Eighteen majors, though! It’s a haul that puts Nicklaus way out ahead of everyone else in history. Walter Hagen, in second spot on the all-time list, can only boast 11. Ben Hogan and Gary Player have nine each; Tom Watson eight. Will anyone ever get close to the Golden Bear? It’ll take someone very special indeed.
-9: Jack Nicklaus
-8: Tom Kite, Greg Norman
-7: Seve Ballesteros
-6: Nick Price
-5: Jay Haas, Tom Watson
-4: Tommy Nakajima, Payne Stewart, Bob Tway
-3: Donnie Hammond, Sandy Lyle, Mark McCumber, Corey Pavin, Calvin Peete
-2: Dave Barr, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Koch, Bernhard Langer, Larry Mize
-1: Curtis Strange, Fuzzy Zoeller
Langer helps Nicklaus on with his sixth green jacket. “Fantastic! It’s a pleasure for me to help you put it on. You’re a great champion!” The ever-sporting Langer smiling through the hurt at the end of day during which he never got going. Incidentally, if Nicklaus winning the Masters at 46 doesn’t make this an all-American banner day already, make sure to turn over to NBC once we’re done here. Return to Mayberry debuts tonight, Andy Griffith returning to celebrate Opie becoming a father for the first time!
“It was deafening, you couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t think about what score I was shooting. Jackie was terrific this week. Having your son caddy for you ... we kept reading the darn putts right and I kept hitting them. It was an unusual occurrence for me lately! All I kept reading in the papers was: you just don’t win the Masters aged 46. And my gosh, I think they’re wrong! Obviously I’m in the December of my career, but just which day of December I haven’t yet decided.”
Nicklaus, wearing a beatific smile, is bustled to the Butler Cabin, where he’ll be presented with his sixth green jacket by last year’s champion Bernhard Langer. But beforehand, Jack is interviewed on CBS by the chairman of Augusta National, Hord Hardin: “It’s been an unusual year for me, I haven’t played often. I started playing well about a week ago. I didn’t expect to be in a position to win, though I thought this morning if I shot 66 I’d tie and 65 I’d win. And that’s exactly what happened. I don’t know, I just kept doing things right this afternoon! I finally made a bunch of putts, I haven’t had this much fun in six years!”
It’s Jack’s sixth victory at Augusta. Today’s astonishing performance puts him two clear of Arnold Palmer, and three ahead of Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead and Gary Player.
At the age of 46 years, two months and 23 days, Jack becomes the third-oldest man to win a major. Old Tom Morris won the 1867 Open when he was 46 years, three months and nine days old. And Julius Boros landed the 1968 PGA Championship at the age of 48 years, four months and 18 days. He’s now the oldest Master, beating the record set by 42-year-old Gary Player in 1978.
JACK NICKLAUS IS THE 1986 MASTERS CHAMPION!!! Six years after his last major title, the 1980 PGA, the Golden Bear is out of hibernation! That’s his 18th major, and possibly the greatest - certainly the unlikeliest - of them all! He was all but toast when he flayed his drive at 8 into the trees. But after a miracle escape, he scrambled par, then embarked on a run of six birdies and an eagle over the remaining ten holes. Almost flawless golf; he grasped every opportunity on offer. By contrast, Ballesteros, Kite and Norman let theirs slip through their fingers: Seve dunking into the drink at 15, spooked by Jack’s antics on 16; Kite failing to give his birdie putt on 18 enough juice; Norman Keystone Kopping his way down 10, then freezing coming up the last. Nicklaus by contrast was relentless. A final-day 65! If this is to be his valedictory major, it’s one hell of a way to go out!
The Great White Shark circles the green, then sends down the putt. It’s always going to break left, never dropping. Such sadness for Norman, who got tight when it really mattered. You could argue his mini-meltdown on 10 was what really cost him, but he had a green jacket within his grasp coming down 18, and threw away his chance in miserable fashion. A 70, and he ties Kite in second place. Ah well, maybe another year. But you know what this means, don’t you ...
One good thing: Norman has a decent lie. But he’ll have to manufacture something special. He plays a bump-and-run down the bank, to the right of the bunker, onto the green, past the hole, and uses the camber at the very top of the putting surface to bring his ball round left and back a little. He’ll have a 12-footer to scramble his par and force a play-off. It was probably the best he could do from where he was. Nick Price finishes up with par, and a 71. He was never quite in contention. Greg has been, though, and now he needs something special so his efforts weren’t in vain.
Norman’s breathing is heavy. He’s about to take the biggest shot of his life. His caddy hands him a 4-iron, telling his man it’s “the perfect club”. No wind. Norman pulls it back and ... stares after it in horror, then drops his head in sorrow after flaying a hysterical slice deep into the gallery to the right of the green! That could have put paid to his hopes, and by the look in the poor man’s eyes, he knows it. He’s high on the bank, chipping downhill towards the slippery green, facing a hell of a job to get anywhere near the flag. Four birdies in a row to haul himself back into contention, and it’s come to this.
Norman leaves his driver in the bag, taking 3-wood off the 18th tee. He pearls it down the middle. He’s 185 from the flag. Up on the green, there are whoops and hollers as Norman’s fourth birdie in a row goes up on the scoreboard. A fifth on the bounce, and he’ll be the first player to win the Masters with birdie on 18 since Arnold Palmer snatched it from Ken Venturi in 1960. A par, and it’s Bear v Shark, sudden death on the 10th. A bogey and ... well, let’s not go there. There are already crowds around the 10th green in anticipation of a dramatic play-off.
Bernhard Langer ends his title defence in miserable fashion. A double bogey at the last, the result of sending his tee shot into the trees down the right, finding greenside sand, then thinning one out of the trap and over the green. Having jointly led the tournament at one point this afternoon, he ends the week in a tie for 16th at -2. A final-round 75. But he receives his dues from the gallery anyway. America loves a champion. A 74 for his playing partner Donnie Hammond.
Norman gives the fairly straight putt a good solid clack. The ball takes a jaunty little hop halfway along its route, before rolling unerringly into the hole! Four birdies in a row! Norman replicates the foot-splay and putter-wave of Nicklaus on this very green earlier, allowing his face to break into a smile that would outshine the hottest southern sun. He’s tied for the lead, after embarking on one of his signature birdie blitzes! He looked down and out when he failed to birdie the par-five 13th ... but now look!
