Amateurs have always enjoyed a special place at Augusta
No other major golf tournament welcomes the amateur player like the Masters. In the tradition of its founder, life-long amateur Bobby Jones -- Augusta National welcomes the amateur with open arms. Here are five who took full advantage.
By Ryan Smithson, PGATOUR.com Producer
With every on-course change Augusta National has undergone in recent years, one thing remains the same:
The welcomed amateur.
In 2007, the tournament extends invitations to the winners of four major amateur tournaments: The U.S. Amateur, the British Amateur, the U.S. Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Public Links Amateur. The runner-up of the U.S. Amateur gets the fifth and final invite.
The Masters has changed its criteria for inviting amateurs over the years. Billy Joe Patton, for example, was invited to the 1954 Masters as a Walker Cup alternate, and he subsequently made a handful of appearances while retaining his amateur status.
More than any other major tournament, The Masters is based heavily on amateur golf -- its founder, Bobby Jones, remained an amateur his entire life. The tournament always invited a slew of amateurs to its limited field, and several of them went on to have a major impact on the tournament.
Here are five amateurs who played their way into the history of The Masters:
1. Ken Venturi's Sunday collapse
In 1956, Ken Venturi -- then a 24-year-old amateur from Northern California -- threatened to make a mockery of The Masters.
Venturi, playing in his second Masters, opened with stunning rounds of 66 and 69 for a 9-under total to take a seemingly insurmountable lead into the weekend. The course gave up only nine eagles all week, two of which belonged to Venturi.
His lead was literally blown away, though.
The wind was bad on Saturday -- Venturi grinded out a 75 and retained a four-shot lead -- but Sunday's gusts finished him off.
The wind didn't adversely affect Venturi's ball-striking, but his short game nose-dived on the dried-out greens. Venturi staggered home with an 80 on Sunday, over half (42) of which were putts. He three-putted four times on the back nine, and Jack Burke Jr. shot a 71 to nip Venturi by a single stroke. Burke's 71 made him one of only two players to break par on the final day.
Burke's one-over 289 remains the highest finishing total in Masters history.
Venturi finished alone in second place, making him the second amateur -- joining Frank Stanahan in 1947 -- to record a runner-up finish in Augusta. Charles Coe would finish tied for second as an amateur in 1961.
2. Billy Joe Patton's Sunday charge comes up short
In 1954, while preparing for his first Masters appearance, Billy Joe Patton splurged on a fancy sport coat to wear at the awards ceremony.
Patton certainly didn't lack for confidence. As it turns out, that confidence nearly carried him to an historic Masters win.
Patton, an easygoing, big-hitting, bespectacled 32-year-old lumberman from North Carolina, surprisingly shot even par 144 (74-70) to lead the field after two rounds.
Patton misfired on Saturday -- he shot 75 -- but a hole-in-one at the par-3 sixth vaulted him back into contention. Patton made the turn in 32, but his fate was sealed by his performance on the two par 5s on the back nine.
On the 13th, Patton drowned his daring 3-wood shot, making a double bogey. Patton rallied with a birdie at the par-4 14th, but a water-logged bogey on the 15th further damaged his hopes. Patton parred the final three holes, but he finished one stroke out of a playoff between Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, which Snead won.
Post-tournament photos show a smiling Patton with tournament founder Bobby Jones, and Patton proudly wearing his white sport coat.
The episode was the final time Patton threatened to win at The Masters, but he finished eighth in back-to-back starts in 1958 and 1959.
3. Tiger makes the cut in Masters debut
A stirring win in the 1994 U.S. Amateur at the TPC Sawgrass gave Eldrick "Tiger" Woods a spot in the 1995 Masters, and the 19-year-old phenom didn't disappoint.
Woods easily made the cut after shooting 72-72 in the first two rounds, but the even-par 144 didn't come without pitfalls. Woods hit a fine approach to 20 feet on the par-4 first hole, but his first putt in the Masters rolled off the green. Humbled, Woods chipped back and one-putted for a bogey.
Woods shot 77-72 on the weekend to finish tied for 41st with Mark Calcaveccia, Jeff Sluman and Payne Stewart.
4. Gary Player, Arnold Palmer ... Charles Coe?
Charles Coe's 7-under 281 in 1961 remains the lowest 72-hole score ever put together by an amateur at the Masters. It was a score good enough to win most of the time, but Gary Player pulled away from the field by opening with rounds of 69-68-69.
Player faltered on Sunday -- he shot 74 -- and Coe nearly caught him. Coe, an Augusta National member, staged a furious scoring binge on the back nine that saw him make birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15.
Coe, who was paired with Arnold Palmer, missed birdie chances on the final three holes to lose by a stroke to Player. Palmer matched Coe with a final-round 71.
Coe, who died in 2001, went on to play in 19 Masters, including a career-best 67 in the third round in 1959, when he finished sixth.
5. Unsurpassed, then uninvited
Most of Frank Stranahan's success as an amateur occurred in Great Britain -- he was a two-time British Amateur champion who perennially played in the British Open at a time when most American players skipped the annual July tournament.
Stranahan's greatest success as an amateur on American soil came in The Masters in 1947, when he quietly finished tied for second with Byron Nelson, three shots behind winner Jimmy Demeret.
The score was deceiving, as Stranahan never really threatened Demeret. He shot 68 on Sunday, the low round of the day, and when he returned the next year for the 1948 Masters, his invitation was withdrawn.
Reports differ as to why Stranahan was not allowed to play in 1948. Unofficially, Stranahan was led from the course for breaking a custom where players were asked to play only one ball in practice rounds.
Stranahan's banishment only lasted one year. He returned in 1949 to finish tied for 19th, and he eventually played in five more Masters as an amateur and five as a pro.