1975 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores

The 1975 Masters was the tournament's 39th playing. And it was where Jack Nicklaus won his fifth Masters title, setting a new record. Nicklaus outlasted Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in a memorable 3-way, final-round duel.

Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 276

Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

Tournament dates: April 10-13, 1975

Leader after first round: Bobby Nichols, 67

Leader after second round: Jack Nicklaus, 135

Leader after third round: Tom Weiskopf, 207

What Happened at the 1975 Masters

This win certainly wasn't an easy one for Nicklaus, but it was his fifth Masters title, breaking the tie for the tournament record he had shared with Arnold Palmer. It was also his 13th overall professional major championship win, extending his own record.

After 15 holes of the final round, Weiskopf led by one over Nicklaus with Miller one stroke back of Jack. But the outcome turned on the 16th hole. Nicklaus, one group ahead of Weiskopf, rolled in a 40-foot birdie bomb to tie for the lead with Weiskopf watching from the tee. Weiskopf then bogeyed the hole, putting Nicklaus in the lead. Nicklaus and Weiskopf parred out, while Miller birdied the 17th to tie Weiskopf for second place.

Both Weiskopf and Miller had battled back from far behind Nicklaus earlier in the tournament. Nicklaus led Miller by 11 strokes at the tournament's halfway point, and Weiskopf by six strokes. But Nicklaus posted a 73 in the third round, while Miller was shooting 65 and Weiskopf 66.

In the final round, Nicklaus started the day one stroke behind Weiskopf, with Miller three behind Nicklaus and four behind Weiskopf. Miller and Weiskopf were paired in the final group, Nicklaus one hole in front of them. (Nicklaus was paired with Tom Watson, who finished tied for eighth, but went on to post Top 10 finishes in all four majors of 1975, including his first major win at the 1975 British Open). After nine holes of the final round, Weiskopf and Nicklaus were tied for the lead with Miller two behind.

Aside from Nicklaus' iconic long birdie putt on the 16th hole, both challengers made crucial mistakes (plus a few birdies) on their back nines: Miller missed a couple short putts, while Weiskopf found water on the 11th.

The dagger from Nicklaus, though, was that 40-foot birdie putt the Bear rolled across the green on the 16th hole, with Miller and Weiskopf watching from the tee. It was a putt nobody expected Nicklaus to make; most observers thought he'd be lucky to get down with a par. Instead, Nicklaus birdied, the crowd erupted and Nicklaus got pretty excited himself. Miller would finish second three times total at The Masters, and for Weiskopf this was his fourth runner-up finish, which shares the Masters record for most second-place finishes.

The 1975 Masters is also historically significant for another reason: Lee Elder played. Elder was the first Black golfer to play in The Masters; he missed the cut. Curtis Strange, a future 2-time U.S. Open winner and Hall of Famer, made his major championship debut here. Playing as an amateur, he missed the cut.

1975 Masters Final Scores

Jack Nicklaus	68-67-73-68—276
Johnny Miller	75-71-65-66—277
Tom Weiskopf	69-72-66-70—277
Hale Irwin	73-74-71-64—282
Bobby Nichols	67-74-72-69—282
Billy Casper	70-70-73-70—283
Dave Hill	75-71-70-68—284
Hubert Green	74-71-70-70—285
Tom Watson	70-70-72-73—285
Tom Kite	72-74-71-69—286
J.C. Snead	69-72-75-70—286
Lee Trevino	71-70-74-71—286
Arnold Palmer	69-71-75-72—287
Larry Ziegler	71-73-74-69—287
Bobby Cole	73-71-73-71—288
Rod Curl	72-70-76-70—288
Bruce Devlin	72-70-76-70—288
Allen Miller	68-75-72-73—288
Art Wall Jr.	72-74-72-70—288
Bud Allin	73-69-73-74—289
Ralph Johnston	74-73-69-73—289
Hugh Baiocchi	76-72-72-70—290
Pat Fitzsimons	73-68-79-70—290
Gene Littler	72-72-72-74—290
Graham Marsh	75-70-74-71—290
Miller Barber	74-72-72-73—291
Maurice Bembridge	75-72-75-69—291
Jerry Heard	71-75-72-73—291
Dave Stockton	72-72-73-74—291
a-George Burns III	72-72-76-72—292
Ben Crenshaw	72-71-75-74—292
Forrest Fezler	76-71-71-74—292
Raymond Floyd	72-73-79-68—292
Gary Player	72-74-73-73—292
Victor Regalado	76-72-72-72—292
Bert Yancey	74-71-74-73—292
a-Jerry Pate	71-75-78-69—293
Tommy Aaron	71-75-76-72—294
Gary Groh	72-76-71-75—294
Charles Coody	72-75-75-73—295
Lou Graham	72-72-77-74—295
Bob Murphy	70-72-80-74—296
Homero Blancas	72-69-79-77—297
Lu Liang-Huan	73-74-78-72—297
Jumbo Ozaki	73-73-83-68—297
Richie Karl	72-75-79-76—302

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