1997 Masters Tournament


The 1997 Masters Tournament was the 61st Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Tiger Woods won his first major championship, twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite. Through 2019, the margin of victory and four-day score of 270 are tournament records. Woods also became both the youngest and the first non-white player to win at
Woods struggled on his first nine holes of the first round, turning at 4-over-par 40. Making four birdies and an eagle gave him a 6-under-par 30 the back nine for a 70, three shots behind first-round leader John Huston.
In the second and third rounds, Woods scored the best rounds of each day to open up a commanding nine-shot lead. A final-round 69 gave Woods a tournament record 270, bettering the previous record of 271 set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and matched by Raymond Floyd in 1976.
Woods' victory set television ratings records for golf; the final round broadcast on Sunday was seen by an estimated 44 million viewers in the United States.

Field

;1. Masters champions
Tommy Aaron, Seve Ballesteros, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Jack Nicklaus, José María Olazábal, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Ian Woosnam, Fuzzy Zoeller
;2. U.S. Open champions
Ernie Els, Lee Janzen, Steve Jones, Tom Kite, Corey Pavin
;3. The Open champions
John Daly, Tom Lehman, Greg Norman, Nick Price
;4. PGA champions
Paul Azinger, Mark Brooks, Steve Elkington
;5. U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up
Steve Scott
;6. The Amateur champion
Warren Bladon
;7. U.S. Amateur Public Links champion
Tim Hogarth
;8. U.S. Mid-Amateur champion
John "Spider" Miller
;9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1996 Masters
Mark Calcavecchia, David Duval, David Frost, Scott Hoch, John Huston, Davis Love III, Jeff Maggert, Scott McCarron, Phil Mickelson, Frank Nobilo, Mark O'Meara, Loren Roberts, Bob Tway, Duffy Waldorf
;10. Top 16 players and ties from the 1996 U.S. Open
David Berganio, Jr., Stewart Cink, John Cook, Dan Forsman, Jim Furyk, Ken Green, Colin Montgomerie, John Morse, Vijay Singh, Sam Torrance
;11. Top eight players and ties from 1996 PGA Championship
Per-Ulrik Johansson, Justin Leonard, Jesper Parnevik, Kenny Perry, Tommy Tolles
;12. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters
Stuart Appleby, Guy Boros, Michael Bradley, Brad Faxon, Ed Fiori, Fred Funk, Dudley Hart, David Ogrin, Clarence Rose, Jeff Sluman, Paul Stankowski, Steve Stricker, D. A. Weibring, Willie Wood, Tiger Woods
;13. Top 30 players from the 1996 PGA Tour money list
;14. Special foreign invitation
Robert Allenby, Yoshinori Kaneko, Mark McNulty, Masashi Ozaki, Costantino Rocca, Lee Westwood

Nationalities in the field

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 10, 1997
John Huston shot 67 to lead by one stroke over Paul Stankowski. Tiger Woods shot a 40 on the first nine, but came back into the clubhouse on the back nine with a score of 30 for a 70.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1John Huston67−5
2Paul Stankowski68−4
3Paul Azinger69−3
4Tiger Woods70−2
T5Costantino Rocca71−1
T5José María Olazábal71−1
T5Nick Price71−1
T8Stuart Appleby72E
T8David Berganio, Jr.72E
T8Fred Couples72E
T8Lee Janzen72E
T8Per-Ulrik Johansson72E
T8Bernhard Langer72E
T8Davis Love III72E
T8Colin Montgomerie72E
T8Tommy Tolles72E
T8Willie Wood72E

Scorecard

Source:

Second round

Friday, April 11, 1997
Woods started the round three strokes back, but a 66 gave him his first lead in a professional major championship, three shots ahead of Colin Montgomerie from Scotland.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tiger Woods70-66=136−8
2Colin Montgomerie72-67=139−5
3Costantino Rocca71-69=140−4
T4Fred Couples72-69=141−3
T4José María Olazábal71-70=141−3
T4Jeff Sluman74-67=141−3
T7Paul Azinger69-73=142−2
T7Nick Price71-71=142−2
T7Paul Stankowski68-74=142−2
T10Ernie Els73-70=143−1
T10Davis Love III72-71=143−1
T10Tom Watson75-68=143−1

Amateurs: Bladon, Scott, Hogarth, Miller

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:

Third round

Saturday, April 12, 1997
Woods shot a 65 in the third round for 201 and his lead increased to nine shots; the closest competitor was Costantino Rocca from Italy. Montgomerie's 74 dropped him into a tie for sixth.

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:

Final round

Sunday, April 13, 1997
Woods won his first major championship, twelve strokes ahead of his nearest competitor, runner-up Tom Kite. It was the largest victory margin for a major until the U.S. Open in 2000, won by Woods with a 15-shot margin. Rocca and Stankowski fell into a tie for fifth.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Tiger Woods70-66-65-69=270−18486,000
2Tom Kite77-69-66-70=282−6291,600
3Tommy Tolles72-72-72-67=283−5183,600
4Tom Watson75-68-69-72=284−4129,600
T5Costantino Rocca71-69-70-75=285−3102,600
T5Paul Stankowski68-74-69-74=285−3102,600
T7Fred Couples72-69-73-72=286−278,570
T7Bernhard Langer72-72-74-68=286−278,570
T7Justin Leonard76-69-71-70=286−278,570
T7Davis Love III72-71-72-71=286−278,570
T7Jeff Sluman74-67-72-73=286−278,570

Scorecard

Final round
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par454343454443545344
Woods−15−16−16−16−15−15−14−15−15−15−16−16−17−18−18−18−18−18
Kite−4−5−5−4−4−3−4−5−5−5−5−5−6−6−5−5−6−6
TollesE−1−2−2−2−2−2−1−2−2−2−2−3−3−4−5−5−5
Watson−5−6−6−6−7−6−3−4−4−5−5−6−6−6−6−5−5−4
Rocca−6−7−7−7−7−6−6−6−6−6−5−5−5−5−5−5−4−3
Stankowski−5−4−3−2−2−2−3−3−2−3−2−2−2−3−3−3−3−3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source: