1975 Masters PREVIEW
A preview of the greatest golf tournament ever contested
INTRODUCTION from The Sports Time Traveler™
The 1975 Masters didn’t have a lot of lead changes. The names at the top didn’t alter much. There were not many great putts made. Yet most who watched it, including myself, came away thinking this was the greatest golf tournament they’d ever seen.
And that’s why for the past several years, I have so eagerly anticipated April, 2025, when I would make the virtual journey, precisely 50 years back in time, to experience, once again, the 1975 Masters. And try to understand what was it about the playing of this particular Masters that so deeply touched the golfing world and me.
Now join me as I share the reports from my virtual time travels to the 1975 Masters. In this post I provide a preview of the tournament based on newspaper coverage in the days leading up to the opening round. In my next post, I will provide highlights of the first 3 rounds and an in-depth focus on the final 9 holes on Sunday.
The dates for each of the reports are the dates of the newspapers I read during my virtual journey.
PREVIEW - Thursday, April 10, 1975
In an AP article this morning, Jack Nicklaus made it clear that he thought Gary Player had a better year than Johnny Miller last year in 1974. It’s hard to comprehend that statement, because Miller had the most talked about season since Arnold Palmer in 1960.
After Johnny Miller’s stunning, come from behind, U.S. Open win in 1973 with a historic 63 in the final round, he got off to the hottest start in PGA TOUR history in January, 1974, capturing the first 3 events of the season (the only player ever to do that).
Johnny Miller went on to win 8 tournaments in 1974, something that hadn’t been done since Arnie in 1962, and something Jack has never done. Many in the press started touting Johnny Miller as the new king of golf, taking the unofficial crown from Jack Nicklaus who was widely considered the greatest golfer in the world, if not all-time.
Nicklaus, who has won 12 majors (14 if you include his 2 U.S. Amateur titles), didn’t win one in 1974 for the first time in this decade. And that doesn’t make for a happy Jack.
Oddly, Lee Trevino told The Charlotte News and Atlanta Journal on Wednesday he’s hoping for a happy Nicklaus this week. Trevino, winner of the most recent major, the 1974 PGA, explained the danger for the field if Nicklaus is not happy. He told the press corps at Augusta, “Y’all made him mad when you put in the paper about Miller replacing him.” Trevino then advised the field about Nicklaus, “Talk nice to him. Tell him how good he looks. Just don’t make him mad. In Florida they made him mad talking about how he hadn’t won in 13 months, and he won at Doral. And they made him mad at the Heritage and he shot the lights out.”
Trevino was referring to the most recent 2 tournaments Nicklaus played in, both of which he won.
In Nicklaus’ mind however, only the majors are important. And Johnny Miller didn’t win a major in 1974, while Gary Player grabbed 2. Nicklaus said, “I would have preferred Player’s record over that of Miller last year.”
Back on March 17th, Nicklaus was quoted in an AP article saying, “I always build my season around the major tournaments. I always try to bring my game to a peak for Augusta.”
And Nicklaus certainly seems to be peaking for the Masters this year. He has been on a tear recently. Since the last week in February, Nicklaus has played in 4 tournaments finishing 3rd, 3rd, 1st, and 1st. Nicklaus is so serious about this year’s Masters that after winning 2 weeks ago at the Heritage, he passed up last week’s PGA stop, and a certain large check, to get in extra practice as Augusta. He told the Atlanta Constitution last Sunday, “I’d like to win it. I’d like to get some of that 1972 conversation going again.”
Nicklaus is talking about the year he won both the Masters and the U.S. Open, the first two majors of the year, and fueled massive conversation in the media about a potential grand slam season.
Johnny Miller’s hot streak meanwhile has simmered down. After starting 1975 like it was a re-run of 1974, winning 3 of the first 5 tournaments, he’s been erratic since then. Last week he finished 8 shots behind Tom Weiskopf and failed to break 70 in any round.
Two weeks ago at The Heritage, Johnny missed the cut with a 2 round score of 151, while Jack Nicklaus blistered the course with a 129, including a 2nd round of 63. Lee Trevino marveled at Jack’s 63 on what the merry Mexican called, “the toughest course in the world.”
Note from 2025
I interrupt this article to inform you that Jack Nicklaus’ 2nd round score of 63 in the 1975 Heritage was the lowest score he ever posted in a PGA TOUR event. Now back to 1975.
Jack’s 2 round total of 129 gave him a 22 shot beat down over Johnny Miller. It also put Jack 6 strokes ahead of the field at the halfway mark. He went on to win the tournament by 3 shots over Tom Weiskopf.
Tall Tom Weiskopf is generally regarded as one of the game’s greatest natural talents. That’s not just my opinion. It’s what Jack Nicklaus said after Weiskopf won the 1973 British Open for his lone major. After the final round, Nicklaus told Fred Tupper of the New York Times that Weiskopf, “has more natural talent and more shots than anybody in the game today.”
Weiskopf has been knocking at the door of superstar status for a while. In 1973, he showed a flash of true brilliance when he went on a bender, winning 5 of 8 tournaments.
Tom Weiskopf has also finished 2nd three times at the Masters, including last year.
Weiskopf desperately wants to win a Masters title. And he looks like he might be ready. After finishing 2nd to Nicklaus 2 weeks ago at The Heritage, Weiskopf played in last week’s final event before the Masters, the Greater Greensboro Open. He took command in round 1 with a 64, and won the tournament by 3 shots over a star studded field.
Roy Brown of the Charlotte News & Observer wrote on Monday, “Tom Weiskopf served notice Sunday that he has grown tired of being kicked around by Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.” Weiskopf said, “I hit a lot of golf balls for three months trying to get my swing back to where it was in 1973 and I think it is back.”
The Favorites
The Reno Turf Club has set the odds for winning the 1975 Masters as follows:
3 to 1 Jack Nicklaus
6 to 1 Tom Weiskopf
8 to 1 Johnny Miller
8 to 1 Gary Player
8 to 1 Hale Irwin
12 to 1 Lee Trevino
25 to 1 Arnold Palmer
COMING SOON!
In my next post I will cover highlights from the first 3 rounds and in depth-coverage of the dramatic final 9 holes.