The 2020 virtual Masters: A dozen potential surprises
By Bill Felber
Raymond Floyd, 1976 (1976-1985), -1.08.
Floyd dominated the 1976 Masters had few had done before and has few have done since. His final victory margin was eight strokes ahead of Ben Crenshaw and he became only the fourth player to hold the outright lead from start to finish.
Floyd’s secret that week was his absolute domination of Augusta’s four par fives. During the first three rounds, Floyd birdied 11 of the dozen par fives he played and eagled the other one. On Sunday, with the championship secure, he backed off, parring the first three par fives before birdieing the 15th.
Floyd opened with a 65 for a one-stroke edge over Andy North, but followed that with a 66 to widen his margin to five strokes over Jack Nicklaus. When Nicklaus managed nothing better than a 73 on Saturday, Floyd’s margin grew to eight strokes, positioning him to threaten Nicklaus’ record of -17.
His Sunday 70, founded on birdies at the 5th, 12th and 15th offset only by a bogey at the 4th, tied Nicklaus’ record. He could have broken that record with a birdie at any of the three finishing holes, but settled for routine pars.
The victory ushered in Floyd’s peak period of performance at Augusta. Over the next decade he would tie for second (behind Bernhard Langer in 1985), and land four other top 10s. During that decade-long window, Floyd never finished outside the top 20.
Virtual Masters projection: 12th.