Masters Drama - My Favorite Moments

It always seems to sneak up on us every year.  It's April, the azaleas are in bloom, and The Masters is upon us.  Every true golfer loves the Masters.  Most will say that they enjoy the traditions, the history, the champions, and the romantic setting of Augusta National.  To me, The Masters has always been special because of one thing - the layout of the back nine.

There are few courses that golf fans get to know as well as Augusta National.  We closely watch the very best of the world attempt to tame it every year on television.  While we are sitting in freeway traffic, playing golf alone at twilight, or in our beds at night, we dream about how we would play each hole coming down the stretch, and imagine hitting all the shots.  There isn't a single one of us who hasn't done a Carl Spackler from Caddyshack: "Tears in his eyes I guess as he lines up this final shot...a Cinderella boy, out of nowhere, a former greenskeeper, is about to become, the Masters Champion."

When Bobby Jones and Alistair MacKenzie put their time into creating this great event and golf course, there is no way they could have predicted what a masterpiece it would become.  Nor could they have ever imagined all of the miraculous shots that have been pulled off over the years that have formed Masters everlasting memories.  Here are a few of my favorite holes, my favorite memories, and some classic shots that have found a permanent home in golf lore.

Hole #10 - Camelia - This hole produced an early golf memory for me in 1989.  Nick Faldo and Scott Hoch would finish the tournament tied and headed to #10 for the start of a sudden death playoff.  Faldo was hot after shooting a closing 65 to tie Hoch, who had missed a makeable 4-footer on 17 that would have given him the win in regulation.  Left with only a two-and-a-half foot par putt, Hoch played the ball outside the hole, completely gassed it through the break, and blew it four feet by the hole.  Although he was obviously shaken by missing such a short putt for the greatest win of his life, he calmly made the four-footer coming back. However, he went on to lose the playoff and the green jacket to Faldo, who made a 30-foot bomb on #11 to win his first of three Masters titles.  Unfortunately for Hoch, this mistake would follow him for the rest of his career, as he never won a major and was often referred to as "Scott Choke".

Hoch after the miss

Hole #12 - Golden Bell - One of the most scenic holes in all of golf, this short par-3 measures out to only 155 yards on Sunday.  The hole is magical because of its tiny landing area for the Sunday hole location, the carry over Rae's Creek, the shaved bank short of the green, the Hogan Bridge and swirling winds.  The green is also located in a place where only the players and caddies are allowed, creating a dramatic stage and allowing the player a rare chance to be alone with his thoughts before charging down the stretch run.  If you have read my blog, you know that one of my favorite golfers in the 1990's was Fred Couples.  Despite a ton of success on the regular tour, he had never won a major.  In 1992, he was as hot as anyone entering the event, winning twice on the PGA Tour.  On Sunday, he held a three shot lead in The Masters going into #12.  His tee shot came up woefully short of the green, and started its decent down the slope toward the water.  Balls simply do not stop short of the water on this hole.  But on this day, Freddie's Maxfli did, somehow hanging up in the short grass only a foot or two from making at least a double-bogey.  Couples looked astonished when he finally reached his ball.  He gingerly set up on the bank, afraid that any tremor would send his ball off of whatever was holding it up.  He chunked a wedge up to a few feet and canned the putt to make par and avoid sure disaster.  He wound up cruising for the rest of the back nine and took home his one and only major championship.

How did it stop there?

Hole 13 - Azalea - To me, this is the greatest risk/reward hole in all of golf.  The hole itself is a reachable par-5 and can be played in a number of different ways.  Most long hitters will choose to hit a going hook off of the tee to take advantage of the dogleg left and a severely sloping fairway.  If this is executed correctly, the player has a short distance to the green for his second shot, but usually has to contend with the ball being slightly above his feet.  Tee shots that do not catch the slope often end up on the top of the hill at the bend in the dogleg or through the fairway into pine straw.  This area still leaves the player within range of the green, and gives them an elevated view of the target, but the shot is usually from much farther out and there are trees to contend with as well.  The green is fronted by Rae's Creek and protected by two large bunkers in the rear.  Shots that end up behind the hole are tricky because the green slopes severely from back to front and towards the water.

There are several great memories I have from this hole.  Curtis Strange dropped from contention after duck hooking his ball over Rae's creek into no-man's land left of the fairway.  Tiger Woods once snapped a club against a tree when he hit his second shot from the pine straw in a final round.  But the most incredible shot ever hit at #13 may have been during last year's final round.  Phil Mickelson drove his tee shot into the pine straw, 187 yards from the hole.  Phil seemed to be stymied by a pine tree only six feet in front of his ball.  Phil is one of the most imaginative golfers in the game, and is well known for his willingness to take a gamble on the golf course.  But could he? Would he? He shouldn't! He wouldn't, would he? He did.  He picked out a small window and sent a blazing 5-iron toward destiny.  The ball hit a little short but hopped up on the green to give Phil a three foot chance at an eagle 3!  He would miss the putt, but still made birdie.  His playing partner and close pursuer Lee Westwood was quoted as saying that the shot was miraculous and it seemed as if it turned the momentum in Phil's favor.  He swept through the rest of the back-nine in style and claimed his third green jacket. 

Splitting the uprights

Hole #16 - Redbud - Many birdies have been made at at Redbud in the final round of the Masters.  The hole location is often tucked close to the water, but is accessible by a sloping green that will often move well placed tee shots very close to the hole.  However, the small bowl in the front of the green makes long lag putts and chipping from the back of the green very difficult.