-9: Nicklaus (F), Norman (17)
-8: Kite (F)
-7: Ballesteros (F)
-6: Watson (F), Price (17)
With Seve having left the stage, some else will have to field the sensational escapes. And here’s Norman, allowed to drop away from the sprinkler head on 17, but still forced to send a low hook between trees. And this is quite astonishing: he whistles his ball through the gap and sends it scampering onto the green, the ball taking a friendly bounce over the corner of the bunker guarding the front, and landing 12 feet away! He’ll have that for a share of the lead!
Seve knocks in his par putt, and that’s a 70. He ends the week two shots shy of Nicklaus; Kite finishes the week half-an-inch behind. The disappointed pair fling their arms around each other’s shoulders and off they go. It’s been a blast.
-9: Nicklaus (F)
-8: Kite (F), Norman (16)
-7: Ballesteros (F)
-6: Watson (F), Price (16)
It’s more heartache for poor Kite. It’s a fairly straight putt, with a very small right-to-left break. Hit it soundly, and it’s rolling through that break and into the cup. But he doesn’t quite give it enough, and the ball apologetically dies to the left, a dimple’s width or so away from dropping. The smallest margins. Poor Kite, the wind out of his sail. Poor Tom’s a-cold. He drops to his haunches, much like Jack earlier, but there’s despair in his eyes, and a soundtrack of sighs instead of cheers. It’s awfully sad to witness. Hopefully he’ll fulfil his stellar talent and win a major some day.
Potential trouble for Norman on 17, as he hooks his drive into trees down the left. He’s over near the 7th green. His ball’s by a sprinkler head, so he’s waiting for a ruling. Back up on 18, Ballesteros hits a hot putt from the fringe at the back, seven feet past. He’s really struggled since that pull-hook at the 15th. And now here’s Tom Kite’s birdie attempt. Kite has an absurdly good record at Augusta, it’s a wonder he’s never won here. On his last 11 visits, he’s made the top ten nine times. He was runner-up to Seve back in 1983. The crowd may have been pulling for Nicklaus all afternoon ... but they wouldn’t begrudge the 35-year-old Texan at all.
What a shot by Kite! From 165 yards on 18, he whipcracks a 6-iron onto the top shelf of the green, the ball releasing forward off a hump on the right and gathering round to ten feet! He’ll have that to join Nicklaus as leader! The gallery do their thing as first Seve throws them a few kisses - swoon - and then Kite receives the rousing applause he too deserves. (Seve’s just over the back, incidentally.)
Norman strides off the green trying his best not to let a smile play across his face. He knows this is back on now. Meanwhile there’s a glorious reception for Watson as he troops up 18. He’ll not have green jacket draped over his shoulders this afternoon, but the gallery love him anyway. A slightly deflating bogey to finish, but he’s -5 for the week. And after he takes his leave, the patrons wow and flutter as Norman’s birdie at 16 is posted on the big white scoreboard. Down the fairway, Kite prepares to send his second into the green. He needs a birdie to tie Nicklaus and force a play-off down the 10th ... unless Norman has other ideas, of course.
But Norman might! He caresses a glorious iron into the heart of 16, using the camber to bring the ball down towards the hole’s usual Sunday position. That’s such a lovely shot under pressure - two behind Nicklaus with three to play, he’s got little or no wriggle room - and from three feet he’ll surely tidy up for birdie. Yep, it’s in. But Price spurns a similar chance from five feet, and his faint hopes are now kaput. Kite’s not out of this either, having quietly made par at 17 while Seve theatrically slipped out of contention.
-9: Nicklaus (F)
-8: Kite (17), Norman (16)
-7: Ballesteros (17)
-6: Watson (17), Price (16)
Ballesteros won’t be one of them. He trundled his long birdie putt 15 feet past, failed to make the one coming back, and that’s a three-putt on 17 for the second day in a row. Unless he holes out from the fairway at 18 to force an extremely unlikely play-off, that’s his race run. The gallery, fully aware of this, break out into warm rolls of applause, the volume steadily increasing as Seve, whose heart will be yearning right now, smiles handsomely (of course he does) and waves his thanks. Waves of love washing back and forth. In its own bittersweet way, this is almost as special as the reception for Jack on 18. Almost.
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Jack taps in for a barnstorming 65, roaring out of the pack with six birdies and an eagle in the last ten holes! He played the back nine in 30 strokes, shades of another veteran winner, Gary Player, eight years ago. Augusta erupts in excitement, anticipation, wonder, awe, life and love. Nicklaus raises two fists of triumph into the air, shakes the hand of his partner Sandy Lyle - who bogeyed the last for a 71, but got a big warm laugh from the crowd, hamming up his frustration after leaving his par putt short - then strides off arm in arm with son-caddy Jackie. Heart-melting. He’s the new clubhouse leader ... and there are only a couple of players left out there who can usurp him!
-9: Nicklaus (F)
-8: Ballesteros (16), Kite (16)
-7: Norman (15)
-6: Watson (17), Price (15)
The Golden Bear prowls around his putt. Total silence at the 18th. He pulls his putter back, then one smooth stroke later sends his ball on a serene journey towards the hole. It’s on a perfect line, and looks to be blessed with perfect pace ... but the ball stops one turn short. Aw! Nicklaus falls to his haunches, so close to yet another birdie that would have surely sealed the deal.
Nicklaus makes the famous walk up the 18th. The gallery gives him the reception a living legend deserves. Once again, Seve is inconvenienced by the noise elsewhere. He steps back from his second shot at 17, lets the applause subside a little, then pulls his ball well left of the flag. He’s on the dancefloor, but miles from the pin. Meanwhile over at 15, Norman finds the green in two without much drama, then takes a couple of fuss-free putts for another birdie. He’s still in this! His partner Price has made back-to-back birdies as well, but he’s a shot further back and surely won’t affect the outcome.
-9: Nicklaus (17)
-8: Ballesteros (16), Kite (16)
-7: Norman (15)
-6: Watson (17), Price (15)
Nicklaus then bashes his second onto the green ... but not with enough oomph, and it doesn’t get up the ridge running across the middle. The pin’s up on the top shelf, a strange position for Masters Sunday. It’s usually positioned on the bottom shelf, roughly where Jack’s ball is right now, in fact. Typical, huh? The new leader faces a tricky 50-foot putt up and over the ridge with a little left-to-right break.
Nicklaus creams his drive at 18 down the middle. He’s positioned perfectly at the dogleg, at the bottom of the hill. Lyle meanwhile finds the bunker, from which he comes up short of the green and right. At least he now knows what not to do from that position. Maybe he’ll draw from this sore experience in years to come?
It’s not just the gallery who are losing the place. In the CBS studio, Tom Weiskopf is beside himself with glee. “I’m with ya, Jack! I jumped up. That’s the record book of golf we’re looking at!” Back on 16, Seve is forced to improvise, one foot deep in the sand, one hand halfway down the shaft. He’s almost playing a croquet shot. He does very well to dribble his ball to a couple of feet. Par. Kite also gets up and down for his par. Meanwhile up on 17, Watson’s features fall as he watches a 12-foot birdie effort stay below the hole on the left. Par not enough. It’s all over for the 1977 and 1981 winner.
-9: Nicklaus (17)
-8: Ballesteros (16), Kite (16)
-6: Watson (17), Norman (14)
Up on 17, Nicklaus crouches down behind his birdie putt. It’s got a gentle left-to-right break. He sets the slider away on its inexorable journey towards the hole, a perfectly weighted clack across these glassy greens. He knows it’s dropping before it disappears, and takes a step forward, left foot splayed out, left arm and putter raised in celebration! The ball drops just after a patron cries: “He’s got it!” Augusta is at fever pitch now! Jack Nicklaus, at the age of 46, is leading the Masters late on Sunday afternoon! He blows out hard, and looks to the heavens. Solemnity briefly plays across his face, and his brow creases, as he suddenly takes in the enormity of what is going on. But soon the smile takes over again. This is on!
-9: Nicklaus (17)
-8: Ballesteros (15), Kite (15)
-6: Watson (16), Norman (14)
A rush of blood to the head of Tom Kite. He whistles a hot one through the back of 16. He’ll have a very slippery chip coming back down. Ah well, tell it to Corey Pavin, at least it’s not wet. Seve’s next up, and he benefits from a huge stroke of luck, his tee shot only just getting over the water and stopping precariously on the edge of the bunker guarding the front. He’ll be able to take his putter to that, inches off the green, though chances of a much-needed birdie look slim for both players.
And it’s getting even more daft by the second! Because Nicklaus, whose major-winning days have been widely considered over for a couple of years now, has just wedged his second shot at 17 pin high to 15 feet! He’ll have a great look at a birdie that would give the 46-year-old veteran the lead of the 50th Masters Tournament!
Something finally goes Greg Norman’s way! Having clapped his second into 14 straight at the flag, he rolls in a ten-foot uphill putt for his first birdie since the 6th hole. He rises to -6 and isn’t quite out of this yet. Workaday pars for Nakajima and Watson on 16; that’ll likely be very costly for Watson. Kite doesn’t hit his eagle putt on 15, but it’s enough for birdie. And finally Seve’s attempt to tease in that left-to-right downhill curler rolls past. A bogey. He’s just given up a couple of strokes on 15 to the field. He’s given up three to Jack ... and there goes his sole ownership of the lead. This has been a turnaround of absurd proportions.
-8: Nicklaus (16), Ballesteros (15), Kite (15)
-6: Watson (16), Norman (14)
-5: Haas (F), Price (14)
Briefly, on 17, the Nicklaus fairytale threatens to turn sour. He yanks his drive towards the trees down the left. The stewards need to move the gallery out of the road. Trouble here? No trouble here! He’s been gifted a huge break, and has a straight road to the green from 125 yards! The stars could be aligning for the five-time champ. If it didn’t feel like that was the case already.
Seve decides against the drop zone, and considers the point of entry instead. He decides to walk 50 yards back up the fairway, so he’ll be playing his fourth shot from a spot where he can generate more spin. Seve doesn’t hang about, and whips a wedge over the flag. His ball doesn’t bite, but lands softly enough to stop 12 feet away. But he’s left himself a treacherously fast downhill par putt, with a huge left-to-right break.
Astonished Murmur segues into Shocked Rumble. Seve puts his hand to his head (or more accurately his visor). It’s a classic coping mechanism. His world is suddenly in danger of collapsing. He trudges down the fairway towards the drop zone. He’ll need to pull himself together in double-quick time.
SEVE HOOKS INTO THE DRINK!!! An awful contact, his shoulders must have tightened dreadfully during that nervous wait. His ball plunges into the middle of the deep blue, miles from dry land. The gallery, who are four-square behind the Golden Bear now, throw up an involuntary cheer ... before catching themselves and descending into an astonished mutter, southern manners kicking in. There’s been a lot of talk of the “Foreign Invasion” this week, with four of the last eight Masters Tournaments having been won by non-US players. (Gary Player’s astonishing smash-and-grab of 1978, when the South African shot 30 on the back nine Sunday; Seve’s wins for Spain in 1980 and 1983; and Langer’s victory last year.) Those Stateside are desperate for someone to bring it back home ... and now they can see this happening! Who would have bet on this an hour ago?!
Back down the 15th fairway, after an interminable wait, Kite and Ballesteros prepare to build upon their magnificent drives. Kite’s up first, and though his 3-iron only just gets over the drink, his ball rolls onto the putting surface and he’ll have a look at eagle. Seve up now. He tears off a few blades of grass and tosses them into the air. Not much in the way of wind. It’s 198 to the flag, having hit a 302-yard boomer. He’s standing on prime real estate. He draws back his 4-iron and ...
... Jack makes his birdie on 16! If Augusta National had a roof, it would be helicoptering over South Carolina right now. No wonder Nakajima waited to make his short birdie putt on 15. With the noise at 16 now a rolling constant, the Japanese star tidies up and moves to -4. But this is sensational! Nicklaus has made five birdies and an eagle in the last eight holes, and look at the top of the leader board now!
