The 1978 Masters Tournament was the 42nd Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Gary Player overcame a 7-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth major championship. Player, age 42, shot a record-tying 64 (−8) in the final round to win by one stroke. The runners-up were Rod Funseth, defending champion Tom Watson, and 54-hole leader Hubert Green, the reigning U.S. Open champion, who shot an even-par 72. Tied for tenth place at the start of the round, Player shot a 30 on the back nine in the summer-like heat. He holed seven putts ranging from 10 to 30 ft, including a final one of 15 ft for birdie at 18. The leader in the clubhouse, Player had to wait forty minutes for the final groups to finish. Funseth had five birdies, but his two bogeys were both three-putts and he parred the last three holes. Watson eagled 13 and birdied both 15 and 16, but missed an 8 ft putt for par on the final hole. After a bogey at 16, Green hit an outstanding approach shot at 18 which left a birdie putt from three feet (0.9 m) to tie, but he missed after being inadvertently distracted by a radio announcer. Player became the oldest winner of the Masters and the first over forty in nearly a quarter century; Sam Snead won his third green jacket at age 41 in 1954. Player retained the honor for eight years, until Jack Nicklaus won his sixth at 46 in 1986.

Field

Tommy Aaron, George Archer (8), Gay Brewer, Billy Casper (8), Charles Coody (10), Raymond Floyd (8,11,12), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus (4,8,9,10,11,12), Arnold Palmer (8), Gary Player (3,8,9), Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr., Tom Watson (3,8,9,10,11,12) Lou Graham (8,9,10,12), Hubert Green (8,9,11,12), Hale Irwin (8,11,12), Johnny Miller (3), Jerry Pate (8,10,11) Tom Weiskopf (8,9,11) Dave Stockton (12), Lee Trevino (11), Lanny Wadkins (10,11,12) Doug Fischesser (a), Ralph Landrum (a), Jay Sigel (7,a) Dick Siderowf (7,a) Mike Brannan (a), Gary Hallberg (a), Vance Heafner (a), Lindy Miller (a), Fred Ridley (a) Andy Bean, Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw (11), Danny Edwards, Lee Elder, Rod Funseth (9), Don January (10,12), Tom Kite, Billy Kratzert (11), Gene Littler (10,11), Rik Massengale, Andy North (11), John Schlee, Bob Wynn Wally Armstrong, Terry Diehl, Al Geiberger (10,11), Jay Haas (11), Joe Inman, Gary Jacobson, Lyn Lott, Mike McCullough, Steve Melnyk, Tom Purtzer Jerry McGee (11,12) Miller Barber, Dave Eichelberger, Mike Hill, Mac McLendon, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bill Rogers, Jim Simons, Ed Sneed (12), Leonard Thompson Dave Hill Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros (11), Bobby Cole (11), Antonio Garrido, David Graham (8), Peter McEvoy (6,a), Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Peter Oosterhuis (9), Masashi Ozaki, Manuel Piñero

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 6, 1978 Source:

Second round

Friday, April 7, 1978 Source:

Third round

Saturday, April 8, 1978 Source:

Final round

Sunday, April 9, 1978

Final leaderboard

Sources:

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source: