1979 Masters Tournament
Encyclopedia
The 1979 Masters Tournament was a major
golf
tournament held April 12-15 at Augusta National Golf Club
in Augusta, Georgia
. Fuzzy Zoeller
won the tournament with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff with Ed Sneed
and Tom Watson
. Jack Nicklaus
climbed up the leaderboard on Sunday with a 69 (-3) to finish a stroke out of the playoff; Tom Kite
was at even par in the final round to finish fifth.
Second and third round leader Sneed bogeyed the final three holes to card a final round 76 (+4) and fell into the playoff. It was the debut of the sudden-death format at the Masters, which started on the tenth hole, a downhill par-4 where all three players missed birdie putts and parred. On the second hole, the par-4 11th, Sneed failed to hole a bunker shot and Watson a birdie putt, but Zoeller made his from 6 feet (1.8 m) and won his first major championship
.
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournament held April 12-15 at Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is a famous men's golf club. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in January 1933. Since 1934, it has played host to the annual...
in Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
. Fuzzy Zoeller
Fuzzy Zoeller
Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller, Jr. is an American professional golfer. He is one of three golfers to have won The Masters in his first appearance in the event. He also won the 1984 U.S. Open, which earned him the 1985 Bob Jones Award....
won the tournament with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff with Ed Sneed
Ed Sneed
Ed Sneed is an American professional golfer, sportscaster and course design consultant, who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour....
and Tom Watson
Tom Watson (golfer)
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
. Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
climbed up the leaderboard on Sunday with a 69 (-3) to finish a stroke out of the playoff; Tom Kite
Tom Kite
Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994....
was at even par in the final round to finish fifth.
Second and third round leader Sneed bogeyed the final three holes to card a final round 76 (+4) and fell into the playoff. It was the debut of the sudden-death format at the Masters, which started on the tenth hole, a downhill par-4 where all three players missed birdie putts and parred. On the second hole, the par-4 11th, Sneed failed to hole a bunker shot and Watson a birdie putt, but Zoeller made his from 6 feet (1.8 m) and won his first major championship
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
.
Final leaderboard
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($ United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... ) |
Playoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuzzy Zoeller Fuzzy Zoeller Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller, Jr. is an American professional golfer. He is one of three golfers to have won The Masters in his first appearance in the event. He also won the 1984 U.S. Open, which earned him the 1985 Bob Jones Award.... |
70-71-69-70=280 | -8 | 50,000 | 4-3 | |
| T2 | Ed Sneed Ed Sneed Ed Sneed is an American professional golfer, sportscaster and course design consultant, who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.... |
68-67-69-76=280 | 30,000 | 4-x | ||
| Tom Watson Tom Watson (golfer) Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour.... |
68-71-70-71=280 | 4-x | ||||
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a... |
69-71-72-69=281 | -7 | 15,000 | ||
| 5 | Tom Kite Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994.... |
71-72-68-72=283 | -5 | 13,000 | ||
| 6 | Bruce Lietzke Bruce Lietzke Bruce Alan Lietzke is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.Lietzke was born in Kansas City, Kansas... |
67-75-68-74=284 | -4 | 11,500 | ||
| T7 | Craig Stadler Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.... |
69-66-74-76=285 | -3 | 9,000 | ||
| Leonard Thompson Leonard Thompson (golfer) Leonard Stephen Thompson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour.... |
68-70-73-74=285 | |||||
| Lanny Wadkins Lanny Wadkins Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins, Jr. is an American professional golfer. He ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 86 weeks from their debut in 1986 to 1988.... |
73-69-70-73=285 | |||||
| T10 | Hubert Green Hubert Green Hubert Myatt Green is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.... |
74-69-72-71=286 | -2 | 6,500 | ||
| Gene Littler Gene Littler Gene Alec Littler is an American professional golfer. Known for a solid temperament and nicknamed "Gene the Machine" for his smooth rhythmical swing, he once said that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."-Early years... |
74-71-69-72=286 |