71—285 |
| Bob Charles | 75-71-70-70—286 |
| Dave Marr | 74-71-71-71—287 |
| Kermit Zarley | 70-73-74-70—287 |
| George Archer | 75-71-72-70—288 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 74-71-72-71—288 |
| a-Vinny Giles | 71-72-72-73—288 |
| Harold Henning | 72-71-71-74—288 |
| Tony Jacklin | 69-73-74-72—288 |
| Art Wall Jr. | 74-74-73-67—288 |
| Jay Hebert | 74-71-71-73—289 |
| George Knudson | 75-71-72-71—289 |
| Charles Coody | 76-72-72-70—290 |
| Al Geiberger | 76-70-72-72—290 |
| Kel Nagle | 76-71-72-71—290 |
| Bobby Nichols | 74-73-73-70—290 |
| Bob Rosburg | 74-73-71-72—290 |
| Gay Brewer | 72-74-71-74—291 |
| Chen Ching-Po | 73-76-71-71—291 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 76-71-74-70—291 |
| Dan Sikes | 73-76-70-72—291 |
| Hideyo Sugimoto | 71-75-73-72—291 |
| Paul Harney | 78-70-70-74—292 |
| Lee Trevino | 71-72-69-80—292 |
| Sam Snead | 73-74-75-71—293 |
| Gene Littler | 73-73-76-72—294 |
| Johnny Pott | 75-68-75-76—294 |
| a-Gary Cowan | 78-71-73-73—295 |
| a-Jack Lewis Jr. | 78-71-76-70—295 |
| Don Massengale | 76-73-73-73—295 |
| a-Bill Campbell | 74-71-75-76—296 |
| Doug Ford | 72-75-72-77—296 |
| Dave Hill | 79-70-73-75—297 |
| Ken Venturi | 75-74-73-75—297 |
| a-Joe Carr | 75-73-80-78—306 |
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