1971 Masters Tournament

The 1971 Masters Tournament was the 35th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Charles Coody won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus.[1][2]

1971 Masters Tournament
Front cover of the 1971 Masters Guide
Tournament information
DatesApril 8–11, 1971
LocationAugusta, Georgia
33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)Augusta National Golf Club
Organized byAugusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,980 yards (6,383 m)[1]
Field77 players, 48 after cut
Cut150 (+6)
Winner's share$25,000
Champion
United States Charles Coody
279 (−9)
Location map
Augusta National is located in the United States
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in the United States
Augusta National is located in Georgia
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in Georgia
← 1970
1972 →

Miller was six-under for the Sunday round and, playing two groups ahead of the final two-some, his birdie on 14 would open up a two-shot lead when Coody subsequently bogeyed the hole, but could not hold on to win. Coody, co-leader with Nicklaus entering the round,[3] rebounded from his bogey at 14 with two consecutive birdies and parred the final two holes while Miller, 23, bogeyed two of the last three holes. It was a bit of redemption for Coody, who bogeyed the final three holes in 1969 to finish two strokes back.[1] It was Coody's third and final win on the PGA Tour.[4]

Future 3-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin made his Masters debut in 1971 and tied for 13th place. It was the final Masters for two champions: 1948 winner Claude Harmon, withdrew during the first round[5] and 1955 champion Cary Middlecoff during the second.[6]

Dave Stockton won the twelfth Par 3 contest on Wednesday with a score of 23.

For the first time in its history, the Masters was not the first major championship of the year. The 1971 PGA Championship was played in Florida in February, and was won by Nicklaus. The co-leader entering Sunday, his attempt to secure the second leg of the grand slam[3] came up short on the back nine on Sunday, as he shot 37 for an even-par 72.[2]

Field

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1. Masters champions

George Archer, Gay Brewer (9), Billy Casper (2,8,9,11), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus (2,3,8,10,11), Arnold Palmer (10), Gary Player (3,8), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead (8), Art Wall Jr.

The following categories only apply to Americans
2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)

Orville Moody (8)

3. The Open champions (last five years)
4. PGA champions (last five years)

Julius Boros (8,9), Raymond Floyd (10,11), Al Geiberger, Don January (8), Dave Stockton (8,10)

5. The first eight finishers in the 1970 U.S. Amateur

William C. Campbell (a), Jim Gabrielsen (a), Vinny Giles (7,a), Tom Kite (7,a), Steve Melnyk (6,a), Jim Simons (a), Richard Spears (a), Lanny Wadkins (6,7,a)[7]

6. Previous two U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
7. Members of the 1970 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team

Allen Miller (a)

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1970 Masters Tournament

Tommy Aaron (11), Miller Barber (9,11), Frank Beard (11), Deane Beman, Charles Coe (a), Charles Coody, Bert Greene, Dave Hill (9,11), Howie Johnson (9), Gene Littler (9,10,11), Dick Lotz (10), Bob Lunn (9), Bob Murphy (10), Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Tom Weiskopf, Terry Wilcox, Bert Yancey

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1970 U.S. Open

Joel Goldstrand, Bobby Mitchell, Ken Still (11), Larry Ziegler

10. Top eight players and ties from 1970 PGA Championship

Larry Hinson

11. Members of the U.S. 1969 Ryder Cup team

Dale Douglass, Dan Sikes

12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions.

Homero Blancas

13. Leading eight players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in PGA Tour events since the previous Masters

Dave Eichelberger, Gibby Gilbert, Lou Graham, Jerry Heard, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, John Schlee, Tom Shaw[8]

14. Foreign invitations

Bob Charles (8,9), Gary Cowan (5,a), Bruce Crampton (10), Roberto De Vicenzo (3), Bruce Devlin (9), David Graham, Harold Henning, Tommy Horton, Hsieh Yung-yo, Tony Jacklin (2,3,8,9), Takaaki Kono (8), John Lister, Sukree Onsham, Peter Oosterhuis

  • Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.[9]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, April 8, 1971

Place Player Score To par
1   Charles Coody 66 −6
T2   Raymond Floyd 69 −3
  Hale Irwin
  Don January
  Bob Lunn
  Bob Murphy
T7   Dale Douglass 70 −2
  Jack Nicklaus
T9   Art Wall Jr. 71 −1
  Tom Weiskopf
  Bert Yancey

Source:[10]

Second round

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Friday, April 9, 1971

Place Player Score To par
1   Don January 69-69=138 −6
T2   Charles Coody 66-73=139 −5
  Bob Murphy 69-70=139
4   Tom Weiskopf 71-69=140 −4
T5   Dale Douglass 70-71=141 −3
  Hale Irwin 69-72=141
  Gene Littler 72-69=141
  Jack Nicklaus 70-71=141
T9   Bruce Devlin 72-70=142 −2
  Bobby Mitchell 72-70=142

Source:[11]

Third round

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Saturday, April 10, 1971

Place Player Score To par
T1   Charles Coody 66-73-70=209 −7
  Jack Nicklaus 70-71-68=209
3   Don January 69-69-73=211 −5
T4   Hale Irwin 69-72-71=212 −4
  Tom Weiskopf 71-69-72=212
6   Johnny Miller 72-73-68=213 −3
T7   Bruce Devlin 72-70-72=214 −2
  Gene Littler 72-69-73=214
  Dave Stockton 72-73-69=214
T10   Bob Murphy 69-70-76=215 −1
  Gary Player 72-72-71=215
  Ken Still 72-71-72=215

Source:[12]

Final round

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Sunday, April 11, 1971

Final leaderboard

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Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1   Charles Coody 66-73-70-70=279 −9 25,000
T2   Johnny Miller 72-73-68-68=281 −7 17,500
  Jack Nicklaus (c) 70-71-68-72=281
T4   Don January 69-69-73-72=283 −5 9,050
  Gene Littler 72-69-73-69=283
T6   Gary Player (c) 72-72-71-69=284 −4 5,600
  Ken Still 72-71-72-69=284
  Tom Weiskopf 71-69-72-72=284
T9   Frank Beard 74-73-69-70=286 −2 3,767
  Roberto De Vicenzo 76-69-72-69=286
  Dave Stockton 72-73-69-72=286

Sources:[13][14]

Scorecard

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Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4
  Coody −7 −8 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −7 −8 −9 −9 −9
  Miller −3 −3 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8 −9 −9 −8 −8 −7
  Nicklaus −8 −8 −8 −7 −6 −7 −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

References

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  1. ^ a b c Mizell, Hubert (April 12, 1971). "Coody atones for earlier 'choke'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 3B.
  2. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (April 19, 1971). "There went the Slam". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
  3. ^ a b "Nicklaus, Coody tied for lead in Masters". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 11, 1971. p. 1C.
  4. ^ "Coody wins to make amends". Milwaukee Journal. April 12, 1971. p. 11-part 2.
  5. ^ "Charles Coody far ahead as Masters star struggle". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 9, 1971. p. 19.
  6. ^ "Veteran January catches Coody; takes Masters tournament lead". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 10, 1971. p. 11.
  7. ^ "Lan Wadkins Links Champ". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 6, 1970. p. 8.
  8. ^ ""Consolation" is birth in Masters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 5, 1981. p. 12.
  9. ^ "1971 Masters". databasegolf.com. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  10. ^ "Charles Coody fires 66, takes three-stroke lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 9, 1971. p. 2B.
  11. ^ "January claims lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 10, 1971. p. 1B.
  12. ^ "Masters pairings". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 11, 1971. p. 8C.
  13. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  14. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
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