1981 Masters Tournament
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | April 9–12, 1981 |
Location | Augusta, Georgia |
Course(s) | Augusta National Golf Club |
Organized by | Augusta National Golf Club |
Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Statistics | |
Par | 72 |
Length | 6,905 yards (6,314 m)[1] |
Field | 82 players, 48 after cut |
Cut | 148 (+4) |
Prize fund | $362,587 |
Winner's share | $60,000 |
Champion | |
![]() | |
280 (−8) | |
«1980 1982» |


The 1981 Masters Tournament was the 45th Masters Tournament, held April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Tom Watson won his second green jacket and fifth major title by two strokes over Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.
Five-time champion Nicklaus shot a bogey-free 65 on Friday and led by four strokes after 36 holes,[2] but a 75 on Saturday put him a stroke behind Watson entering the final round. It was the fourth runner-up finish for Nicklaus at the Masters and the third for Miller.[3][4][5] Nicklaus won his sixth Masters five years later in 1986 at age 46.
Defending champion Seve Ballesteros shot 154 (+10) and missed the cut by six strokes;[2] he also missed the cut as defending champion in 1984. Lee Trevino, needing a green jacket to complete the career grand slam, also shot 154 with an ailing back.[2] His best finishes at Augusta were tenth place ties in 1975 and 1985.
Greg Norman, age 26, appeared in his first Masters and was fourth, the first of his eight top-five finishes at Augusta. He was runner-up three times, in 1986, 1987, and 1996.
This was the first Masters with bentgrass greens, which were formerly Bermuda and ryegrass.[6][7][8]
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Watson | ![]() | 1977 | 71 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 280 | −8 | 1 |
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 | 70 | 65 | 75 | 72 | 282 | −6 | T2 |
Raymond Floyd | ![]() | 1976 | 75 | 71 | 71 | 69 | 286 | −2 | T8 |
George Archer | ![]() | 1969 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 287 | −1 | T11 |
Gay Brewer | ![]() | 1967 | 75 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 288 | E | T15 |
Gary Player | ![]() | 1961, 1974, 1978 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 288 | E | T15 |
Charles Coody | ![]() | 1971 | 74 | 71 | 75 | 76 | 296 | +8 | T40 |
Fuzzy Zoeller | ![]() | 1979 | 77 | 70 | 78 | 72 | 297 | +9 | T43 |
Tommy Aaron | ![]() | 1973 | 77 | 71 | 76 | 79 | 303 | +15 | 48 |
Missed the cut
Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arnold Palmer | ![]() | 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 | 75 | 78 | 153 | +9 |
Seve Ballesteros | ![]() | 1980 | 78 | 76 | 154 | +10 |
Billy Casper | ![]() | 1970 | 76 | 78 | 154 | +10 |
Doug Ford | ![]() | 1957 | 79 | 76 | 155 | +11 |
Bob Goalby | ![]() | 1968 | 80 | 75 | 155 | +11 |
Sam Snead | ![]() | 1949, 1952, 1954 | 77 | 78 | 155 | +11 |
Art Wall, Jr. | ![]() | 1959 | 76 | 79 | 155 | +11 |
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, April 9, 1981
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Lon Hinkle | ![]() | 69 | −3 |
Johnny Miller | ![]() | |||
Greg Norman | ![]() | |||
Curtis Strange | ![]() | |||
T5 | Isao Aoki | ![]() | 70 | −2 |
John Cook | ![]() | |||
David Graham | ![]() | |||
Hubert Green | ![]() | |||
Jim Holtgrieve (a) | ![]() | |||
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | |||
Jim Simons | ![]() |
Source:[11]
Second round
Friday, April 10, 1981
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 70-65=135 | −9 |
T2 | Lon Hinkle | ![]() | 69-70=139 | −6 |
Bruce Lietzke | ![]() | 72-67=139 | ||
Greg Norman | ![]() | 69-70=139 | ||
Tom Watson | ![]() | 71-68=139 | ||
