1996 Masters: Faldo Over Norman
Greg Norman's painful-to-watch collapse at the 1996 Masters opened the door for Nick Faldo, who played a great final round for the victory. This was the 60th time The Masters Tournament was played.
Winner: Nick Faldo, 276
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 11-14, 1996
Leader after first round: Greg Norman, 63
Leader after second round: Greg Norman, 132
Leader after third round: Greg Norman, 203
What Happened in the 1996 Masters
Through many of the previous 15 Masters, Greg Norman seemed primed to win. He finished second in both 1986 and 1987, and had seven Top 6 finishes from 1981 through 1995. Would this finally be his year?Norman opened by tying the then-18-hole record for major championships of 63, just the second 63 recorded in The Masters, and led by two. After the second round he led by four, and the lead was six following the third round.
Norman began the final round at 13-under, Faldo at 7-under. Norman bogeyed the first hole, dropping his lead to five, but rebounded with a birdie at No. 2. Then he bogeyed No. 4 and No. 9 and stood at 11-under after the front nine. Faldo, meanwhile, was catching up: He also birdied No. 2, gave one back on the fifth, then birdied Nos. 6 and 8.
That meant that as the two golfers made the turn, Norman's six-shot lead at the start of the round was down to just two.
But things quickly got worse for Norman. He bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11, then double-bogeyed the 12th hole. The bogey at 11 gave Faldo a share of the lead, the double on the 12th put Faldo two strokes in front. Norman made birdies on the 13th and 15th, but so did Faldo. Norman's hopes ended with another double-bogey on the 16th. (He hit his tee ball into water on both the 12th and 16th holes.)
At the end of the final round, Faldo had scored 67, Norman 78. Norman's six-shot lead to start the round turned into a five-shot win for Faldo. Faldo's 67 was the best score of the final round, while Norman's 78 was one of the worst.
It was a new Masters Tournament record for largest final-round collapse, and Faldo's six-shot come-from-behind win, while not a record, was one of the largest in tournament history. Norman's six-shot collapse also tied the overall PGA Tour record for largest 54-hole lead lost.
Norman never did win The Masters. For Faldo, it was his third Masters victory, and his sixth and final win in a major championship.
Phil Mickelson finished third, the highest finish in a major to this point in his career. (He first played in a major in 1990 and went on to win The Masters three times.) Tiger Woods, a 20-year-old amateur, missed the cut. But just a year later he won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes.
1996 Masters Final Scores
| Nick Faldo | 69-67-73-67—276 |
| Greg Norman | 63-69-71-78—281 |
| Phil Mickelson | 65-73-72-72—282 |
| Frank Nobilo | 71-71-72-69—283 |
| Scott Hoch | 67-73-73-71—284 |
| Duffy Waldorf | 72-71-69-72—284 |
| Davis Love III | 72-71-74-68—285 |
| Jeff Maggert | 71-73-72-69—285 |
| Corey Pavin | 75-66-73-71—285 |
| Scott McCarron | 70-70-72-74—286 |
| David Frost | 70-68-74-74—286 |
| Bob Tway | 67-72-76-72—287 |
| Lee Janzen | 68-71-75-73—287 |
| Ernie Els | 71-71-72-73—287 |
| Fred Couples | 78-68-71-71—288 |
| Mark Calcavecchia | 71-73-71-73—288 |
| John Huston | 71-71-71-76—289 |
| Paul Azinger | 70-74-76-70—290 |
| Mark O'Meara | 72-71-75-72—290 |
| Tom Lehman | 75-70-72-73—290 |
| Nick Price | 71-75-70-74—290 |
| David Duval | 73-72-69-76—290 |
| Larry Mize | 75-71-77-68—291 |
| Loren Roberts | 71-73-72-75—291 |
| Raymond Floyd | 70-74-77-71—292 |
| Brad Faxon | 69-77-72-74—292 |
| Bob Estes | 71-71-79-72—293 |
| Justin Leonard | 72-74-75-72—293 |
| Jim Furyk | 75-70-78-71—294 |
| Jim Gallagher Jr. | 70-76-77-71—294 |
| Hale Irwin | 74-71-77-72—294 |
| Scott Simpson | 69-76-76-73—294 |
| Craig Stadler | 73-72-71-78—294 |
| John Daly | 71-74-71-78—294 |
| Ian Woosnam | 72-69-73-80—294 |
| Fred Funk | 71-72-76-76—295 |
| Jay Haas | 70-73-75-77—295 |
| Bernhard Langer | 75-70-72-78—295 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 72-74-75-75—296 |
| Vijay Singh | 69-71-74-82—296 |
| Steve Lowery | 71-74-75-77—297 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 70-73-76-78—297 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 73-73-77-76—299 |
| Alexander Cejka | 73-71-78-80—302 |
Previous and next:
1995 Masters - 1997 Masters
Sources:
Augusta.com. "Historic Leaderboard: 1996 Masters," https://www.augusta.com/masters/historic/leaderboards/1996
Augusta National Golf Club. Masters 2024 Media Guide, "1996 Masters Tournament"
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf (commissions earned), Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
PGA.com. "Largest 54-hole lead lost in PGA Tour golf history," https://www.pga.com/archive/news/golf-buzz/largest-54-hole-lead-lost-in-pga-tour-history