-9: Ballesteros (14)
-8: Nicklaus (16)
-7: Kite (14)
-6: T Watson (15)
-5: Haas (F), Norman (13)
Amid the tumult, Jack’s partner Sandy Lyle knocks his tee shot to ten feet and makes the birdie putt. He’s -4. This experience standing in the eye of the storm will stand him in good stead in the years to come. Jack lines up his putt. As he sizes it up from all angles, silence. Back on 15, Watson takes advantage of the peace by quickly taking his eagle putt ... though he rushes it a little, and shoves it well right of the hole. That’s a really poor effort, and it’s just a birdie. Just! He’s -6, but he’s let two fine eagle chances slip in the last three holes, and at this stage of the Masters, these slim margins are likely to prove costly. Especially because ...
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The bedlam caused by Jack’s tee shot on 16 has stopped play on 15! Tommy Nakajima, lining up a putt, decides to wait for the great man’s ovation to subside. Fair enough: this is a spine-bothering, nerve-hassling, hair-rustling, teeth-tingling roar. Penny for what’s going through Tom Watson’s head, as he waits to take his eagle putt. Penny for what Seve is thinking, too, back down the fairway!
Ballesteros and Kite boom drives down 15. They’re both in prime position. This hole has been coughing up eagles and birdies this afternoon, the wind barely a factor, its defences down. Anything for Seve here will surely seal the deal. Although up on 16, Nicklaus isn’t taking his foot off the gas. Assuming that Seve is going to birdie 15 at the very least, he draws back his iron and ... lands his ball right next to the pin! It briefly thinks about spinning into the cup for what would be an almost psychedelic hole in one. A couple of inches away from dropping. But it spins three feet down the green instead. He’s left himself a wonderful birdie chance, putting uphill without too much in the way of break. And you could tell he liked it, bending down to pick up his tee while the ball was still sailing on its arc of destiny. He gives his son a wink and a smile. What a shot! What a man. Breaking news: Jack Nicklaus has game.
Norman needs to do something, and quick. His second into 13 isn’t any cop, though, rolling down a swale to the left. His chip across the ridiculously fast green is as near to perfectly judged as is possible ... but still rolls five feet past. Even so, in these circumstances, he should make the birdie putt coming back ... but doesn’t. He surely can’t afford to give up chances like that. His race looks run. His round has been almost totally bereft of momentum from the get-go. On your marks, get set, no.
Some depressing admin: poor Corey Pavin ended up with a double-bogey at 16. He’s +6 on that par-three for the week. He’s five off the lead. He must be allergic to Redbud. Mark McCumber went on to bogey the hole too; he slips back to -4 as well. So much for those eagles at 15. Jack will be hoping for better luck when he tees it up.
So the leader board has changed yet again - and with extreme prejudice! Ballesteros remains two clear, though he was so close to making it a three-shot gap with that putt on 14. Now, standing on the 15th tee, he’ll have a good idea what’s just gone down greenside. The great Nicklaus is suddenly on his shoulder. Tom Watson isn’t going away, either: having just birdied 13 and 14, he’s now sent his second at 15, from 210 yards, pretty much to the same spot Nicklaus was a few minutes ago. Another fine eagle chance!
... where Jack clacks a gentle left-to-right slider firm and true! In it drops, and up goes every last soul in the gallery, the heavens bust open with the sheer power and volume of Augusta’s as-one roar. Nicklaus raises both fists in the air in triumph, and plucks the ball from the hole. Eagle ... and this really is on now! This. Really. Is. On. As the hubbub continues, Nicklaus strides off with a goofy grin on his face, his features twitching in a strange swirl of disbelief, excitement and determination. He blows out hard. This is borderline surreal! And such is the noise around 15, every other player will know exactly what’s just happened ... and how the final chapter of a fairytale could be written in the next hour or so!
-9: Ballesteros (14)
-7: Nicklaus (15), Kite (14)
-5: Haas (F), T Watson (14), Norman (12)
-4: Stewart (F), Pavin (16), McCumber (16), Langer (12), Price (12)
He really does. And Jack knows that full well, having examined the leader board upon making it to the 15th green. Behind them on 14, Seve nearly drains a long birdie putt from the back of the green, but it’s a tap-in for par. His partner Kite is more disappointed, leaving a ten-foot birdie chance short. The leading pair remain at -9 and -7 respectively. Which brings us quickly back to 15 ...
Nicklaus stands in the middle of the 15th fairway, having split it with his drive. A long iron over the water and into the green. Anticipation rises as the ball begins its descent. It lands 15 feet from the flag, pretty much pin high. What a chance for an eagle that’d reverberate all around the course! All around the world, really, which is fairly apt given this is where Gene Sarazen made his legendary albatross in 1935. The gallery at 15 really are getting bang for their buck at the minute: three of the last four players to go through - Pavin, McCumber and Gary Koch - have made eagle. Is the Golden Bear about to make it four from five? “He’s making some good swings, but he’s too far behind,” worries Weiskopf in the pundit’s chair. “He really needs to make three I feel.”
Up on 14, Watson knocks his second to six feet and strokes in the birdie putt. He’s suddenly -5 after back-to-back birdies. A couple of two-putt pars at 12 for Norman and Price in the final group. They remain at -5 and -4 respectively. It’s pin-drop still around Amen Corner now, with all of the drama being played out elsewhere.
Oh Corey! Golf gives, but it also snatches away with indecent haste. Pavin, coming straight off the back of eagle at 15, makes heavy contact with his tee shot at 16 and slam-dunks his ball into the water. Nowhere near terra firma. He turns away in disgust long before the ripples fan out. His dream of winning a green jacket was allowed to exist for, ooh, about two minutes. Oh golf, how could you! Poor Pavin doesn’t even attempt to hide his hurt, dropping his club to the floor, slumping down on a nearby bench and holding his head in his hands. He remains stock still for a good while. You could cry for the poor guy. In fact, he might be fighting the tears himself. He eventually finds his equilibrium, blows his cheeks out hard, picks up his club, holds it over his shoulder, and bravely trudges off to the drop zone. The gallery is deathly quiet. What a dreadful scene. Mind you, none of this should come as a total surprise: in the first three rounds, he’s made two bogeys and a double here. The 16th alone has cost Corey Pavin the Masters.
