1962

MASTERS TOURNAMENT

"1962 At Augusta"

 

Go back in time more than 60 years and re-live the excitement of the 1962 Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia - the first Masters ever to culminate on Sunday in a three-way tie! After four rounds of golf, Dow Finsterwald, Arnold Palmer and defending champion Gary Player each finish with matching 280's! In those days, rules provided for an 18-hole Monday Playoff between the leaders such as in 1935 (Gene Sarazen and Craig Wood), 1942 (Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan), and 1954 (Sam Snead and Hogan), but a 3-way tie had never happened at Augusta! This DVD shows highlights of all five rounds of golf, ending with fan favorite Arnold Palmer winning his third Masters in five years!

This became the third of the annual Masters 16mm color films which were introduced in 1960 and helped popularize the game in the eyes of the U.S. sporting public. Now Rare Sportsfilms has restored the original 16mm print for the nostalgic enjoyment of golf fans everywhere! Watch the famous names in golf warm up prior to the tournament: Palmer, Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff, Jimmy Demaret, Gene Sarazen, Ben Arda, Mario Gonzalez, and view the annual Champions Dinner the night before the tournament with club co-founders Bob Jones and Clifford Roberts as they chat with former winners Gene Sarazen, Palmer, Player, Art Wall, Middlecoff, Doug Ford, Jack Burke, Horton Smith and Sam Snead.

Opening day you'll see Sam Snead, PGA champ Jerry Barber, young Jack Nicklaus, Doug Sanders, Major David Blair, Palmer and defending champion Gary Player all tee off on #1. Out on the course in first day action is Ben Hogan and later early finisher Julius Boros birdies #18, finishing with an opening 69 and leading the tournament so far. Palmer birdies 18 to finish with a 70 and Player, with a closing birdie on the home hole, becomes the first day leader with a 67.

Second day action shows both Player and Palmer saving par on the tricky 12th. Arnie has had a good day on the back nine, with birdies on 13-14-15 and 16 as he drives on 18. A par gives him a 31 on the back nine and a 66 on the day, his lowest round ever at Augusta! Palmer now leads at 5 under, with Player 6 under and Gene Littler 5 under after 36 holes.

Lots of Saturday action with Gardner Dickinson paired with Gary Player and they're shown at the second hole. Mike Souchak, is shown on #4 making a nice bunker recovery for par. Palmer and Littler are paired for round three and both are shown on the par five 8th, each with good birdie chances. Littler gets his, but Arnie misses and settles for par. Player and Palmer are now both 7 under. But Saturday is moving day at the Masters and there is news from over on the back nine! Dow Finsterwald has shot a sizzling 32 on the front nine. He's shown in trouble on #12 but saves par and is now tied with Palmer and Player at 7 under! Soon Palmer and Littler are both shown making birdies on 12 and by this time the scoreboard shows Palmer 9 under, Finsterwald 8 under and Littler 6 under. Meanwhile, Player has lost a stroke on #13 as Palmer is shown with a try for Eagle on 15 (he makes birdie). Finsterwald's second shot on #17 stops about 28 feet from the hole, but Dow sinks the long putt for another birdie and with a par on the home hole finishes with a 65 for the day, now nine under for the tournament! Ending the day at 18 are Littler (par), Arnie (birdie) and soon Player with a par. So it's Arnie at 11 under, Dow at 9 under, Gary at 7 under and Gene at 6 under heading into Sunday's play.

On Sunday Finsterwald is paired with Littler. Both are shown with pars on the 7th hole and now are 8 and 7 under respectively for the tournament. Palmer, paired with Player, are 9 and 6 under respectively after five. Dow is shown making a nice, long, par-saving putt on the 10th hole. Meanwhile, big changes on the leader board! After play ends on the 10th, Palmer has lost two strokes and Player has picked up two birdies, with Palmer now 6 under and Player 8 under! On the 11th, Arnie pars, but Player gets another birdie, and Gary has now made up 8 strokes in the last 9 holes! But on the tricky 12th, Gary hooks his shot so badly that it's almost out of bounds deep in the rough behind the rear bunker, and he's lucky to be able to bogie the hole. On 17, Littler picks up a birdie while Finsterwald gets a bogie, and thru 17, Gene is 7 under and Dow 8 under heading for the 18th. Both hit the green in two and Dow must settle for par. Littler misses his birdie try to tie, then missed his par try for a bogie, falling two back of Finsterwald when Dow pars 18. Meanwhile Arnie brings the crowd at the 16th to its feet by making a 45-putt for birdie! Player pars the hole and is still 8 under with Arnie now only one stroke behind heading for the 17th. Player's approach is on the green but it will be a long birdie try. But Arnie hits to about 11 feet from the stick. After Player pars, Palmer sinks another birdie to tie Player heading to 18. If both par 18 it will be a three way tie with Finsterwald. If one can birdie he can win the tournament, but if either bogie his play will be over. Player's approach is well above the hole, about 45 feet above. Palmer hits to within 30 feet above. Then, both putt to within 3 feet and then par the hole for matching 280's for the tournament equaling Finsterwald in the clubhouse.

Finsterwald will be looking for his first win at Augusta, Player his second and Palmer his third as play starts on Monday. Action is shown at the first hole, as Player's birdie puts him in the lead. Gary still holds his 1-shot lead at the 6th hole, which he increases to two shots with a birdie. He's now two up on Palmer and three up on Finsterwald. Palmer makes his first bogie at the 7th and falls three behind Player who is now 5 ahead of Finsterwald. But the match begins to turn at the 10th as Palmer gets his first birdie and Gary his first bogie. At the short 12th, again Palmer birdies, while again Gary bogies the hole for another two-shot swing, and now Palmer is one up on Gary! Action continues to the 16th, with Palmer now leading by three strokes. Player hits to within seven feet, Palmer to about 12 feet. Palmer holes his put for a birdie, and Player misses to now give Palmer an almost insurmountable 4 stroke lead. Next shown is play on the 18th, with Palmer away. His 35-foot putt for birdie just misses the hole and slides past about 6 feet. Player birdies 18 to finish with another 71 for the day. Finsterwald pars the home hole, but was off his game, finishing with a round of 77. The final shot, wrapping up Arnie's 68 for the day is his third round in the 60's and second 31-shot back nine for the week! The film ends with scenes of the presentation ceremony around the 18th green.

This DVD will bring back memories of the course and all those great golfers the way they looked more than 60 years ago!

This historic film footage is now available on DVD from Rare Sportsfilms! Get yours for only $29.95 plus $4.00 shipping and handling.   (Illinois residents must add $2.30 sales tax)