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THE MASTERS HISTORY

Not so long ago, the Augusta National Golf Course was farmland. But thanks to the vision of two men, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, the 365 acres of farmland, once called Fruitlands Nurseries, is now home to one of the most famous and beautiful golf courses in the world.

Fruitland Nurseries was purchased in 1931 for a hefty $70,000. After completion of the course, Jones and Roberts decided to hold an annual tournament drawing all the best players from across the country.  There was disagreement about what to call the tournament; Roberts proposed that the event be called the Masters Tournament, but Jones felt the name was presumptuous. Consequently, the tournament was called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament for the first five years. It wasn’t until 1939 that the name of the tournament was officially changed to the Masters.

From its beginning, the Masters has provided players with exciting competition and challenging play.  The inaugural tournament was hosted on March 22, 1934 and won by Horton Smith, who beat Craig Wood by a one-stroke lead.  Bobby Jones, one of the tournament founders, was a reluctant participant and finished 13th place – his best finish in the nine tournaments held prior World War II.  The following year, the tournament was remembered for Gene Sarazen’s “shot heard round the world”, when he scored a remarkable double eagle on the par five 15th, which tied Craig Wood and forced a playoff.  Sarazen beat Wood by five strokes in the 36 round playoff the following day.  Only in its second year, the Augusta National Invitation Tournament was making headlines worldwide.  

In 1941, Craig Wood finally won the Masters after eight attempts, and in 1942,
Byron Nelson defeated Ben Hogan 69-70 in an 18-hole playoff.  The Masters was
not played the following three years, due to the country’s entry into World War II.  
However, in 1946 the Masters was back in full swing and Herman Keiser held off
Ben Hogan for a one-stroke victory.  And what of the Augusta National Golf
Course during the war years?  It became a farm/ranch again, with cattle and turkeys being raised to assist the war effort.

In the 60 years hence, the Masters has delivered stirring play, thrilling duels and
celebrated champions.  The 1950s included two victories by Ben Hogan and the
first of four for Arnold Palmer.  Palmer won his first Masters title in 1958, becoming the youngest player to win the Green Jacket since Keiser in 1946.

Palmer’s name remains synonymous with the Masters. The term “Amen Corner”, coined by writer Herbert Warren Wind, also became synonymous with the tournament after Palmer’s 1958 win.  Amen Corner refers to the 11th, 12th and 13th holes at Augusta.

The Masters is steeped in tradition, yet each decade brings something new to the
tournament.  In 1960, the Par 3 Contest was begun and, in 1961, South Africa’s
Gary Player became the first overseas player to break the American stranglehold on the Masters.  Player held on to beat both Palmer and Charles Roe by one stroke.  And in 1965-1966, Jack Nicklaus (the “Golden Bear”) became the first Masters champion to successfully defend the title, etching his name forever in Masters history.  

The 1970s saw the passing of the two founders of the Masters Tournament, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and the return of American domination of the Masters. That trend began to reverse after Seve Ballesteros won in 1980.  The Spaniard’s victory heralded a period of European dominance that delivered 10 wins in 17 years.  Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal enjoyed wins, as did Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam in a four-year British invasion. However, in 1986, Nicklaus once again made history, setting the record for the most titles won at Augusta with his sixth Green Jacket, at age 46.  Tom Watson, another American, captured his second title.

In 1997, the tables turned again in favor of the home players, when Tiger Woods broke the Masters’ four-day scoring record set by Ben Hogan in 1953 and became the youngest player to ever win the title. Woods was 21.  In dazzling play, Woods finished 12 shots clear in a record score of 18-under 270.  Woods took four years to secure his second title, but again he produced a dazzling performance when he became the first player to secure a Grand Slam.  In 2002, he became only the third player to win consecutive Masters titles.

Since the first tournament in 1934, Augusta has undergone overhauls.  Holes have been extended and teeing positions have been altered, keeping Augusta a challenging course that tests the best in the game.  Some traditions, however, remain. In 1934, Jones and Roberts insisted that only the player and his caddy would be allowed access to the playing area.  They also implemented the four-day stroke playing of 18 holes each day, eliminated qualifying rounds, and paired the field, instead of playing in threesomes.  A complimentary pairing sheet and a spectator booklet were provided, and commercialization in any form of the Tournament was limited.  The legacy of Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts is an indelible and thrilling event in the world of golf.