Back on 13, Kite leaves his eagle putt high on the left. The pro side, so that’s good. But it was never dropping. Seve - who turned down the chance to go to school on Kite’s putt, looking the other way and keeping his own counsel - strokes in his eagle putt. Straight into the middle! Kite taps in his birdie putt to stay in touch, but Seve may just have performed the decisive act of the 1986 Masters!
-9: Ballesteros (13)
-7: Kite (13)
-6: Pavin (15)
-5: Haas (F), McCumber (15), Nicklaus (14), Norman (11)
-4: Stewart (17), T Watson (13), Langer (12), Price (11)
Also coming up on the rails with eagle at 15: Mark McCumber. The 34-year-old Floridian has five Tour wins to his name, but no record to speak of in the majors, save a top-ten finish at St Andrews a couple of years ago. He’s -5.
An up-and-down for Jack from off the back of 14, par saved thanks to a delightfully judged chip to kick-in distance. And from nowhere, here’s Corey Pavin, raking in a long eagle effort across 15! That gets the gallery going, and transmits a few signals around the course; he’s -6, having started the day at -2, and is suddenly right in the thick of it!
Kite knocks his second onto the 13th. He’s 35 feet away, and he’ll be giving Seve a read. Meanwhile up on 18, a finishing birdie for Calvin Peete, who ends the week at -3. That’s a fine effort around this track, given Peete is one of the shortest hitters on tour. It’s all about accuracy, kids, and he leads those stats pretty much all the time.
Watson trudges off 13 disconsolately. He’s just tapped in for a birdie that moves him up to -4, but he’s let a huge eagle chance pass by, turning away from the hole on the low side (aka the amateur side, a phrase he uses himself in his excellent Getting Up and Down instruction manual). The opportunity cost of that missed eagle putt is immediately illustrated by Seve, 190 yards back down the fairway. Once Watson vacates the scene, Seve cracks a glorious iron into the heart of the green, the contours gathering the ball towards the hole, turning it left and rolling it to eight feet! He whips off his visor and flashes that southern-sunshine smile. You know which one. God he’s handsome.
Race Almost Certainly Run II: Payne Stewart has three-putted 17 from close range, and drops back to -4. Meanwhile a 65 for local lad Larry Mize today! He ends the week at -2. That’ll give him some confidence going into next year.
Seve and Kite have battered two huge drives down 13. Lovely. Up ahead, Tom Watson smashes a glorious second into the heart of the green, and will have a 15-foot look at eagle, while his partner Tommy Nakajima is just off the back. Nakajima to chip first. It looks as though his delicate nudge onto the glassy green is perfectly judged, ready to stop within tap-in distance, but then the ball suddenly takes a sharp turn right and keeps slithering away. He ends up 15 feet from the hole and can’t make birdie. The par stalls him at -3, and his race is almost certainly run.
CBS have shifted Gary Player out of the pundit’s chair in their Butler Cabin studio, and are now chatting to 1973 Open champion Tom Weiskopf. And the man’s got some wise words for the folk at the top of the leader board. “Each of these players within two strokes controls their own destiny. They have to make the decision whether to play conservative on certain holes that are coming up, or whether to take the bold approach and risk losing the tournament.” Weiskopf came runner-up here four times, and infamously once ran up a Tin Cup style 13 at 12, so the man knows what he’s talking about.
What a disastrous double-bogey six by Norman on 10. Every stroke was dismal, as he failed to take advantage of two big slabs of luck. He’ll need to gather himself quicksmart, or this could unravel in very ugly fashion. Meanwhile you’ll notice that Jay Haas has made it home in 67. That’s a superb final round, and he’ll be ruing not only a couple of birdie putts missed on the way home, but also that miserable 76 on Thursday. Still, he’s set a mark at -5. Chances are it’ll be beaten ... but as the pressure builds on the last few groups, you never know what will happen.
Kite saves his par on 12! A fine putt rattled in with great confidence, the speed taking any break out. Norman can’t make his bogey putt, and that’s a double, the last thing you need approaching Amen Corner. He crashes out of the lead. Price joins him at -5 after tidying up for his birdie. And up on 13, Nicklaus underhits his 45-foot eagle attempt, an almost-perfectly-read left-to-right breaker stopping 12 inches short. Never mind, birdie will do. He’s back to -5, and that lost momentum has been snatched back in short order!
-7: Ballesteros (12)
-6: Kite (12)
-5: Haas (F), Stewart (16), Nicklaus (13), Norman (10), Price (10)
Seve nearly rolls in a 35-foot birdie putt on 12, but he was playing the hole for par, and par is what he’s got. That doesn’t stop him cocking his head back in irritation and annoyance, a Pez dispenser of despair. Mind you, he’ll almost certainly have sole ownership of the lead in a minute, because Norman, his ball between two trees down the left of 10, doesn’t have much of a backswing. He stabs out, but with too much force and feeling, sending the ball scampering across the green and into the bunker on the other side. His splash out is timid, and he’ll be left with a 12-footer for bogey.
Up on 13, Nicklaus responds to that dropped shot by sending a fine drive down the left-hand side of the fairway, then whip-cracking a second into the heart of the green. He’ll have two putts from 45 feet for a bounce-back birdie. On 12, Seve treats the famous par-three with the utmost respect, turning down the chance to go for the pin, finding the meat of the green instead. Kite meanwhile flies his tee shot over the green, then thins a chip 12 feet past the cup. He’ll have his work cut out to save par.
Norman flatly refuses to take advantage of his lucky break. A big pull, this time with a 4-iron, and his ball bounds off down the swale to the left of the green. “I hope that hits someone,” he tells his caddy, a grim picture of desperation. And hit some poor bugger it does, nestling on some pine needles, right by the tree they fell from, instead of sailing off into azalea-peppered oblivion. Price rubs it in by nearly slam-dunking his second into the cup; he’ll surely clean up from four feet for birdie.
