1997 Masters Tournament
# 1997 Masters Tournament

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 2023, 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.

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.

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.

## Field

### 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)

### 14. Special foreign invitation

Robert Allenby, Yoshinori Kaneko, Mark McNulty, Masashi Ozaki, Costantino Rocca, Lee Westwood

## Round summaries

### First round

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).

| 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 |
| T5 | José María Olazábal | 71 | −1 |
| T5 | Nick Price | 71 | −1 |
| T8 | Stuart Appleby | 72 | E |
| T8 | David Berganio Jr. | 72 | E |
| T8 | Fred Couples | 72 | E |
| T8 | Lee Janzen | 72 | E |
| T8 | Per-Ulrik Johansson | 72 | E |
| T8 | Bernhard Langer | 72 | E |
| T8 | Davis Love III | 72 | E |
| T8 | Colin Montgomerie | 72 | E |
| T8 | Tommy Tolles | 72 | E |
| T8 | Willie Wood | 72 | E |

**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 |
| Woods | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +1 | +1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −2 |

Source:

### Second round

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.

| 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 |
| T4 | José María Olazábal | 71-70=141 | −3 |
| T4 | Jeff Sluman | 74-67=141 | −3 |
| T7 | Paul Azinger | 69-73=142 | −2 |
| T7 | Nick Price | 71-71=142 | −2 |
| T7 | Paul Stankowski | 68-74=142 | −2 |
| T10 | Ernie Els | 73-70=143 | −1 |
| T10 | Davis Love III | 72-71=143 | −1 |
| T10 | Tom Watson | 75-68=143 | −1 |

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

**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 |
| 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:

### Third round

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. 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 |
| T4 | Tom Watson | 75-68-69=212 | −4 |
| T6 | Colin Montgomerie | 72-67-74=213 | −3 |
| T6 | Jeff Sluman | 74-67-72=213 | −3 |
| 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 |
| T10 | Justin Leonard | 76-69-71=216 | E |
| T10 | Jesper Parnevik | 73-72-71=216 | E |
| T10 | Tommy Tolles | 72-72-72=216 | E |

**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 |
| 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:

### Final round

Sunday, April 13, 1997

**Summary**


   There it is – a win for the ages!

Jim Nantz's call on CBS of Woods' final putt

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). Rocca and Stankowski fell into a tie for fifth.

**Final leaderboard**

* Champion
* (a) = amateur
* (c) = past champion

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 |
| T5 | Paul Stankowski | 68-74-69-74=285 | −3 | 102,600 |
| T7 | Fred Couples (c) | 72-69-73-72=286 | −2 | 78,570 |
| T7 | Bernhard Langer (c) | 72-72-74-68=286 | −2 | 78,570 |
| T7 | Justin Leonard | 76-69-71-70=286 | −2 | 78,570 |
| T7 | Davis Love III | 72-71-72-71=286 | −2 | 78,570 |
| T7 | Jeff Sluman | 74-67-72-73=286 | −2 | 78,570 |

Leaderboard below the top 10 :

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

Sources:

**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 |
| 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:

