| 1977 Masters | |
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson engaged in several duels at major championships. The most famous was at the 1977 British Open, which followed the 1977 Masters by a couple months. At the Open Championship that year, Watson and Nicklaus played the final two rounds together, and ran away from the field. Nicklaus posted 66-66, but Watson fired 66-65 to pip the Bear by one stroke.
The 1977 Masters turned into a duel between Nicklaus and Watson, and Watson won this one, too. He led Nicklaus by three strokes entering the final round, but the Bear played sterling golf on Sunday, shooting 66. He charged at Watson on the back nine, rolling in birdies, but Watson, playing one group behind Nicklaus, usually had an answer.
With Nicklaus in the fairway on No. 18, Watson stood on the 17th green tied with Nicklaus for the lead. Watson had a 20-footer for birdie, and when he rolled it in the loud crowd roar made Nicklaus hesitate on his approach to the 18th green. Now down by one, Nicklaus needed to birdie the final hole, and tried a more aggressive shot. He mis-hit it, put the approach into a bunker, and made bogey.
Watson parred out on No. 18 and claimed the first of his two Green Jackets by two strokes. It was the second of Watson's eight career majors. Major No. 3 came a couple months later at the British Open, and Watson would take another major away from Nicklaus at the 1982 U.S. Open.
It was now Tom Watson's era.
1977 Masters Scores
Results from the 1977 Masters golf tournament played at the par-72 Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. (a-amateur):
| Tom Watson | 70-69-70-67--276 | $40,000 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 72-70-70-66--278 | $30,000 |
| Tom Kite | 70-73-70-67--280 | $17,500 |
| Rik Massengale | 70-73-67-70--280 | $17,500 |
| Hale Irwin | 70-74-70-68--282 | $12,500 |
| David Graham | 75-67-73-69--284 | $10,500 |
| Lou Graham | 75-71-69-69--284 | $10,500 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-69-69-76--285 | $5,667 |
| Raymond Floyd | 71-72-71-71--285 | $5,667 |
| Hubert Green | 67-74-72-72--285 | $5,667 |
| Don January | 69-76-71-69--285 | $5,667 |
| Gene Littler | 71-72-73-69--285 | $5,667 |
| John Schlee | 75-73-69-68--285 | $5,667 |
| Billy Casper | 72-72-73-69--286 | $3,000 |
| Jim Colbert | 72-71-69-74--286 | $3,000 |
| Rod Funseth | 72-67-74-73--286 | $3,000 |
| Jerry Pate | 70-72-74-70--286 | $3,000 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-71-71-71--286 | $3,000 |
| George Archer | 74-74-69-70--287 | $2,500 |
| Andy Bean | 74-70-71-72--287 | $2,500 |
| Danny Edwards | 72-74-68-73--287 | $2,500 |
| Lee Elder | 76-68-72-71--287 | $2,500 |
| Gary Player | 71-70-72-74--287 | $2,500 |
| Billy Kratzert | 69-71-78-70--288 | $2,200 |
| Andy North | 74-74-71-69--288 | $2,200 |
| Arnold Palmer | 76-71-71-70--288 | $2,200 |
| Bob Wynn | 75-73-70-70--288 | $2,200 |
| Isao Aoki | 73-76-70-70--289 | $2,000 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 73-71-72-73--289 | $2,000 |
| Jerry McGee | 73-73-72-71--289 | $2,000 |
| Graham Marsh | 77-72-72-69--290 | $1,975 |
| Bob Murphy | 74-72-71-73--290 | $1,975 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 74-75-70-72--291 | $1,950 |
| Mark Hayes | 71-72-72-76--291 | $1,950 |
| Tommy Aaron | 73-72-73-74--292 | $1,925 |
| Johnny Miller | 78-71-69-74--292 | $1,925 |
| B. Shearer | 74-67-75-76--292 | $1,925 |
| Art Wall Jr. | 75-74-71-72--292 | $1,925 |
| Dave Hill | 71-72-76-74--293 | $1,900 |
| J.C. Snead | 72-76-73-72--293 | $1,900 |
| Dave Stockton | 73-72-75-73--293 | $1,900 |
| Bud Allin | 71-74-75-74--294 | $1,875 |
| Bruce Devlin | 75-69-77-73--294 | $1,875 |
| Gary Koch | 78-71-72-73--294 | $1,875 |
| Mac McLendon | 72-70-78-75--295 | $1,850 |
| Lyn Lott | 76-72-77-71--296 | $1,825 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 73-75-76-72--296 | $1,825 |
| Mike Morley | 75-73-73-76--297 | $1,800 |
| a-Bill Sander | 80-69-78-72--299 | |
| a-John Fought | 73-74-78-78--303 |
1976 Masters | 1978 Masters
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