We’re at the halfway point of the Masters and there’s still a lot of golf to be played during the course of the next two days. Masters weekend is always a good time to take a look back at what was going on at Augusta National decades ago. Who was making an impact, who was taking a final bow, and exactly how much money they were earning?
Starting out with a great leap backward, 60 years ago marked the playing of the 1955 Masters. Yes, it was a much different world back then. It would be the final year that the Masters was not televised. The winner’s share of the purse was $5,000. The course played to a relatively long 6,950 yards in the era of persimmon drivers and balata golf balls. Cary Middlecoff would win that Masters by a record-setting margin. Only three contestants — Middlecoff, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead — finished under par at the ’55 Masters. Middlecoff just so happened to beat his two closest pursuers by seven and eight shots, respectively. Most notably, that 1955 Masters, some 60 years ago, marked the first appearance at Augusta National by 25-year-old United States Amateur champ Arnold Palmer. He finished 14 shots behind Middlecoff, which was still good enough for a 10th-place finish.
Ten years later it would be another runaway winner. In 1965, 25-year-old Jack Nicklaus carded a 17-under-par score to not only beat his closest pursuers, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer, by nine strokes, but he also eclipsed Ben Hogan’s overall tournament record by three shots. It was Jack’s second Masters triumph and fourth major title. During third-round play, Nicklaus carded a course-record 64 to take his big lead. Tied for sixth that week was Ramon Sota of Spain. Sota was the uncle of Seve Ballesteros. Farther down the leader board in 15th place was two-time Masters champ Byron Nelson. For the 52-year-old Nelson, it would be the last time he would make the 36-hole cut. His two Masters wins were in 1937 and 1941.
During the course of the history of the Masters, 1975 has always been regarded as one of the best played and most dramatic Masters of the modern era. While 10 years can be an eternity in the world of golf, the time from 1965 to 1975 had been very good in the career of one Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus would win that ’75 Masters in a most dramatic style, sinking a curling 45-foot putt on the 16th green on Sunday to beat out Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf by one stroke. Nicklaus’ putt and his caddie’s leap into the air is still front and center in Masters promotional videos. It was Jack’s fifth Masters victory and was the 13th grand slam win of his career.
The field for the 1975 Masters included 76 contestants, 40 of whom made the 36-hole cut. One of those golfers who missed the cut that week was Lee Elder, the defending champion of the Monsanto Open in Pensacola. Elder was the first black man to receive a Masters invite and play in the tournament, breaking its longtime color barrier.
So let me see if I have got this right. The PGA of America was founded right after World War I. The Masters began some 15 years later during the height of the Depression. Blacks were not allowed to belong to the PGA of America nor could they play on the tour until 1961. And although Charlie Sifford and Pete Brown won multiple tournaments on the PGA Tour during the 1960s and early 1970s, they failed to obtain an invite to the Masters. Nowadays, you do get into the Masters when you win at Los Angeles, Hartford, San Diego and a bunch of other places. Things do take quite a while to change in the world of golf. At the other end of the spectrum, Nicklaus received $40,000 for his win, eight times what Middlecoff collected 20 years earlier.
Fast forward to 1995 and you have perhaps the most touching and emotional Masters in memory. Earlier in the week longtime golf guru and coach Harvey Penick had passed away. Two of his protégés, major winners Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, served as his pallbearers. Crenshaw was grief stricken over the passing of Penick and didn’t return to Augusta National until late Wednesday night. A driving range tip from his longtime Masters caddie brought instant results and Crenshaw, arguably one of the purest putters of all time, excelled on the greens at Augusta National to beat Davis Love III by one stroke. Crenshaw received $396,000 for his amazing win. His winner’s share was approximately 10 times more than Nicklaus collected in 1975.
The low amateur at the ’95 Masters was Stanford University freshman Tiger Woods. Woods was the reigning U.S. Amateur titlist. It was his first major championship. He would end up making the cut while coming in tied for 41st. As a portent of things to come, Tiger would lead the field that week in driving distance.
And it was a mere 10 years later, 10 years ago, that Tiger Woods would win his fourth and final Masters green jacket. At the 2005 Masters, Woods found himself in a tense battle for the top space on the leader board throughout Sunday afternoon. On the par-3 16th hole, Woods held a one-stroke lead over Chris DiMarco. DiMarco hit his tee shot onto the green and had a 10-foot birdie putt. Tiger nuked his high shot long and left, coming to rest over the green. Woods hit his pitch shot into the bank of the double-tiered green and watched his ball trickle back toward the cup, dropping in for birdie-two and a two-stroke lead. Woods faltered down the stretch with consecutive bogeys but won the sudden-death playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole to beat DiMarco. Woods’ winning share was $1.26 million.
The 2005 Masters was the final one for the 65-year-old Jack Nicklaus. Because of the rain and a myriad of delays the first two days, the Nicklaus finale at Augusta National was more of an afterthought. He didn’t make the cut and while he did birdie his final hole of the tournament, it was seen before a small crowd as he played the ninth hole Saturday morning. While that wasn’t a great and memorable ending for Nicklaus, he did have his fair share of great memories at the Masters down through the decades, including six wins.
The 2015 Masters is halfway into the record books. There is still a lot of golf to be played and there’s a pretty good chance that it will end up as a most memorable tournament. History tells us that this is the case although one can never be too sure. After all, they do say that the Masters doesn’t really get going until the leaders get to the back nine on Sunday. Once again, only time will tell.
