Posted 4/14/03 9:57 am ET

Masters Playoffs - 1980s

Three golfers see dreams come true in sudden death

Former Augustan Larry Mize won the 1987 Masters by holing a 140-foot chip on the 11th hole in a sudden-death playoff. File/The Augusta Chronicle

By John Boyette
The Augusta Chronicle

Larry Mize and Nick Faldo both said it was a dream come true. Craig Stadler's dream almost turned into a nightmare.

All three golfers survived sudden-death playoffs to win the Masters Tournament in the 1980s.

Mize's dream may have been the most improbable. Born in Augusta, he once worked on the scoreboards at Augusta National Golf Club and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a professional golfer.

He realized one dream by playing in his first Masters in 1984. Three years later, he hit the most famous shot in tournament history since Gene Sarazen's double eagle in 1935.

Going into the final round in 1987, Mize was right smack in the middle of a group of golfers chasing co-leaders Ben Crenshaw and Roger Maltbie. Among those hot on the trail were Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Jack Nicklaus.

Mize birdied the 18th hole to get to 3-under 285 for the tournament. Ballesteros and Norman also reached that figure, while the co-leaders stumbled home with matching 74s for a total of 286.

To say Mize was the underdog against Norman, the world's top player at the time, and Ballesteros, a two-time Masters champion, would have been a huge understatement.

But Ballesteros was sent packing after the first hole of sudden death with a bogey. That sent Mize and Norman to the par-4 11th, and the Australian had the advantage after placing his approach about 30 feet from the hole. Mize missed the green way to the right.

Nick Faldo won the 1989 tournament on the second hole of the playoff. File/The Augusta Chronicle

But ``with the flick of his wrists'' - as David Westin of The Augusta Chronicle put it - Mize holed his chip shot from 140 feet to stun Norman. The snake-bitten Australian, who had lost on the final hole of the PGA Championship a year earlier when Bob Tway had holed a bunker shot, missed his birdie putt.

``When you are a little kid, you always have that one big dream you hope will come true,'' Mize was quoted as saying. ``My dream when I was a little child growing up here finally came true.''

Unlike Mize, Faldo didn't need a miracle shot to win his first Masters. But he did need some luck.

The Englishman turned in a closing 65 in the final round in 1989 in wet and miserable conditions. That enabled him to get into a playoff with Scott Hoch, who like Faldo had finished regulation play at 5-under 283.

Faldo, a British Open winner, appeared to be out of luck on the first playoff hole, when he made bogey. All Hoch had to do was sink a two-foot putt to become the Masters champion.

But Lady Luck frowned on Hoch, who badly missed the par putt and wound up with a longer putt for bogey than he had for par. He made that one to send the playoff to the 11th hole.

``It was a terrible putt,'' Hoch said, as quoted in The Chronicle.

On the 11th, after Hoch had missed the green and chipped up short of the hole, Faldo put the matter to rest. His 25-foot birdie putt found the hole, making him the fifth international player to win the Masters.

``It was ecstasy to make that putt,'' Faldo told reporters. ``It was a dream. You dream it was going to happen. When it does right before your eyes, you can't believe it.''

Craig Stadler won the 1982 Masters on the first hole of sudden death playoff. File/The Augusta Chronicle

Stadler, never one to hide his emotions on the course, almost saw his dream victory vanish in the final round in 1982.

Holding a three-stroke lead going into Sunday, Stadler made the turn in 3-under 33 and held a six-stroke cushion. But instead of waltzing to his coronation on the back nine, Stadler stumbled his way home with a 4-over 40.

Stadler found himself in a playoff with unheralded Dan Pohl. The long hitter had opened the tournament with a pair of 75s but was red hot after two straight 67s. Both men had completed regulation at 4-under 284.

Stadler righted his ship by making a routine par on the first hole of sudden death. Pohl, meanwhile, pushed his approach to the right and found himself about 40 feet away. An indifferent approach left him about six feet away, and Pohl missed the par putt.

It was the shortest playoff in Masters history. But for Stadler, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream.

``It always has been my dream just to play in the Masters, which I did in 1974,'' Stadler told reporters after the playoff. ``This is like a dream come true.''

1982 Masters
Player	Score	Earnings
*Craig Stadler	75-69-67-73-284	$64,000
Dan Pohl	75-75-67-67-284	$39,000
Seve Ballesteros	73-73-68-71-285	$21,000
Jerry Pate	74-73-67-71-285	$21,000
Tom Kite	76-69-73-69-287	$13,500
Tom Watson	77-69-70-71-287	$13,500
Ray Floyd	74-72-69-74-289	$11,067
Larry Nelson	79-71-70-69-289	$11,067
Curtis Strange	74-70-73-72-289	$11,067
Andy Bean	75-72-73-70-290	$8,550
Mark Hayes	74-73-73-70-290	$8,550
Tom Weiskopf	75-72-68-75-290	$8,550
Fuzzy Zoeller	72-76-70-72-290	$8,550

* Stadler won playoff on first hole (No. 10) of sudden death with a par.
Stadler	4
Pohl	5

1987 Masters
Player	Score	Earnings
*Larry Mize	70-72-72-71-285	$162,000
Seve Ballesteros	73-71-70-71-285	$79,200
Greg Norman	73-74-66-72-285	$79,200
Ben Crenshaw	75-70-67-74-286	$37,200
Roger Maltbie	76-66-70-74-286	$37,200
Jodie Mudd	74-72-71-69-286	$37,200
Jay Haas	72-72-72-73-289	$26,200
Bernhard Langer	71-72-70-76-289	$26,200
Jack Nicklaus	74-72-73-70-289	$26,200
Tom Watson	71-72-74-72-289	$26,200
D.A. Weibring	72-75-71-71-289	$26,200

* Mize won playoff on second hole (No. 11) of sudden death with a birdie.
Mize	4-3
Norman	4-4
Ballesteros	5

1989 Masters
Player	Score	Earnings
*Nick Faldo	68-73-77-65-283	$200,000
Scott Hoch	69-74-71-69-283	$120,000
Ben Crenshaw	71-72-70-71-284	$64,450
Greg Norman	74-75-68-67-284	$64,450
Seve Ballesteros	71-72-73-69-285	$44,400
Mike Reid	72-71-71-72-286	$40,000
Jodie Mudd	73-76-72-66-287	$37,200
Chip Beck	74-76-70-68-288	$32,200
Jose Maria Olazabal	77-73-70-68-288	$32,200
Jeff Sluman	74-72-74-68-288	$32,200

* Faldo won playoff on second hole (No. 11) of sudden death with a birdie.
Faldo	5-3
Hoch	5-4

 

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