A huge stroke of luck for Norman at 10. He sends a wild hook off the tee deep into the trees on the left. A huge crack of balata on bark, mother nature’s way of saying there’s trouble ahoy. But the ball caroms back onto the fairway! He’s lost a lot of distance, and is still over 200 yards away from the dancefloor, but he’ll have taken that while he was watching his hopes and dreams sail off towards the Butler Cabin. Price, taking out his frustrations over that missed tiddler, crashes a mighty drive down the middle. A beauty! And there concludes this textbook study in diametric opposition.
It’s all bunching up at the top! Kite makes his birdie on 11 and moves into second place, tucked in behind partner Seve, who gets down in two for his par. Norman pars 9 and hits the turn in 35, but his partner Price pulls a four-footer to drop a stroke; he turns in 37. And Payne Stewart, resplendent in red cap, white shirt and red knickerbockers, birdies 15 to edge into contention! Chances are he’s running out of holes, though, and he’ll be ruing a couple of yipped tiddlers, missed from inside two feet, earlier in his round. Here’s where they stand, as we reach the business end of the 50th Masters Tournament!
-7: Ballesteros (11), Norman (9)
-6: Kite (11)
-5: Haas (17), Stewart (15)
-4: Nicklaus (12), Langer (9), Price (9)
-3: Lyle (12), T Watson (11), Nakajima (11)
Meanwhile up on 17, Haas misses another birdie putt, though this one is far less egregious than the effort on 16, slipping millimetres by from 20 feet. He’s stuck at -5. For the want of a dimple here, half an inch there, he’d be sharing the lead going up 18. Back on 11, Seve sends a very average 5-iron into 11, a little worried about the lake on the left, and he’s on the green front-right, miles from the flag. But his partner Kite sends a heat-seeker over the drink and straight at the flag! Five feet away and fearless. And a fine birdie chance.
Nicklaus chips across 12 from the fringe, 60 feet or so from the flag. He’s still a good ten feet away afterwards, expecting a big left-to-right break that never happened. He can’t make the par saver, dribbling the ball down the green and watching in anger as it breaks to the right at the last, and that’s a huge disappointment after that three-birdie blitz. He batters the green with the flat of his big fat-bladed putter, knowing precious momentum has been frittered away in double-quick time. Has the old boy lost the chance of a valedictory 18th major at the age of 46? He slips back to -4, three off Seve and Greg’s lead.
Haas knocks his second at 17 pin high, 20 feet to the right of the flag. He’ll have another chance to move to -6. Nothing’s happening for Tom Watson, incidentally. He had a look at birdie on 11 from 30 feet, but it was never dropping, and that’s his tenth par of the day, the only blemish on his card a bogey at 6. He’s -3 and if he wants to add to the green jackets he won in 1977 and 1981, he’ll have to get a wriggle on soon. “I’m sending this, I think it’s called, electronic-mail, from my brand new Motorola DynaTac 8000 mobile phone,” writes Simon McMahon. “It’s taken me a while, but I think I’ve got the hang of it. Unlike golf, which I don’t think I’ll ever work out. I’m only 14, mind. I like this live reporting thing, though, it could catch on. COME ON SEVE!!!”
Wild scenes at 12, where the Golden Bear is showered with love from the patrons stacked behind the tee. If it was a popularity contest, this would be over already. But Nicklaus is only half of the way through Amen Corner; there’s a long way to go. And to illustrate, he tugs a 6-iron to the left of the picturesque par-three Golden Bell. That won’t be the easiest up and down. His partner Lyle hits an even more wayward 7-iron, pulling it into the azaleas on the bank behind. But he gets a huge break, the ball taking a couple of bounces back down the slope, avoiding the plants and the sand trap, before finally stopping on the fringe. Augusta either loves you, or it doesn’t. Good old Sandy.
We’ll be back after these messages.
A trick shot from Norman at 8. He’s only got a small gap through the trees to the green, but pings his ball between the trunks, cannoning it off a hillock to the right, then back off another on the left, and into the heart of the green. That was Seve-esque, and the best he could do. He’ll make two putts from there to save his par. Price pars as well; he’s trudging along in a very unremarkable manner today. Such a difference a day makes. Ten birdies yesterday; he’s level par through 8 and remains at -5. But what about Jack, huh? “What a surge from the old man,” writes Deborah Jane Johnson. “Shame he won’t be able to keep up the pressure on Norman. The Great White Shark is too good to wilt under the pressure.”
The leaders will be looking over their shoulder now! Because on 11, Nicklaus, having braved the water on the left to go for the flag, steers in a 20-footer for birdie, his third in a row! That one didn’t look like dropping, until about three feet from the flag, whereupon it curled abruptly to the left, and then it was never missing. He watched that one all the way! The putter goes up in the air again ... and now we can finally announce that this is on! The 17-time major champion, who won his last biggie at the 1980 PGA, is taking a serious tilt at number 18!
-7: Ballesteros (10), Norman (7)
-5: Haas (16), Nicklaus (11), Kite (10), Price (7)
-4: Langer (8)
A fuss-free par for Ballesteros on 10. His partner Kite makes four as well, though will be a little disappointed after creaming a stunning second to eight feet. Seve remains at -7, in a share for the lead with Norman, who is in a little difficulty down the left of 8, having pulled a fairway wood into the trees. He’ll do well to save par from there.
Haas is putting the pedal to the floor at exactly the right time. On the par-three 16th, he gently flips his tee shot over the flag, using the camber at the back to bring his ball back towards the flag. It stops rolling four feet away. His playing partner, the 1984 champ Ben Crenshaw, then drops his tee shot to 18 inches. Nobody’s come closer today. (There hasn’t been a hole-in-one here since England’s Clive Clark aced in 1968.) We would break into a chorus of Anything You Can Do ... but while Crenshaw makes his birdie putt to move to -2, Haas misses his, and that could prove so very costly. He remains at -5.
What do they say about the Masters only starting once everyone’s made the turn on Sunday? We’re getting close to showtime. Incidentally, Nicklaus’s playing partner, Sandy Lyle, is one under for his round today, and at -3 isn’t out of it. But you’d have to think the current Open champion will do well to keep hanging in there, such is the swell of excitement, the hubbub, around old Master Jack. The patrons are giving it plenty. Lyle wouldn’t be human if he didn’t somehow get muddled up by it.
