1973 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
The Masters was played for the 37th time in 1973. Tommy Aaron, a golfer whose nickname derived from his habit of finishing second, this time came out on top for his only major championship title.
Winner: Tommy Aaron, 283
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 5-9, 1973
Leader after first round: Tommy Aaron, 68
Leader after second round: Gay Brewer, Bob Dickson, Tommy Aaron and J.C. Snead, 141
Leader after third round: Peter Oosterhuis, 211
What Happened in the 1973 Masters Tournament
With a first-round 68, Tommy Aaron took the lead in the 1973 Masters. With middling middle rounds, he lost the lead. But with another 68 in the final round, Aaron reclaimed the lead and the Green Jacket.Aaron began the final round four strokes behind Peter Oosterhuis, but "Oostie" carded a 74 in the final round — which took place on a Monday after weather delays — to Aaron's 68. J.C. Snead, nephew of Sam Snead, was runner-up. (Uncle Sam tied for 29th at age 60.)
Aaron won only three times on the PGA Tour, and the 1973 Masters was the last of those victories. He finished second so often in his career that his nickname was "The Bridesmaid."
But Aaron played a role in another famous (or perhaps infamous) incident at The Masters. In 1968, Aaron was the playing partner of Roberto De Vicenzo in the final round. De Vicenzo should have gone into a playoff with Bob Goalby, but Aaron wrote down an incorrect score on De Vicenzo's scorecard and De Vicenzo failed to catch the mistake. When De Vicenzo signed and turned in the incorrect score, he was penalized and dropped out of the playoff, giving Goalby the win.
Following the final round of his 1973 victory, Aaron caught a mistake on his own scorecard. Aaron told the Augusta Chronicle that his playing partner, Johnny Miller, gave Aaron a 5 on No. 13 when, in fact, Aaron had made a 4. Aaron caught and corrected the mistake before signing and turning in his scorecard.
The 1973 Masters was the final playing appearance in the tournament for 1935 winner Gene Sarazen, but Sarazen later returned as one of the Masters' honorary starters. Ralph Guldahl, 1939 Masters champ, also made his final playing appearance this year.
For the 52-year span from 1957 through 2009, 3-time winner Gary Player started every Masters except one — this one. He missed the 1973 tournament while recovering from surgery. When he returned in 1974, Player won. Defending champ Jack Nicklaus tied for third. For the second year in a row, the low amateur was Ben Crenshaw, who went on to win The Masters twice.
1973 Masters Final Scores
| Tommy Aaron | 68-73-74-68—283 |
| J.C. Snead | 70-71-73-70—284 |
| Jim Jamieson | 73-71-70-71—285 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 69-77-73-66—285 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 73-70-68-74—285 |
| Bob Goalby | 73-70-71-74—288 |
| Johnny Miller | 75-69-71-73—288 |
| Bruce Devlin | 73-72-72-72—289 |
| Jumbo Ozaki | 69-74-73-73—289 |
| Gay Brewer | 75-66-74-76—291 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 74-70-72-75—291 |
| Don January | 75-71-75-70—291 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 72-70-73-76—291 |
| Hubert Green | 72-74-75-71—292 |
| Mason Rudolph | 72-72-77-71—292 |
| Dave Stockton | 72-74-71-75—292 |
| Billy Casper | 75-73-72-73—293 |
| Bob Dickson | 70-71-76-76—293 |
| Lou Graham | 77-73-72-71—293 |
| Babe Hiskey | 74-73-72-74—293 |
| Gene Littler | 77-72-71-73—293 |
| Kermit Zarley | 74-71-77-71—293 |
| Phil Rodgers | 71-75-75-73—294 |
| Frank Beard | 73-75-71-76—295 |
| a-Ben Crenshaw | 73-72-74-76—295 |
| Paul Harney | 77-71-74-73—295 |
| Bobby Nichols | 79-72-76-68—295 |
| Arnold Palmer | 77-72-76-70—295 |
| Bob Charles | 74-70-74-78—296 |
| Charles Coody | 74-73-79-70—296 |
| David Graham | 72-74-77-73—296 |
| Sam Snead | 74-76-73-73—296 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 75-74-71-76—296 |
| a-Vinny Giles | 78-71-72-76—297 |
| Steve Melnyk | 72-74-79-72—297 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 77-71-75-74—297 |
| Rod Funseth | 73-75-74-76—298 |
| Al Geiberger | 75-76-77-70—298 |
| Dave Hill | 77-70-76-75—298 |
| Grier Jones | 71-72-77-78—298 |
| Art Wall Jr. | 79-69-74-76—298 |
| a-Martin West III | 75-70-77-76—298 |
| George Archer | 73-74-74-78—299 |
| Miller Barber | 78-72-80-69—299 |
| Jim Colbert | 74-72-76-77—299 |
| Bruce Crampton | 74-74-77-74—299 |
| Lu Liang-Huan | 74-72-75-78—299 |
| Bob Lunn | 76-74-72-77—299 |
| Cesar Sanudo | 72-75-76-76—299 |
| Lee Trevino | 74-75-75-75—299 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 74-74-78-74—300 |
| Takaaki Kono | 74-74-78-74—300 |
| Bert Yancey | 75-74-74-77—300 |
| Raymond Floyd | 76-73-75-77—301 |
| Don Massengale | 74-74-76-78—302 |
| Jerry Heard | 76-75-72-80—303 |
| John Schlee | 76-73-74-82—305 |
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