Date: March 30, 2012
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Magnolia’s memory lane

Between them Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player own 13 Green Jackets. As Jack and Arnold prepare to hit the ceremonial first tee shot at Augusta National, we take a walk down memory lane and re-live those 13 wins and all the drama that went with them. 1958 Masters: Arnold Palmer Palmer&aposs first win came in 1958 where he won by one stroke at 4 under par from Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins. Ford closed with a 2 under par 70 to put the pressure on but Palmer held on to collect the $11,250 winner&aposs cheque. Winning score: 70-73-68-73 = 284 (-4) 1960 Masters: Arnold Palmer The wait wasn&apost long for Palmer as he wore his second Green Jacket in 1960. Palmer opened with a 67 but was pegged back over the weekend by Ken Venturi and won by one stroke, closing with a 2 under par 70. 1960 was also the first year that the Par 3 Contest was played. Sam Snead won. Winning score: 67-73-72-70 = 282 (-6) 1961 Masters: Gary Player But for his third round 73, Arnold Palmer could very well have collected another Green Jacket in 1961 but it was Gary Player&aposs opening three rounds of 68-69-68 which got him over the line, despite a final round 74. Player finished one stroke clear of amateur Charles Coe and Palmer at 8 under par. An amateur called Jack Nicklaus finished in a tie for seventh at 1 under par. 1962 Masters: Arnold Palmer What he missed in 1961, Palmer made certain of a year later in the Masters first three way play-off. After four rounds Palmer, Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald could not be separated. They played an 18 hole play off the following day where Palmer won with a 4 under par 68. Player fired a 71 and Finsterwald finished third with a 77. Australian Bruce Crampton won the Par 3 Contest. Winning Score: 70-66-69-75 = 280 (-8). Won with 68 (-4) in an 18 hole play-off. 1963 Masters: Jack Nicklaus The Golden Bear s first Green Jacket was presented to him in 1963 after held off compatriot Tony Lema by one stroke to win at 2 under par the highest score to win in almost ten years. Sam Snead finished in a tie for third with Julius Boros and it would be the last year that the inaugural Masters champion, Horton Smith, played the Masters. He passed away six months later. Winning score: 74-66-74-72 = 286 (-2) 1964 Masters: Arnold Palmer Three rounds in the sixties was more than enough to see Arnold Palmer win again at Augusta National. Palmer won by six strokes at 12 under par with Dave Marr and Jack Nicklaus in a tie for second place. Australia s Bruce Devlin finished in fourth place while Jim Ferrier finished in a tie for fifth. Winning score: 69-68-69-70 = 276 (-12) 1965 Masters: Jack Nicklaus Palmer fired three rounds in the sixties in 1964 but Nicklaus took it to another level a year later. The Golden Bear set a then tournament record with a 17 under par total to win by nine strokes from Palmer and Player who tied for second. Nicklaus fired weekend rounds of 64-69 more than enough to guarantee his win. Winning score: 7-71-64-69 = 271 (-17) 1966 Masters: Jack Nicklaus Nicklaus triumphed for the second year in a row but not with the ease that he did in 1965. Fellow American Gary Brewer stood on the 72nd hole with a one stroke lead and was on the green in regulation before three putting from 75 feet to make bogey. That brought Nicklaus and Tommy Jacobs into an 18 hole play-off which Nicklaus won with a 2 under par 70. The 1966 edition was the 30th Masters Tournament and the final year that two-time champion Byron Nelson played. 1972 Masters: Jack Nicklaus A fourth Green Jacket for Nicklaus and a case of oh so close for Australian fans was the memory from 1972. Nicklaus was three over par on the weekend but held on to win by one shot from fellow Americans Bobby Mitchell and Tom Weiskopf and Australia s Bruce Crampton. Winning score: 68-71-73-74 = 286 (-2) 1974 Masters: Gary Player Player s second Masters victory came 13 years after his first but it was his seventh Major win. Player finished at 10 under par after weekend rounds of 66 and 70 to finish two clear of Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf, again a runner up. Weiskopf had won the US Open in 1973. Nicklaus finished in a tie for fourth. Winning score: 71-71-66-70 = 278 (-10) 1975 Masters: Jack Nicklaus Nicklaus won his fifth Green Jacket in 1975 in another close result. Having shot 68-67 going into the weekend, a third round 73 brought him back to the field and relied on a final round 68 to edge out Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller by one stroke, despite Miller shooting 65-66 on the weekend. Nicklaus went on to win the PGA Championship later that year. Winning score: 68-67-73-68 = 276 (-12) 1978 Masters: Gary Player Player s third Green Jacket required a titanic effort to wrest it from American Hubert Green who was seven strokes ahead of Player after 54 holes. But titanic it was as Player fired an 8-under par 64 to Green’s even par 72 to win by one stroke and claim his ninth career Major at the age of 42. Green, Rod Funseth and Tom Watson shared second place. Winning score: 72-72-69-64 = 277 (-11) 1986 Masters: Jack Nicklaus The 1986 Masters Tournament was a record setter on many levels. Nicklaus won by two strokes from mercurial Spaniard Seve Ballesteros including weekend rounds of 69-65. The win gave him the record of 18 Major victories. His final round 65 included playing the back nine in 30. He became the oldest winner of the Masters and second oldest winner of a Major. His record of 18 Major titles stands to this day. Winning score: 74-71-69-65 = 279 (-9)