Hammond’s race is definitely run. He fluffs a chip into the 8th, leaving himself 50 feet from the hole. The birdie putt isn’t much better, left 12 feet short. He can’t make the par saver, and slips back to -1. A three-putt bogey for Langer, too, and he’s drifting the wrong way with two bogeys in a row. He’s -4. But Haas is upwardly mobile: two putts on 15 have brought him to within two of the lead, as you’ll have noticed. Mind you, that wood into the green deserved eagle, really.
But not on 10! Nicklaus is on in regulation, though not particularly close. No matter! His putt gives off a very satisfying clack as he sets the 30-foot effort up the green, through the shadows, and gliding right to left towards the cup. And in it goes! More atmosphere-bothering bedlam, as Nicklaus turns away and raises his putter into the electric air. He didn’t even need to watch the ball drop, so sweet the stroke, so unerring the line. This ... this ... is this on? Let’s not get too carried away. Still, all of a sudden, the Golden Bear is just three off the lead!
-7: Ballesteros (9), Norman (7)
-5: Haas (15), Kite (9), Langer (7), Price (7)
-4: Nicklaus (10)
The curse of the commentator, right here. Seve’s had to punch out from the woods at 9, then hits an uncharacteristically heavy-handed chip through the green. He’ll do pretty well to get up and down from there. But he feathers a chip to three feet, and limits the damage to bogey. Meanwhile it’s pars for Norman and Price at 7. Norman will be blowing hard, though, having woefully misread his birdie putt, his ball breaking five feet to the left. He did well to steady himself and save his par, but that first putt betrayed some nerves. They’re jangling everywhere.
Meanwhile in the Butler Cabin, the legendary three-time champ Gary Player is asked by CBS to predict the outcome. “I don’t think you can ever win doing that! But if the best player wins, it’ll be Ballesteros. He is definitely the best player in the world. He’s got strength, and the finesse of a locksmith.” What a glorious turn of phrase. Nine majors, a career grand slam, and lyrical as well? Some folk are just blessed to be brilliant at everything. It’s not fair, is it.
Seve’s in the trees on 9. Imagine how good he’d be if he didn’t whistle it in all directions off the tee box like a maniac. But some trouble here. Meanwhile on 15 Haas sends his persimmon 3-wood over the water to ten feet. That’s the shot of the day so far, with the possible exception of Nicklaus’s act of escapology from the trees on 8.
The par-four 7th isn’t particularly long. But it is tight. And Langer’s wayward drive proves costly. He’s eventually left with a long par putt from the fringe, and leaves that well short. He does extremely well to limit the damage to bogey, knocking in the six footer he was left with. His partner Hammond bogeys as well; he’s already three over for his round today, and at -2 his race is surely run. Also struggling: Tommy Nakajima, who reaches the turn in 37 momentum-free strokes. He’s -3 and not looking likely to launch any sort of campaign from here on in.
Bad news for Haas on 14. He’s left himself a 15-foot par putt, and can’t make it, the ball always dying to the left. He slips back to -4, a slip he surely can’t afford with holes running out. Not least because Seve has just followed up his birdie at 7 with an eagle at the par-five 8th! You wondered whether it wasn’t going to be his day when he arrowed an iron to eight feet at the 1st, only to miss the very inviting birdie putt. But all of a sudden he’s catapulted himself to the top of the leader board, and a third green coat is a genuine prospect now. His playing partner Kite, so close here on so many occasions, has eagled 8 as well, to toss his hat into the ring.
-8: Ballesteros (8)
-7: Norman (6)
-6: Langer (6)
-5: Kite (8), Price (6)
-4: Haas (14)
Meanwhile on 9, what’s this?!? The Augusta National gallery explodes into white noise, all the way up to the heavens, as Nicklaus arrows a 15-footer straight into the cup for birdie! So that means he’s turning in 35, and is now -3 for the tournament. Has that miracle escape from the trees at 8 kick-started something special? Surely not, though the good folk of Georgia seem to think so, if the crazy amount of whoopin’ and a-hollerin’ is anything to go by. And perhaps Nicklaus does as well, holding a clenched fist in the air, then walking off with a spring in his step and a huge grin plastered across that friendly face. Yeah, those juices are flowing all right. It might be worth keeping one eye on the old Master, just in case.
The super observant will have noticed that it’s not just Norman who is moving on up the leader board. Two-time champ Seve had made birdie at 7, joining Langer in second place at -6, one shot behind Greg.
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And in it goes! Easy? Not really: it was a treacherously fast downhill putt with plenty of left-to-right break, on a green that earlier today saw first-round co-leader Ken Green take three putts from three-and-a-half feet ... and four putts overall. Anyway, that’s the Great White Shark’s first birdie of the day. Up goes the putter in triumph, and he’s back in the lead on his own.
-7: Norman (6)
-6: Ballesteros (7), Langer (6)
-5: Haas (13), Price (5)
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Norman looked a little agitated when he left the 5th green. He was forced to step away from his short par putt, and shot the chap who broke his concentration an evil stare. Is he buckling under the pressure of landing a tournament that means so much? Ah no: he caresses his tee shot at 6 over the flag to 12 feet. A chance to grab the lead for himself!
Nicklaus saves his par on 8. He remains at -2, four off the current lead, though that was some escape. We’re hearing reports that Jack admitted to playing partner Sandy Lyle that he missed the gap he was aiming for, but somehow made an even smaller one! Fortune favours the brave, huh? Especially at Augusta National. Earlier in the round, Nicklaus had birdied 2 only to hand back the shot at the par-three 4th. No huge surprise there, perhaps: he four-putted on that green a couple of years ago, flinging his ball away in anger while storming off in a hot funk, a most uncharacteristic display of temper from a normally level-headed man. After all, you don’t win 17 majors flying off the handle willy-nilly.
Jay Haas is millimetres away from guiding home a left-to-right birdie slider from 20 feet on the par-five 13th. His ball brushes the left lip. That would have given this morning’s star a share; as it is, he’s still one back at -5. On 6, Langer very nearly drains a monster-sized right-to-left breaker, but the putt slides past the hole. Agonising, but he’d have taken par before he drew the blade back. Hammond, who worked here as a steward during his teenage years, can’t make his 20-foot birdie putt and remains at -3.
