Did Roberto De Vicenzo lose The Masters because of an error on his scorecard?

 

GOLF URBAN LEGEND: A golfer lost the Masters because of an error on his scorecard.

Roberto De Vicenzo celebrated his 45th birthday on April 14th, 1968, which also happened to be the final day of The Masters Tournament. On the first hole of the day, De Vicenzo sank a 130 foot approach shot for an eagle. As he celebrated, the packed crowd serenaded him with "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Roberto, Happy Birthday to you." It seemed like a dream come true for De Vicenzo, the Argentinean one-time caddy who had just won his first major tournament (the British Open) the previous year. He was aiming to be the oldest man to ever wear the famous Augusta National green jacket that is given to Master's winners (not only would he be the oldest man to win it, but it would not even be close - the oldest winner at the time was 41-year-old Sam Snead in 1954, in Snead's final Masters victory) and after entering the day two strokes behind the leader, his impressive seven under par performance on that final day looked like it had secured him a spot in a one-day playoff to be played the next day. However, De Vicenzo's dream birthday quickly turned nightmarish. And it all came down to a tiny little erroneous four.

Read on to learn the whole sad story!