1997 Masters Tournament

1997 Masters Tournament

Front cover of the 1997 Masters Journal
Tournament information
Dates	April 10–13, 1997
Location	Augusta, 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 by	Augusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,925 yards (6,332 m)[1]
Field	86 players, 46 after cut
Cut	149 (+5)
Prize fund	US$2.7 million
Winner's share	$486,000
Champion
Tiger Woods
270 (−18)
Location map
Augusta National Location in the United States Show map of the United States Augusta National Location in Georgia Show map of Georgia
← 1996 1998 →

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. The margin of victory is, as of 2024, still the largest in the tournament's history. The four-day score of 270 (−18) was also a tournament record until 2020 when it was beaten by Dustin Johnson. Woods also became both the youngest (21) and the first non-white player to win at Augusta.^[2][3]

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 on the back nine for a 70, three shots behind first-round leader John Huston.^[4]

In the second and third rounds, Woods scored the best rounds of each day (66-65) to open up a commanding nine-shot lead. A final-round 69 gave Woods a then tournament record 270 (−18), 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.^[5]

1. Masters champions

Tommy Aaron, Seve Ballesteros, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Fred Couples (9,13), Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo (3,9,10,12,13), Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize (9,11), Jack Nicklaus, José María Olazábal, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson (10,12,13), Ian Woosnam, Fuzzy Zoeller

• George Archer, Jack Burke Jr., Bob Goalby, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, and Art Wall Jr. did not play.

2. U.S. Open champions (last five years)

Ernie Els (9,10,12,13), Lee Janzen (9,10,11), Steve Jones (10,12,13), Tom Kite, Corey Pavin (9,12,13)

3. The Open champions (last five years)

Tom Lehman (9,10,12,13), Greg Norman (9,10,13), Nick Price (4,9,11)

• John Daly did not play.

4. PGA champions (last five years)

Paul Azinger (9), Mark Brooks (10,11,12,13), Steve Elkington (11)

5. U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up

Steve Scott (a)

• Tiger Woods forfeited his invitation by turning professional, but qualified via categories 12 & 13.

6. The Amateur champion

Warren Bladon (a)

7. U.S. Amateur Public Links champion

Tim Hogarth (a)

8. U.S. Mid-Amateur champion

Spider Miller (a)

9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1996 Masters

Mark Calcavecchia (13), David Duval (13), David Frost, Scott Hoch (10,12,13), John Huston, Davis Love III (10,13), Jeff Maggert (13), Scott McCarron, Phil Mickelson (11,12,13), Frank Nobilo (10,11), Mark O'Meara (10,12,13), Loren Roberts (12,13), Bob Tway, Duffy Waldorf (13)

10. Top 16 players and ties from the 1996 U.S. Open

David Berganio Jr., Stewart Cink, John Cook (12,13), Dan Forsman, Jim Furyk (13), Ken Green, Colin Montgomerie, John Morse, Vijay Singh (11,13), Sam Torrance

11. Top eight players and ties from 1996 PGA Championship

Per-Ulrik Johansson, Justin Leonard (12,13), Jesper Parnevik, Kenny Perry (13), Tommy Tolles (13)

12. Winners of PGA Tour events since the previous Masters

Stuart Appleby, Guy Boros, Michael Bradley (13), Brad Faxon (13), Ed Fiori, Fred Funk (13), Dudley Hart, David Ogrin, Clarence Rose, Jeff Sluman (13), Paul Stankowski, Steve Stricker (13), D. A. Weibring, Willie Wood, Tiger Woods (13)

