1979 Masters Tournament: Fuzzy Math
The 1979 Masters was the 43rd time this major championship was played. Fuzzy Zoeller won it in a playoff after Ed Sneed blew the lead over the tournament's final few holes.
Winner: Fuzzy Zoeller, 280
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 12-15, 1979
Leader after first round: Bruce Lietzke, 67
Leader after second round: Ed Sneed and Craig Stadler, 135
Leader after third round: Ed Sneed, 204
What Happened at the 1979 Masters Tournament
Ed Sneed led by five strokes entering the final round, and still held a 3-shot lead with three holes to play. But then Sneed, a solid player on the PGA Tour for many years, made bogey on No. 16. And bogey on No. 17. And another bogey on No. 18. Three consecutive bogeys to close the final round. That rough finish dropped Sneed into a three-way title at the end of 72 holes with Tom Watson, already a Masters champion; and tournament rookie Fuzzy Zoeller.That trio continued into the first sudden-death playoff in Masters history (previous playoffs had been scheduled for 18 holes). On the first hole, each made par. But then Zoeller won it on the second extra hole with a birdie. He was the first Masters rookie since Gene Sarazen in 1935 to win.
Zoeller didn't move into the Top 10 until the third round, when he shot 69. At the start of the final round he was six shots behind Sneed, who was the tournament's 36- and 54-hole leader. Zoeller had recorded his first PGA Tour victory only a couple months earlier; he went on to win the 1984 U.S. Open, also in a playoff. Sneed never won a major.
Jack Nicklaus finished one stroke out of the playoff after a bogey on the 17th hole in the final round. Another legend, Sam Snead, became the first to achieve a milestone here: He played in his 40th Masters Tournament (he missed the cut).
Future three-time Masters winner Nick Faldo made his Masters debut this year and finished 40th.
1979 Masters Final Scores
| x-Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-71-69-70—280 |
| Ed Sneed | 68-67-69-76—280 |
| Tom Watson | 68-71-70-71—280 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 69-71-72-69—281 |
| Tom Kite | 71-72-68-72—283 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 67-75-68-74—284 |
| Craig Stadler | 69-66-74-76—285 |
| Leonard Thompson | 68-70-73-74—285 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 73-69-70-73—285 |
| Hubert Green | 74-69-72-71—286 |
| Gene Littler | 74-71-69-72—286 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 72-68-73-74—287 |
| Miller Barber | 75-64-72-76—287 |
| Jack Newton | 70-72-69-76—287 |
| Andy North | 72-72-74-69—287 |
| Lee Trevino | 73-71-70-73—287 |
| Lee Elder | 73-70-74-71—288 |
| Raymond Floyd | 70-68-73-77—288 |
| Billy Kratzert | 73-68-71-76—288 |
| Artie McNickle | 71-72-74-71—288 |
| Gary Player | 71-72-74-71—288 |
| J.C. Snead | 73-71-72-73—289 |
| a-Bobby Clampett | 73-71-73-73—290 |
| Lou Graham | 69-71-76-74—290 |
| Joe Inman | 68-71-76-75—290 |
| Hale Irwin | 72-70-74-74—290 |
| Jim Simons | 72-70-75-73—290 |
| Tommy Aaron | 72-73-76-70—291 |
| Andy Bean | 69-74-74-74—291 |
| Graham Marsh | 71-72-73-75—291 |
| Gil Morgan | 72-69-71-80—292 |
| Larry Nelson | 70-75-70-77—292 |
| Victor Regalado | 71-74-75-72—292 |
| Isao Aoki | 71-72-72-78—293 |
| Bob Byman | 71-71-75-76—293 |
| Charles Coody | 71-72-74-76—293 |
| a-Scott Hoch | 72-73-74-74—293 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 73-72-73-75—293 |
| a-John Cook | 72-72-75-76—295 |
| Nick Faldo | 73-71-79-73—296 |
| Jerry Pate | 72-70-75-80—297 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-72-71-81—297 |
| Billy Casper | 69-75-80-75—299 |
| Rod Funseth | 70-73-78-79—300 |
| Lindy Miller | 73-67-75-86—301 |
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1978 Masters - 1980 Masters
