AUGUSTA, Ga. — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the Masters based on The Associated Press account of those victories:
75 years ago (1950)
Jimmy Demaret won his third, and record-breaking, Masters golf tournament today after Jim Ferrier had the title in his grasp and threw it away. Playing golf as sensational as his Easter garb, Jimmy shot the final round in 69 strokes, three under par, for a 72-hole total of 283. Ferrier, who started the day with a two-stroke lead over the field and four over Demaret, lost it all on the last six holes. ... He went over on five of the next six to finish two strokes behind the new champion. Ben Hogan, regarded as Ferrier’s most serious challenger when the final round began, couldn’t hold the pace, finishing with a 76 for 288.
50 years ago (1975)
Jack Nicklaus stood on the 16th hole, Augusta’s par-3 Red Bud hole, looking at a 40-foot sidehill putt. His ears were still ringing from the cheers of thousands lining the long par-5 No. 15 behind him where Tom Weiskopf had just knocked home a 12-footer for a birdie that sent him into the lead. “Sometimes you get a feeling about these things,” Nicklaus said. “I thought I could make the putt.” Weiskopf, momentarily shaken, left his 5-iron tee shot 80 feet short on No. 16 and watch his approach putt roll left, still 18 feet away. He bogeyed and there was a two-shot shift in those dying moments of one of the great golf tournaments ever played. Nicklaus emerged the winner with an unprecedented fifth Masters title.
25 years ago (2000)
The last leg of Vijay Singh’s improbable journey was an uphill climb to the 18th green at Augusta National. That was the easy part. The Fiji native had toiled in the jungle, pounding balls in stifling heat and wondering where it all might lead. He found out Sunday when he slipped the green jacket over his broad shoulders. Singh beat back the biggest stars in golf to claim its most prestigious prize. He stared down a challenge from David Duval, ignored an early charge by Tiger Woods, and calmly held off Ernie Els at the end.
20 years ago (2005)
The ball scooted up the slope and crawled down toward the hole. There, for two agonizing seconds, it hung on the edge before disappearing into the cup. A shot for the ages, sheer magic from Tiger Woods’ glorious past in the Masters. Just as stunning as that chip was the mess that followed — shots into the trees and the sand, a rare collapse by the greatest closer in golf on the verge of blowing a final-round lead in a major for the first time. The one thing that looked familiar, finally, was Woods wearing a green jacket. But he kept a breathless gallery guessing to the very end, when he delivered his best two shots under stifling pressure and made a 15-foot birdie putt to beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff to win his fourth Masters.