During his win for the ages at age 46 in 1986, Jack Nicklaus thrilled the patrons by almost holing out from the tee.  He famously stared down the shot as his caddie and son Jackie told the ball to "be right".  Jack responded simply with "it is" and the ball spun back to only a few feet from the cup.  After a thunderous ovation, Jack made the birdie, which ended up being the difference in a one shot victory over Tom Kite and Greg Norman.

However, one greater moment came in 2005 when Tiger Woods provided us with one of the most dramatic shots in golf history.  Faced with a 25-foot chip shot over a steep slope with a severe left to right break from left of the green, most would have said Tiger would be lucky to walk away with a par.  Starting the hole, Tiger had a one shot lead over Chris DiMarco, who appeared to be in great position to even the score after landing his tee shot comfortably in the center of the green.  Tiger aimed well left of the hole, his chip checked up after taking a bounce, and began bending slowly toward the hole.  As the ball took the slope, it gained momentum and rolled toward the cup.  The crowd rose to its feet and Tiger stalked the ball as it started slowing down, creeping dead in line with the heart of the hole.  The camera zoomed in on the ball as it hung on the lip perilously, showing the Nike swoosh almost as if it was a commercial.  The ball seemed to hesitate and finally dropped, sending the crown into a frenzy and Tiger into an awkward celebration.   Stunned, DiMarco made his par, but left the hole two strokes behind when it looked like he was about to tie the score.

Woods wound up winning his fourth Masters title in a playoff after he lost his lead by bogeying 17 and 18.  In another stroke of bad luck, DiMarco's birdie chip on 18 hit the bottom of the flagstick and caromed 10 feet away.  He made the putt to force the playoff, but could have easily trumped Tiger's miracle if the chip shot had dropped.

Tiger's miracle chip and the Nike One pausing on the lip

Hole 18 - Holly - After all of the great scoring opportunities on the final nine at Augusta, the finishing hole is one where par is almost always the goal.  "Holly" starts out with a narrow chute of trees surrounding the tee, is severely uphill, and bends slightly to the right.  Tee shots too far to the left will end up in deep fairway bunkers with a poor angle to the green.  Shots too far to the right may catch dense trees and pine straw.  Players who hit driver risk reaching the bunkers or spraying one to the right.  Laying up with a fairway wood avoids trouble, but leads to a very long second shot.  The green is well protected with bunker long and left and several tiers that make putting no picnic.  Add thousands of patrons surrounding the putting surface and you have one treacherous and dramatic setting.

There are a few honorable mentions on my list for #18.  Sandy Lyle made par in 1988 from a difficult lie in a fairway bunker to edge Mark Calcavecchia by one stroke.  Phil Mickelson made a famous 15-foot putt here in 2004 to cap off a beautiful back-nine and capture his first major and first of three green jackets.  The birdie putt put him one stroke ahead of Ernie Els, who shot a 67 in the final round to come up just short.

My favorite memory of #18 came in 1998.  Mark O'Meara had been a fixture on the PGA Tour for many years.  He was always a solid player, well respected on Tour, had a good all-around game but never seemed to break into that top echelon of players that would be considered perennial major contenders.  It always seemed strange to me that O'Meara and Tiger Woods were such good friends given their place in the PGA Tour universe and the fact that they are 15+ years apart in age.  However, the fact of the matter is that in the late 1990's they played a lot of golf together where they lived in Windermere, Florida at Isleworth Country Club. Tiger won the Masters in 1997, giving him a 1-0 advantage in majors over the 15 year veteran.  In many ways, I think Tiger's win fueled O'Meara, and playing 2-down auto Nassaus with the greatest player in the world on a regular basis certainly has to help your game as well.

The 1998 Masters was a wild one.  David Duval lit up the back nine, making birdies a 11, 13, and 15 and he stood on the 16th tee with a three shot lead.  He bogeyed to open the door for Fred Couples, who had eagled 15, and O'Meara, who hung around long enough to keep himself in contention.  After along string of 10 holes without a birdie, O'Meara came alive.  Most of the attention was on Couples and Duval but O'Meara birdied 15 and 17 and stood on the 18th tee tied with both players.  O'Meara hit a solid approach shot on 18, stopping 18 feet from the hole.  Couples found trouble, reaching the fairway bunkers, and winding up in the greenside bunker after his approach.  He blasted out to four feet, setting up what looked to be a sure three way playoff.

Duval was waiting in the Butler cabin with Jim Nantz and Masters Chairman Jack Stephens, who famously told him: "Don't worry, David. Nobody ever makes that putt."  And nobody expected him to make it, not Couples, not Duval, not Stephens, not me, and not even O'Meara.  But amazingly, O'Meara drained it! O'Meara later would admit that he was extremely nervous as he stood over the putt and felt that he had hit it too hard.  As it neared the hole, he felt it was tracking and it rattled into the jar dead center.  O'Meara looked as surprised as anyone in the state of Georgia.  He punched his fist into the air, embraced his caddie and later took the green jacket from his good friend Tiger Woods.

O'Meara claims the Green Jacket

Which hole will provide the scenery for a heroic act in 2011?  If Masters history is any indicator, it could be any one of them.  One thing is for sure, there will be drama.