Breaking news just in from the Observer’s legendary golf correspondent Bill Elliott, who recently left the media tent in order to follow Seve around this afternoon. Seems that, en route, our roving reporter was waiting to cross the 8th fairway, and chanced upon five-time winning veteran Jack Nicklaus sending a wild drive into the woods down the right. He decided to hang about and watch a five-time Master at work. “I thought, I might as well see how the old bugger handles that! There are only about a dozen people following him, he’s -2, he’s not a contender. As things stand, he’s in about 35th or 40th place. Jack’s son Jackie is on the bag, and he handed his dad a seven-iron to chip back out sideways. Jack stood in the trees with his hands on his hips and finally said ‘Wait a minute, I see a gap’. He took his 3-wood and clattered his ball through a two-foot gap that was 40 yards ahead of him. He trudged into those trees, and marched out of them. It appears to have got his juices flowing!”
Back on 5, the final group. Greg Norman makes it five pars in the first five holes, leaving a 30-foot birdie putt on 5 a couple of turns short. He’s had to work hard to stay on an even keel so far, scrambling at 1, 2 and 4. His save at 4 was particularly special: having sent a hot long iron over the green and towards the fifth tee, he bumped a chip through a swale, up onto the green, and then down the slippery putting surface to three feet. He’s going round with yesterday’s hero, the new course-record holder Nick Price, who dropped a shot at 3 but picked it back up at the par-three 4th. He pars 5 and remains at -5; Norman still has a share of the lead with Langer at -6.
CBS go straight out to see the new co-leader, Bernhard Langer, at the 192-yard par-three 6th. Langer, who birdied the par-five 2nd to join the overnight leader Greg Norman at -6, gives his iron a fair old whip. But he’s at least a club short and only just finds the front of the green. With the pin away at the back, a two-putt par is far from certain. Meanwhile his playing partner Donnie Hammond has had an erratic start: bogeys at 1, 3 and 5 more than cancelling out his birdie at 2. He responds well to that latest dropped shot by landing his tee shot at 6 pin high, about 20 feet to the right of the flag.
Here’s how the leader board has changed after the early pre-broadcast action. The big morning mover has been Jay Haas. The 32-year-old from Missouri hasn’t won on Tour in nearly four years, but he is one of the most consistent players out there, and shot a 67 on the final day here last year to grab himself a fifth-place finish. He’s on track to card something similar this time round, having picked up five shots in the first eight holes. He’s since made it through Amen Corner without huge drama; if he can pick up a couple of shots on the way home at the two par fives, he’ll be posting a total that’d give the leaders pause.
-6: Langer (4), Norman (4)
-5: Haas (12), Ballesteros (6), Price (4)
-4: Pavin (8), Tway (8), Hammond (4)
-3: Barr (15), McCumber (8), Lyle (7), T Watson (7)
Welcome, patrons, to Masters Sunday 1986!
The very first Official Sony World Golf Rankings were published at the start of this week. It’s a new concept that might take some getting used to, though the early signs suggest they paint a pretty accurate picture.
The first-ever world number one? Bernhard Langer. The 28-year-old German is the defending champion here at Augusta, and went into the Tournament full of confidence (and the wiener schnitzel he served up at the Champions Dinner). He’s living up to his billing, bouncing back from a disappointing opening round of 74 with a 68-69 salvo. He’s right in the mix, hoping to become only the second player after Jack Nicklaus (1965 and 1966) to successfully defend his Masters title. Who can stop him?
How about the new world number two? Seve Ballesteros already has two green jackets to his name, and he’s in the mood to win a third. Specifically, he in a bad mood: he’s been raging all week at PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman, who has banished him from the American tour for a year, on account of not playing enough golf to earn his card. (To be fair to Seve, his volatile volleys at Beman aren’t a patch on those sent down by Mac O’Grady, who has called Beman a “thief with a capital T” and compared him to Adolf Hitler!) But there’s no keeping Seve from Augusta, and he’s desperate to make a told-you-so statement. He’s one off the lead after three rounds.
Or is the Great White Shark about to land his first major? Greg Norman, only ranked six in the world but surely on an upwardly mobile journey that’ll take the man from down under straight to the top, leads at the 54-hole mark after a fine 68 yesterday.
And then there’s Nick Price. The young Zimbabwean, who came so close to winning the Open Championship four years ago, broke the course record at Augusta National yesterday. He made ten birdies on his way to 63, very nearly becoming the first man to shoot 62 in a major; sadly his 20-footer on 18 looped the loop in slow motion and failed to drop. Millimetres from history. He’ll be a bit higher than #52 in the world next week.
Also lurking: the resurgent Tom Watson (#4) coming out of a two-year slump; the reigning Open champion Sandy Lyle (#3) whose big drives and draws are perfectly suited to this course; Tom Kite (#16) who has finished in the top ten at Augusta nine times in the last 11 years; Donnie Hammond (#99) who won his first PGA Tour event, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, at La Quinta in California earlier this year; and Tommy Nakajima (#7) who has been clocking up wins on the Japanese tour for fun (21 in the last four years).
But maybe it’s going to be a step too far for 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus, and not just because he’s got four shots to make up on Norman. Nicklaus has won only twice since 1980, his powers seemingly very much on the wane: he was in contention for three PGA Tour tournaments last season, but couldn’t convert any of those good positions into a win. Most unlike the Golden Bear. For the record, Jack is world number 33, though to be fair, had the R&A been cobbling together these rankings back in the sixties and seventies, he might have spent the odd week or two at the toppermost of the poppermost.
After the third round, the top of the leader board looked like this:
-6: Greg Norman
-5: Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Donnie Hammond, Nick Price
-4: Tommy Nakajima, Tom Kite, Tom Watson
-2: Danny Edwards, Gary Koch, Sandy Lyle, Mark McCumber, Jack Nicklaus, Corey Pavin, Bob Tway
The weather today is utterly gorgeous, perfect conditions for golf. Sunny, but not too blistering, and very little wind. Surely someone, somewhere, will seize the chance to shoot a round for the ages? Let’s hope so! With so many of the world’s top players in contention, there’s a great chance. It’s the final day of the 50th Masters Tournament! CBS’s coverage is about to start! It’s on!
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