Gary Player overcame a 7-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth major championship.

[2][3] Tied for tenth place at the start of the round, Player shot a 30 on the back nine in the summer-like heat.

After a bogey at 16, Green hit an outstanding approach shot at 18 which left a birdie putt from three feet (0.9 m) to tie, but he missed after being inadvertently distracted by a radio announcer.

[3][4][5] Player became the oldest winner of the Masters and the first over forty in nearly a quarter century; Sam Snead won his third green jacket at age 41 in 1954.

Tommy Aaron, George Archer (8), Gay Brewer, Billy Casper (8), Charles Coody (10), Raymond Floyd (8,11,12), Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus (4,8,9,10,11,12), Arnold Palmer (8), Gary Player (3,8,9), Sam Snead, Art Wall Jr., Tom Watson (3,8,9,10,11,12) Lou Graham (8,9,10,12), Hubert Green (8,9,11,12), Hale Irwin (8,11,12), Johnny Miller (3), Jerry Pate (8,10,11) Tom Weiskopf (8,9,11) Dave Stockton (12), Lee Trevino (11), Lanny Wadkins (10,11,12) Doug Fischesser (a), Ralph Landrum (a), Jay Sigel (7,a) Dick Siderowf (7,a) Mike Brannan (a), Gary Hallberg (a), Vance Heafner (a), Lindy Miller (a), Fred Ridley (a) Andy Bean, Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw (11), Danny Edwards, Lee Elder, Rod Funseth (9), Don January (10,12), Tom Kite, Billy Kratzert (11), Gene Littler (10,11), Rik Massengale, Andy North (11), John Schlee, Bob Wynn Wally Armstrong, Terry Diehl, Al Geiberger (10,11), Jay Haas (11), Joe Inman, Gary Jacobson, Lyn Lott, Mike McCullough, Steve Melnyk, Tom Purtzer Jerry McGee (11,12) Miller Barber, Dave Eichelberger, Mike Hill, Mac McLendon, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bill Rogers, Jim Simons, Ed Sneed (12), Leonard Thompson Dave Hill Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros (11), Bobby Cole (11), Antonio Garrido, David Graham (8), Peter McEvoy (6,a), Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Peter Oosterhuis (9), Masashi Ozaki, Manuel Piñero Thursday, April 6, 1978 Source:[6] Friday, April 7, 1978 Source:[7] Saturday, April 8, 1978 Source:[8] Sunday, April 9, 1978 Sources:[9][10] Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source:[4]