T6 | David Graham | ![]() | 70-70=140 | −4 |
Hubert Green | ![]() | 70-70=140 | ||
T8 | Jim Colbert | ![]() | 73-68=141 | −3 |
John Cook | ![]() | 70-71=141 | ||
Peter Jacobsen | ![]() | 71-70=141 | ||
Johnny Miller | ![]() | 69-72=141 |
Third round
Saturday, April 11, 1981
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tom Watson | ![]() | 71-68-70=209 | −7 |
2 | Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 70-65-75=210 | −6 |
3 | Greg Norman | ![]() | 69-70-72=211 | −5 |
T4 | Bruce Lietzke | ![]() | 72-67-73=212 | −4 |
John Mahaffey | ![]() | 72-71-69=212 | ||
T6 | John Cook | ![]() | 70-71-72=213 | −3 |
Ben Crenshaw | ![]() | 71-72-70=213 | ||
Lon Hinkle | ![]() | 69-70-74=213 | ||
Peter Jacobsen | ![]() | 71-70-72=213 | ||
T10 | Gay Brewer | ![]() | 75-68-71=214 | −2 |
David Graham | ![]() | 70-70-74=214 | ||
Hubert Green | ![]() | 70-70-74=214 | ||
Johnny Miller | ![]() | 69-72-73=214 | ||
Jerry Pate | ![]() | 71-72-71=214 | ||
Dave Stockton | ![]() | 72-72-70=214 | ||
Lanny Wadkins | ![]() | 72-71-71=214 |
Source:[13]
Final round
Sunday, April 12, 1981
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tom Watson | ![]() | 71-68-70-71=280 | −8 | 60,000 |
T2 | Johnny Miller | ![]() | 69-72-73-68=282 | −6 | 30,500 |
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 70-65-75-72=282 | |||
4 | Greg Norman | ![]() | 69-70-72-72=283 | −5 | 16,000 |
T5 | Tom Kite | ![]() | 74-72-70-68=284 | −4 | 12,667 |
Jerry Pate | ![]() | 71-72-71-70=284 | |||
7 | David Graham | ![]() | 70-70-74-71=285 | −3 | 11,167 |
T8 | Ben Crenshaw | ![]() | 71-72-70-73=286 | −2 | 9,667 |
Raymond Floyd | ![]() | 75-71-71-69=286 | |||
John Mahaffey | ![]() | 72-71-69-74=286 |
Source:[1]
Scorecard
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 |
![]() | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 |
![]() | −3 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −6 | −6 |
![]() | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −4 | −5 | −6 | −6 | −6 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[4]
References
- 1 2 "Masters Scores". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. April 13, 1981. p. 17.
- 1 2 3 "Nicklaus has 65, tops Masters". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Associated Press. April 11, 1981. p. 1D.
- ↑ Jenkins, Dan (April 20, 1981). "True Grit at Augusta". Sports Illustrated. p. 34.
- 1 2 "Watson wins second Masters". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). April 13, 1981. p. 17.
- ↑ Green, Bob (April 13, 1981). "Watson holds on for Masters win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 13.
- ↑ "Masters sports bent grass furor". The Dispatch. (Lexington, North Carolina). Associated Press. April 8, 1981. p. 13.
- ↑ "Nicklaus, Watson remain the ones to watch". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 9, 1981. p. 37.
- ↑ Boswell, Thomas (April 7, 1982). "Everything normal at Augusta National". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). p. 21.
- ↑ "1981 Masters". databasegolf.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- 1 2 "Golf scoreboard: Masters". Pittsburgh Press. April 11, 1981. p. A9.
- ↑ "Masters scores". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. April 10, 1981. p. 26.
- ↑ "Golf: Masters leaders". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). April 11, 1981. p. 2D.
- ↑ "Golf: Masters leaders". Sunday Star-News. (Wilmington, North Carolina). April 12, 1981. p. 2D.
External links
- Masters.com – past winners and results
- About.com – 1981 Masters
- Augusta.com – 1981 Masters leaderboard and scorecards
Preceded by 1980 PGA Championship |
Major Championships | Succeeded by 1981 U.S. Open |
Coordinates: 33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W