Gary Player in The Masters: Wins, Yearly Scores and Finishes
Gary Player played in The Masters Tournament 52 times, more than any other golfer. And he won three of those years — he was just the fifth golfer to win The Masters at least three times. Below you'll find a recap of Player's three victories, plus his yearly scores and finishes in every Masters Tournament he played.
In all, Player had 15 Top 10 finishes and 22 Top 25 finishes, both numbers tied for third-best in Masters history. He made 30 career cuts in the tournament, tied for second-best. But he made every cut in The Masters from 1959-82 (excluding one year he didn't enter), 23 consecutive, and that is still the all-time record.
Players' Three Masters Wins
- 1961 Masters: Player opened with a 69 to stand third, and tied Arnold Palmer for the lead with a 68 in Round 2. A 69 in Round 3 gave Player a four-stroke leader over Palmer. But Player shot 74 in the fourth round, then had to wait to see what Palmer, who teed off an hour after Player, did. And Palmer appeared in position to win, taking the lead into the final hole. But Palmer, who needed a par to win, instead double-bogeyed the 18th hole. That gave Player the victory, and made him the first international (non-American) golfer to win The Masters.
- 1974 Masters: This was Player's seventh win in a major championship. It came a year after he had to skip the tournament while recuperating from surgery. A third-round 66 moved Player from outside the Top 10 into a tie for second place. In the final round, he shot 70 and finished two strokes in front of the runners-up, Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf.
- 1978 Masters: This was probably the most-famous final-round comeback in Masters history until Jack Nicklaus' 1986 charge. Player, 42 years old, entered the final round tied for 10th place, but seven strokes off the lead. Then he shot 64 (tying the Masters' final-round record), including 30 on the back nine, to get into the clubhouse with the lead. He waited nearly an hour to see if anyone could catch him, and nobody could. Player's putter was on fire in the final round: He made seven putts from between 10 to 30 feet. The last of those was a 15-footer for birdie on his final hole. This was Player's ninth and last win in a major. And at the time, he was The Masters' oldest-ever winner.
How Gary Player Fared Every Year in The Masters
Here are Player's yearly scores and finishes in the tournament at Augusta National:- 1957 — 77-72-75-73—297 (+9), tied 24th
- 1958 — 74-76—150 (+6), missed cut
- 1959 — 73-75-71-71—290 (+2), tied 8th
- 1960 — 72-71-72-74—289 (+1), tied 6th
- 1961 — 69-68-69-74—280 (-8), won
- 1962 — 67-71-71-71—280 (-8), 2nd
- 1963 — 71-74-74-70—289 (+1), tied 5th
- 1964 — 69-72-72-73—286 (-2), tied 5th
- 1965 — 65-73-69-73—280 (-8), tied 2nd
- 1966 — 74-77-76-72—299 (+11), tied 28th
- 1967 — 75-69-72-71—287 (-1), tied 6th
- 1968 — 72-67-71-72—282 (-6), tied 7th
- 1969 — 74-70-75-76—295 (+7), tied 33rd
- 1970 — 74-68-68-70—280 (-8), 3rd
- 1971 — 72-72-71-69—284 (-4), tied 6th
- 1972 — 73-75-72-71—291 (+3), tied 10th
- 1973 — did not play
- 1974 — 71-71-66-70—278 (-10), won
- 1975 — 72-74-73-73—292 (+4), tied 30th
- 1976 — 73-73-70-79—295 (+7), tied 28th
- 1977 — 71-70-72-74—287 (-1), tied 19th
- 1978 — 72-72-69-64—277 (-11), won
- 1979 — 69-71-72-69—281 (-7), tied 17th
- 1980 — 71-71-71-70—283 (-5), tied 6th
- 1981 — 73-73-71-71—288 (E), tied 15th
- 1982 — 74-73-71-74—292 (+4), tied 15th
- 1983 — 73-78—151 (+7), missed cut
- 1984 — 71-72-73-71—287 (-1), tied 21st
- 1985 — 71-75-73-75—294 (+6), tied 36th
- 1986 — 77-73—150 (+6), missed cut
- 1987 — 75-75-71-76—297 (+9), tied 35th
- 1988 — 78-75—153 (+9), missed cut
- 1989 — 76-77—153 (+9), missed cut
- 1990 — 73-74-68-76—291 (+3), tied 24th
- 1991 — 72-75—147 (+3), missed cut
- 1992 — 75-73—148 (+4), missed cut
- 1993 — 71-76-75-80—302 (+14), 60th
- 1994 — 71-79—150 (+6), missed cut
- 1995 — 76-73—149 (+5), missed cut
- 1996 — 73-76—149 (+5), missed cut
- 1997 — 76-75—151 (+7), missed cut
- 1998 — 77-72-78-75—302 (+14), 46th
- 1999 — 79-79—158 (+14), missed cut
- 2000 — 76-74—150 (+6), missed cut
- 2001 — 73-76—149 (+5), missed cut
- 2002 — 80-78—158 (+14), missed cut
- 2003 — 82-80—162 (+18), missed cut
- 2004 — 82-80—162 (+18), missed cut
- 2005 — 88-79—167 (+23), missed cut
- 2006 — 79-81—160 (+16), missed cut
- 2007 — 83-77—160 (+16), missed cut
- 2008 — 83-78—161 (+17), missed cut
- 2009 — 78-83—161 (+17), missed cut