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

Thursday, April 10, 1997

John Huston shot 67 (−5) to lead by one stroke over Paul Stankowski. Tiger Woods shot a 40 (+4) on the first nine, but came back into the clubhouse on the back nine with a score of 30 (−6) for a 70 (−2).^[4]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	John Huston	67	−5
2	Paul Stankowski	68	−4
3	Paul Azinger	69	−3
4	Tiger Woods	70	−2
T5	Costantino Rocca	71	−1
	José María Olazábal
	Nick Price
T8	Stuart Appleby	72	E
	David Berganio Jr.
	Fred Couples
	Lee Janzen
	Per-Ulrik Johansson
	Bernhard Langer
	Davis Love III
	Colin Montgomerie
	Tommy Tolles
	Willie Wood

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
Woods	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+3	+3	+2	+1	+1	−1	−1	−2	−2

Source:^[6]

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.^[7]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tiger Woods	70-66=136	−8
2	Colin Montgomerie	72-67=139	−5
3	Costantino Rocca	71-69=140	−4
T4	Fred Couples	72-69=141	−3
	José María Olazábal	71-70=141
	Jeff Sluman	74-67=141
T7	Paul Azinger	69-73=142	−2
	Nick Price	71-71=142
	Paul Stankowski	68-74=142
T10	Ernie Els	73-70=143	−1
	Davis Love III	72-71=143
	Tom Watson	75-68=143

Amateurs: Bladon (+7), Scott (+13), Hogarth (+14), Miller (+19)

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
Woods	−2	−3	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−6	−7	−8	−8	−8	−8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:^[6]

Saturday, April 12, 1997

Woods shot a 65 in the third round for 201 (−15) and his lead increased to nine shots; the closest competitor was Costantino Rocca from Italy.^[8] Montgomerie's 74 dropped him into a tie for sixth.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tiger Woods	70-66-65=201	−15
2	Costantino Rocca	71-69-70=210	−6
3	Paul Stankowski	68-74-69=211	−5
T4	Tom Kite	77-69-66=212	−4
	Tom Watson	75-68-69=212
T6	Colin Montgomerie	72-67-74=213	−3
	Jeff Sluman	74-67-72=213
8	Fred Couples	72-69-73=214	−2
9	José María Olazábal	71-70-74=215	−1
T10	Fred Funk	73-74-69=216	E
	Justin Leonard	76-69-71=216
	Jesper Parnevik	73-72-71=216
	Tommy Tolles	72-72-72=216

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
Woods	−8	−9	−9	−9	−10	−10	−11	−12	−12	−12	−13	−13	−13	−13	−14	−14	−14	−15

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:^[6]

Sunday, April 13, 1997

External videos
Full final round coverage on CBS on YouTube

Woods won his first major championship, finishing 12 strokes ahead runner-up Tom Kite. It was the largest victory margin in Masters history, passing Nicklaus' 9-shot winning margin in 1965, and tied for the second largest victory margin in any major championship, only one stroke behind Old Tom Morris' 13-shot winning margin set at the 1862 Open Championship at Prestwick (a mark Woods later surpassed at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach when he won by 15 shots).^[9] Rocca and Stankowski fell into a tie for fifth.^[3]

Top 10

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (US$)
1	Tiger Woods	70-66-65-69=270	−18	486,000
2	Tom Kite	77-69-66-70=282	−6	291,600
3	Tommy Tolles	72-72-72-67=283	−5	183,600
4	Tom Watson (c)	75-68-69-72=284	−4	129,600
T5	Costantino Rocca	71-69-70-75=285	−3	102,600
	Paul Stankowski	68-74-69-74=285
T7	Fred Couples (c)	72-69-73-72=286	−2	78,570
	Bernhard Langer (c)	72-72-74-68=286
	Justin Leonard	76-69-71-70=286
	Davis Love III	72-71-72-71=286
	Jeff Sluman	74-67-72-73=286

