The Lost Masters

One of America's finest golf writers presents the first full-length account of the most controversial event in golf history - the 1968 Masters, in which the 'winner' was disqualified for a technicality - and reveals how it mirrored a country in turmoil.

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April 1968. Martin Luther King, Jr., was dead; anti-Vietnam protests and race riots roiled the cities; and America verged on breaking apart. The Masters in Augusta offered some temporary respite from chaos. The rivalry between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus was at its peak, and the public anticipated another thrilling duel. But in the end Palmer, Nicklaus, and Gary Player were surpassed by three relative unknowns: Bert Yancey, Bob Goalby, and Argentinean Roberto DeVicenzo. At the seventeenth hole, DeVicenzo's playing partner recorded that he'd made the hole in four. In fact, he'd made it in three, however DeVicenzo signed the card in error, and was not allowed to correct his score, meaning he lost the tournament to Goalby by one shot. DeVicenzo sobbed on hearing the news, and much of the world cried with him. In THE LOST MASTERS, Curt Sampson, utilizing access to all the key players (including DeVicenzo and Goalby) examines the personalities, events, and aftermath of that astonishing tournament.
In recounting one of the most fascinating sports stories ever, he casts a light upon the continuing controversy of the Augusta Golf Club and the Masters, and on one pivotal year in American life.