It’s Masters week. The fact that I’m writing those words in the second week in November shows just what an unmitigated cluster 2020 has been.
Be that as it may, I’m not going to let the calendar or the dire national circumstances in which we find ourselves detract from what is possibly my favorite event on the sports calendar. No other sport treasures its traditions quite like golf does, but The Masters is, as Jim Nantz is quick to remind us, a Tradition Unlike Any Other, warranting a little extra reverence.
I’ve looked back over my decades of Masters-watching and come up with my own top 7 Masters Moments, and given the stakes and the setting, these take their place with the greatest moments in sports history.
7. Norman’s Collapse, 1996
Nick Faldo was a great player, and a big part of Sir Nick’s greatness was the fact that he was always around, ready to capitalize on a collapse. Collapses don’t come any more epic than the one that Greg Norman endured at the 1996 Masters. Norman held a six-shot lead over Faldo entering the final round but shot a Sunday 78 to Faldo’s 67 and lost by five in what amounted to a day-long, slow-motion car crash.
6. Couples Defies Gravity, 1992
Nursing a slim lead on Sunday, Fred Couples arrived at the benign-looking but diabolical par-3 12th and narrowly avoided disaster when his mis-clubbed tee shot somehow clung to the bank above Rae’s Creek instead of trickling down into the water. Couples saved par, then played 1-under golf the rest of the way to win by two shots.
5. Larry Mize, 1987
Many of Greg Norman’s heartbreaking losses were self-inflicted; this one was more like an explosion taking out an innocent bystander. Playing a few miles from his home, Mize holed a seemingly impossible 140-foot pitch shot on the second playoff hole, the brutal par-4 11th, to deny Norman a green jacket.
4. The Ultimate Nike Ad, 2005
The Nike marketing office couldn’t have drawn it up any better. Tiger Woods’ chip shot on 16 on Masters Sunday, the ball hanging tantalizingly on the edge of the cup, the Swoosh momentarily freeze-framed on our television screens before the ball tumbled into the hole, unleashing an awkward golfer high-five moment between Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams. Woods went on to win his fourth Green Jacket in a playoff with Chris DiMarco.
3. Lefty’s Leap into History, 2004
Sporting a bemused grin, as though he was actually enjoying the pressure, Phil Mickelson got the major monkey off his back, following up an opening-round 72 with three straight 69s to hold off a charging Ernie Els. Mickelson’s clinching putt on 18 and subsequent “leap” for joy provided one of golf’s most cathartic moments.
2. Tiger’s Arrival, 1997
In the spring of ’97, I had the good fortune to attend a practice round at Augusta on the Tuesday of Masters week. As we stepped onto the meticulously manicured grounds, our first stop was the impossibly picturesque par-5 13th, scene of so much glory and heartbreak. On the tee in the distance was the threesome of Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and a young phenom named Tiger Woods. Five short days later, Tiger had changed the sport forever. The 1997 Masters lacked any of the event’s typical drama; instead, it was a four-day coronation, as Tiger dismantled the storied course en route to an 18-under finish and 12-shot victory — despite going out in 40 on his opening 9.
1. Jack’s Back, 1986
At 46, Jack Nicklaus seemed to be little more than a footnote as Masters week dawned. An Atlanta newspaper article went so far as to call him “done, washed up, through.” That article found its way onto the refrigerator at Jack’s rental house, and suitably motivated, the Bear emerged from hibernation. Four shots back heading into the final round, Jack birdied 9, 10 and 11 to creep up the leaderboard. He bogeyed 12 when his par putt brushed a spike mark, but he got it back with a two-putt birdie at 13. Then, an eagle putt at 15, a near-hole-in-one at 16 and a birdie at 17 unleashed roars that rattled the pines, along with his competitors. Nicklaus’s 65 put him at 9-under, a score that no other contender could match. Jack needed only 33 strokes to complete the final ten holes of the greatest Masters of them all.