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T12	Steve Elkington	76-72-72-67=287	−1	52,920
	Per-Ulrik Johansson	72-73-73-69=287
	Tom Lehman	73-76-69-69=287
	José María Olazábal (c)	71-70-74-72=287
	Willie Wood	72-76-71-68=287
T17	Mark Calcavecchia	74-73-72-69=288	E	39,150
	Ernie Els	73-70-71-74=288
	Fred Funk	73-74-69-72=288
	Vijay Singh	75-74-69-70=288
T21	Stuart Appleby	72-76-70-71=289	+1	30,240
	John Huston	67-77-75-70=289
	Jesper Parnevik	73-72-71-73=289
T24	Nick Price	71-71-75-74=291	+3	24,840
	Lee Westwood	77-71-73-70=291
T26	Lee Janzen	72-73-74-73=292	+4	21,195
	Craig Stadler (c)	77-72-71-72=292
T28	Paul Azinger	69-73-77-74=293	+5	19,575
	Jim Furyk	74-75-72-72=293
T30	Scott McCarron	77-71-72-74=294	+6	17,145
	Larry Mize (c)	79-69-74-72=294
	Colin Montgomerie	72-67-74-81=294
	Mark O'Meara	75-74-70-75=294
T34	Sandy Lyle (c)	73-73-74-75=295	+7	14,918
	Fuzzy Zoeller (c)	75-73-69-78=295
36	Duffy Waldorf	74-75-72-75=296	+8	13,905
37	David Frost	74-71-73-79=297	+9	13,905
38	Scott Hoch	79-68-73-78=298	+10	12,690
T39	Jack Nicklaus (c)	77-70-74-78=299	+11	11,610
	Sam Torrance	75-73-73-78=299
	Ian Woosnam (c)	77-68-75-79=299
42	Masashi Ozaki	74-74-74-78=300	+12	10,530
T43	Corey Pavin	75-74-78-74=301	+13	9,720
	Clarence Rose	73-75-79-74=301
45	Ben Crenshaw (c)	75-73-74-80=302	+14	8,910
46	Frank Nobilo	76-72-74-81=303	+15	8,370
CUT	David Berganio Jr.	72-78=150	+6
	John Cook	77-73=150
	David Duval	78-72=150
	Dan Forsman	74-76=150
	Phil Mickelson	76-74=150
	John Morse	77-73=150
	Warren Bladon (a)	79-72=151	+7
	Brad Faxon	77-74=151
	Dudley Hart	74-77=151
	Greg Norman	77-74=151
	David Ogrin	77-74=151
	Kenny Perry	73-78=151
	Gary Player (c)	76-75=151
	Bob Tway	78-73=151
	D. A. Weibring	78-73=151
	Stewart Cink	75-78=153	+9
	Ed Fiori	78-75=153
	Jeff Maggert	77-76=153
	Mark McNulty	81-72=153
	Tommy Aaron (c)	77-77=154	+10
	Raymond Floyd (c)	79-75=154
	Yoshinori Kaneko	77-77=154
	Seve Ballesteros (c)	81-74=155	+11
	Michael Bradley	79-77=156	+12
	Nick Faldo (c)	75-81=156
	Steve Stricker	77-79=156
	Steve Scott (a)	78-79=157	+13
	Guy Boros	79-79=158	+14
	Tim Hogarth (a)	80-78=158
	Robert Allenby	82-77=159	+15
	Mark Brooks	77-82=159
	Billy Casper (c)	83-77=160	+16
	Charles Coody (c)	83-77=160
	Steve Jones	82-78=160
	Ken Green	87-74=161	+17
	Loren Roberts	85-77=162	+18
	Gay Brewer (c)	84-79=163	+19
	Spider Miller (a)	82-81=163
	Arnold Palmer (c)	89-87=176	+32
	Doug Ford (c)	85-94=179	+35

Sources:^[10][11]

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
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
Tolles	E	−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

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Triple bogey+

Source:^[6]

• "There it is – a win for the ages!" – Jim Nantz's (CBS Sports) call as Woods sunk his final putt on the 18th hole to win the tournament

• Masters.com – past winners
• Augusta.com – 1997 Masters leaderboard and scorecards
• Full Final Round on YouTube from the Masters (originally broadcast by CBS)