The 1965 Masters Tournament was the 29th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Jack Nicklaus, age 25, won the second of his six Masters titles with a score of 271 (−17), at the time a tournament record, three strokes better than Ben Hogan's 274 in 1953. It was equaled in 1976 by Raymond Floyd and surpassed in 1997 by Tiger Woods' 270 (−18). Nicklaus' winning margin of nine strokes also stood until 1997, when Woods was victorious by twelve strokes to win his first green jacket. It was the fourth of a record 18 major titles won by Nicklaus in his career.

The "Big Three" (Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player) were tied for the lead after 36 holes at 138 (−6), but Nicklaus shot a 64 (−8) on Saturday to post a 202 (−14), a gain of five shots on Player and eight on Palmer. Nicklaus' round tied the course record set by Lloyd Mangrum in the first round in 1940; it was lowered to 63 by Nick Price in the third round in 1986.

Nicklaus totally over-powered the Augusta National course, hitting short-irons into most of the par four holes and mid-irons into many of the par five holes, especially during his record-tying third round 64. After the tournament was over, when asked about Nicklaus' performance that week Bobby Jones said, "He plays a game with which I am not familiar."

Byron Nelson, age 53, tied for fifteenth place, the last cut made at Augusta by the two-time champion.

Art Wall Jr. won the sixth Par 3 contest with a score of 20.

Field 1. Masters champions Jack Burke Jr. (4), Jimmy Demaret, Doug Ford (4), Ralph Guldahl, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan (8), Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff (2), Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus (2,4,8,10), Arnold Palmer (2,3,8,9,10,11), Henry Picard, Gary Player (3,4,8), Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr. Craig Wood did not play.

The following categories only apply to Americans

2. U.S. Open champions (last 10 years) Tommy Bolt, Julius Boros (11), Billy Casper (8,9,11), Jack Fleck, Gene Littler (8,9,11), Dick Mayer, Ken Venturi (9,10)

3. The Open champions (last 10 years) Tony Lema (8,11)

4. PGA champions (last 10 years) Jerry Barber, Dow Finsterwald (8,9,11), Jay Hebert, Lionel Hebert, Bobby Nichols (9,10), Bob Rosburg (9)

5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions (last 10 years) Deane Beman (6,a), William C. Campbell (7,a), Charles Coe (6,a), Richard Davies (6,a)

Harvie Ward did not play. Other champions forfeited their exemptions by turning professional.

6. Members of the 1963 U.S. Walker Cup team Robert W. Gardner (a), Downing Gray (a), Billy Joe Patton (a), Charlie Smith (7,a), Ed Updegraff (a)

Labron Harris Jr. and R. H. Sikes forfeited their exemptions by turning professional.

7. 1964 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists Don Allen (a), Dave Eichelberger (a), Gene Ferrell (a), John Mark Hopkins (a), Dale Morey (a), Ed Tutwiler (a)

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1964 Masters Tournament Jim Ferrier, Al Geiberger (9), Paul Harney, Don January (9), Dave Marr, Billy Maxwell (11), Johnny Pott (9,11), Mason Rudolph (10), Dan Sikes, Mike Souchak, Bo Wininger (10)

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1964 U.S. Open George Bayer, Gay Brewer (10), Bill Collins, Terry Dill, Raymond Floyd, Ed Furgol, Tommy Jacobs

10. Top eight players and ties from 1964 PGA Championship Tom Nieporte

11. Members of the U.S. 1963 Ryder Cup team Bob Goalby, Dave Ragan

12. Two players selected for meritorious records on the fall part of the 1964 PGA Tour Frank Beard, Jack McGowan

13. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions Wes Ellis

14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions Tommy Aaron

15. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions Bill Hyndman (a)

16. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1965 PGA Tour Doug Sanders, Bert Weaver

17. Foreign invitations Peter Butler (8), Bob Charles (3,9), Chen Ching-Po, Gary Cowan (a), Bruce Crampton (8,9), Bruce Devlin (8), Harold Henning, Bernard Hunt, Geoffrey Hunt, Tomoo Ishii, George Knudson, Cobie Legrange, Stan Leonard, Kel Nagle (3,8), Chi-Chi Rodríguez (8), Leopoldo Ruiz, Ramón Sota, Nick Weslock (a)

Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

Round summaries First round Thursday, April 8, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 65 −7T2 Tommy Aaron 67 −5 Tony Lema Jack Nicklaus Dan Sikes 6 Frank Beard 68 −4T7 George Bayer 69 −3 Tommy Bolt Wes Ellis Raymond Floyd Doug Sanders Source:

Second round Friday, April 9, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Jack Nicklaus 67-71=138 −6 Arnold Palmer 70-68=138 Gary Player 65-73=138 4 Dan Sikes 67-72=139 −5 5 Tony Lema 67-73=140 −4 T6 Tommy Aaron 67-74=141 −3 Doug Sanders 69-72=141 8 Bo Wininger 70-72=142 −2 9 George Bayer 69-74=143 −1 T10 Billy Casper 72-72=144 E Bruce Crampton 72-72=144 Byron Nelson 70-74=144 Bobby Nichols 73-71=144 Tom Nieporte 71-73=144 Ramón Sota 71-73=144 Source:

Third round Saturday, April 10, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jack Nicklaus 67-71-64=202 −14 2 Gary Player 65-73-69=207 −9T3 Arnold Palmer 70-68-72=210 −6 Dan Sikes 67-72-71=210 5 Mason Rudolph 70-75-66=211 −5 T6 Tommy Aaron 67-74-71=212 −4 Gene Littler 71-74-67=212 T8 George Knudson 72-73-69=214 −2 Ramón Sota 71-73-70=214T10 Billy Casper 72-72-71=215 −1 Doug Sanders 69-72-74=215 Source:

Scorecard Third round, ties course record   31-33=64 (−8) Hole123456789101112131415161718Par454343454 443545344 Nicklaus E−1−1−2−2−3−4−5−5−5−5−5−6−6−7−8−8−8

Final round Sunday, April 11, 1965

Final leaderboard Champion Silver Cup winner (low amateur)(a) = amateur(c) = past champion Top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (US$)1 Jack Nicklaus (c) 67-71-64-69=271 −17 20,000T2 Arnold Palmer (c) 70-68-72-70=280 −8 10,200 Gary Player (c) 65-73-69-73=2804 Mason Rudolph 70-75-66-72=283 −5 6,2005 Dan Sikes 67-72-71-75=285 −3 5,000T6 Gene Littler 71-74-67-74=286 −2 3,800 Ramón Sota 71-73-70-72=286T8 Frank Beard 68-77-72-70=287 −1 2,400 Tommy Bolt 69-78-69-71=28710 George Knudson 72-73-69-74=288 E 1,800 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T11 Tommy Aaron 67-74-71-77=289 +1 1,550 Bruce Crampton 72-72-74-71=289 Paul Harney 74-74-71-70=289 Doug Sanders 69-72-74-74=289T15 George Bayer 69-74-75-72=290 +2 1,300 Bruce Devlin 71-76-73-70=290 Wes Ellis 69-76-72-73=290 Tommy Jacobs 71-74-72-73=290 Kel Nagle 75-70-74-71=290 Byron Nelson (c) 70-74-72-74=290T21 Dow Finsterwald 72-75-72-72=291 +3 1,200 Ben Hogan (c) 71-75-71-74=291 Tony Lema 67-73-77-74=291T24 Terry Dill 72-73-75-72=292 +4 1,200 Al Geiberger 75-72-74-71=292T26 Bernard Hunt 71-74-74-74=293 +5 1,075 Tomoo Ishii 74-74-70-75=293 Billy Maxwell 74-72-76-71=293 Tom Nieporte 71-73-75-74=293 Bo Wininger 70-72-75-76=293T31 Doug Ford (c) 74-74-73-73=294 +6 1,050 Downing Gray (a) 72-74-73-75=294 0 Dave Ragan 73-74-73-74=294 1,050 Bert Weaver 72-75-72-75=294T35 Billy Casper 72-72-71-80=295 +7 1,050 Jimmy Demaret (c) 71-75-76-73=295 Bobby Nichols 73-71-75-76=295 Mike Souchak 74-74-72-75=295T39 Don Allen (a) 70-77-74-75=296 +8 0 Chen Ching-Po 71-77-77-71=296 1,025 Bob Goalby 71-75-75-75=296T42 Bill Hyndman (a) 73-73-75-76=297 +9 0 Jack McGowan 73-75-77-72=297 1,025 Johnny Pott 74-74-73-76=297T45 Bob Charles 72-74-76-77=299 +11 1,025 Art Wall Jr. (c) 71-76-77-75=29947 Richard Davies (a) 70-78-78-76=302 +14 048 John Mark Hopkins (a) 70-78-78-77=303 +1549 Deane Beman (a) 74-72-79-79=304 +16CUT Charles Coe (a) 73-76=149 +5 Leopoldo Ruiz 76-73=149 Sam Snead (c) 75-74=149 Ed Tutwiler (a) 76-73=149 Jerry Barber 71-79=150 +6 Julius Boros 73-77=150 Lionel Hebert 70-80=150 Don January 72-78=150 Harold Henning 72-79=151 +7 Cary Middlecoff (c) 76-75=151 Chi-Chi Rodríguez 75-76=151 Jack Burke Jr. (c) 75-77=152 +8 Peter Butler 76-76=152 Bill Collins 74-78=152 Raymond Floyd 69-83=152 Ed Furgol 72-80=152 Jay Hebert 75-77=152 Cobie Legrange 76-76=152 Claude Harmon (c) 74-79=153 +9 Dave Marr 75-78=153 Dick Mayer 76-77=153 Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-83=153 Charlie Smith (a) 73-80=153 Gary Cowan (a) 75-79=154 +10 Jim Ferrier 74-80=154 Robert W. Gardner (a) 76-78=154 Gene Sarazen (c) 78-76=154 Gay Brewer 77-78=155 +11 Stan Leonard 71-84=155 Henry Picard (c) 76-79=155 Dale Morey (a) 74-82=156 +12 Bob Rosburg 76-80=156 Nick Weslock (a) 80-76=156 Dave Eichelberger (a) 74-83=157 +13 Geoffrey Hunt 80-77=157 Ken Venturi 77-80=157 William C. Campbell (a) 81-77=158 +14 Ralph Guldahl (c) 83-85=168 +24WD Herman Keiser (c) 80 +8 Ed Updegraff (a) DQ Gene Ferrell (a) 78 +6 Jack Fleck 79 +7

Sources:

Scorecard Hole  1    2    3   4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718Par454343454 443545344 Nicklaus −15−15−15−16−15−15−15−15−15−15−15−16−16−16−16−16−17−17 Palmer −6−6−6−6−5−5−5−6−7−7−7−7−8−8−8−8−8−8 Player −9−10−9−8−7−8−8−9−9−9−8−6−7−7−8−8−8−8 Rudolph −5−5−4−4−4−4−4−4−5−5−5−5−5−4−4−5−5−5 Sikes −6−6−6−5−5−5−5−6−6−5−5−4−2−2−3−3−3−3 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par BirdieBogeyDouble bogey

References

External links Masters.com – past winners and results GolfCompendium.com – 1965 Masters Augusta.com – 1965 Masters leaderboard and scorecards