1976 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores

Raymond Floyd dominated the 1976 Masters from start to finish, tying the tournament's scoring record. It was the 40th time the tournament was played.

Winner: Ray Floyd, 271

Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

Tournament dates: April 8-11, 1976

Leader after first round: Ray Floyd, 65

Leader after second round: Ray Floyd, 131

Leader after third round: Ray Floyd, 201

What Happened at the 1976 Masters Tournament

Raymond Floyd ran away from the field at the 1976 Masters, winning by eight strokes and tying or setting multiple scoring records along the way. Floyd opened 65-66 and closed with a pair of 70s to finish at 17-under 271, which tied the tournament record at that time (since broken), first established by Jack Nicklaus in the 1965 Masters.

Floyd also set tournament records (since broken) for low start by the eventual winner (65), best score after 36 holes (131), and best start after 54 holes (201). Floyd was the fourth wire-to-wire winner in Masters history. His 271 winning total stood as the tournament scoring record until Tiger Woods lowered it at the 1997 Masters.

For Floyd, it was the beginning of the second half of his career, the half of his career in which he was considered among the best players on tour.

Although Floyd was a major champion before the 1976 Masters — he won the 1969 PGA Championship — he was considered something of an underachiever to this point. He had a reputation early in his career as a playboy (he even had "managed" an all-girl, topless rock band). In 13 previous seasons on tour, Floyd had only six wins, and only one in the 1970s. But after the 1976 Masters, Floyd won two more majors (and threatened in many others) and 15 more PGA Tour titles total.

Floyd led by one after a first-round 65; by five over Nicklaus after the second round; and by eight over Nicklaus following the third round. His 8-stroke winning margin was over runner-up Ben Crenshaw, with Nicklaus finishing third.

Billy Casper, a 3-time major winner (including the 1970 Masters) finished eighth. It was the final Top 10 finish in a major by Casper. Future 2-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange was low amateur with a tie for 15th. Fred McLeod, one of the two original Masters honorary starters, performed the ceremonial opening drive for the final time this year. He was 94 years old and died about a month later.

1976 Masters Final Scores

Raymond Floyd 65-66-70-70—271
Ben Crenshaw 70-70-72-67—279
Jack Nicklaus 67-69-73-73—282
Larry Ziegler 67-71-72-72—282
Charles Coody 72-69-70-74—285
Hale Irwin 71-77-67-70—285
Tom Kite 73-67-72-73—285
Billy Casper 71-76-71-69—287
Roger Maltbie 72-75-70-71—288
Graham Marsh 73-68-75-72—288
Tom Weiskopf 73-71-70-74—288
Jim Colbert 71-72-74-72—289
Lou Graham 68-73-72-76—289
Gene Littler 71-72-74-72—289
Al Geiberger 75-70-73-73—291
Dave Hill 69-73-76-73—291
Jerry McGee 71-73-72-75—291
a-Curtis Strange 71-76-73-71—291
Bud Allin 69-76-72-75—292
Bruce Devlin 77-69-72-74—292
Hubert Green 71-66-78-77—292
Dale Hayes 75-74-73-70—292
Gay Brewer 75-74-71-73—293
Rik Massengale 70-72-78-73—293
Johnny Miller 71-73-74-75—293
Peter Oosterhuis 76-74-75-68—293
Bruce Crampton 74-76-71-73—294
Bob Murphy 72-74-76-73—295
Eddie Pearce 71-71-79-74—295
Gary Player 73-73-70-79—295
Lee Trevino 75-75-69-76—295
Art Wall Jr. 74-71-75-75—295
Don January 73-74-76-73—296
Jumbo Ozaki 72-75-75-74—296
Tom Watson 77-73-76-70—296
Joe Inman 74-75-71-77—297
Takashi Murakami 74-71-80-73—298
Andy North 66-81-75-76—298
Bob Gilder 71-75-76-77—299
John Mahaffey 72-74-78-75—299
Bob Shearer 73-75-76-75—299
Tommy Aaron 73-76-77-74—300
Frank Beard 74-75-78-74—301
J.C. Snead 72-77-76-76—301
Pat Fitzsimons 71-79-77-76—303
a-Dick Siderowf 76-73-77-81—307
Bobby Cole 75-74-78-82—309

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1975 Masters - 1977 Masters

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