Golf

With one swing, they were legends

Larry Mize is here this week, Greg Norman is not.

By BOB HARIG
Published April 3, 2007

Larry Mize is 48, no longer fully exempt on the PGA Tour. He gets in a few tournaments (he tied for ninth recently in Mexico) and is looking forward to the Champions Tour. Mize still keeps that gaudy purple shirt he wore that day, and the sand wedge is on display at Augusta National. He talked recently about the 20th anniversary of his Masters playoff-winning chip shot.

Is it hard to believe it's been 20 years?

It really is. It's been awhile, but 20 years? I know it's correct, though, because my oldest is about to be 21 and was just a year old at the time.

Do you ever watch a tape of the tournament?

I have broke it out, yes. Lately? No. Have I broke it out enough? Probably not. I probably should have watched it more a few years after. But I didn't. Occasionally I'll bring it out to work on my swing and to see if there is anything that might help me when I'm not playing well.

Knowing you were going up against Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in the playoff, did it seem like a daunting task?

I had a healthy respect for them. But you can't fear someone you're playing. I didn't have any fear. I was confident going into the playoff because I played well that week. And the birdie at 18 that got me in was a big factor as well.

Is it true that you have never gone back to the spot off the 11th green and tried to duplicate the shot?

The thing is, if I go back and hit the shot again, then my memory is not of the shot. Now when I see the shot, it keeps the memory pure. It's one of the great decisions I've made. I've never gone back. The only way I go over there is if I hit the ball in that area during the tournament. It keeps it a great memory.

Have you come to appreciate what you did as you have gotten older?

The fact I was able to win it, just the simple fact of the accomplishment of winning. ... I appreciate it more now. Not that I didn't before, but I appreciate it even more now.

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Most memorable shots

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Larry Mize is here this week, Greg Norman is not. You can certainly point to all the opportunities Norman had to secure his lifetime invitation to the Masters, and 20 years ago one was snatched in an instant, a cruel blow that remains the crowning achievement of Mize's career. Mize's chip shot at the 11th hole in a sudden-death playoff wasn't supposed to stay on the green, let alone go into the cup. Not only did it drop, but the shot became one of the biggest in tournament lore.The biggest? That would make for a good debate, but Mize's chip does stand out because it won the 1987 Masters. Here are eight unforgettable performances, including Mize's, all in the final round.

Gene Sarazen 1935, 4-wood, 15th hole

Known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World," it helped put the Masters on the map. It was only the second year of the tournament, but because it was Bobby Jones' creation, it gained instant credibility. Sarazen already was a legend, having won six majors. But he trailed Craig Wood by three strokes with just four holes to go. Playing alongside Walter Hagen and with Jones in the gallery, Sarazen went for the green in two and holed the shot for double eagle that tied Wood. Sarazen parred in, then defeated Wood in a 36-hole playoff the next day.

Jack Nicklaus 1986, 5-iron, 16th hole

There were so many shots Nicklaus hit on the back nine that year that were huge and necessary. He made birdies at the 10th and 11th holes and followed bogey at the 12th with birdie at the 13th. A 4-iron second shot at the 15th set up an eagle. But it was his tee shot at the par-3 16th that had Augusta National trembling. That's because it almost went in. "I couldn't see it," Nicklaus said. "But I knew it was good." The ball stopped 3 feet from the cup, and Nicklaus made the birdie putt. He would go on to win his sixth Masters, 18th major and 73rd PGA Tour event - the last of each.

Larry Mize 1987, 56-degree sand wedge, 11th hole (playoff)

Mize birdied the 18th hole to tie Seve Ballesteros, then watched as Greg Norman narrowly missed a birdie putt that would have won. So the threesome went to the 10th tee; Norman and Ballesteros had 91 worldwide titles between them, Mize just one. But Ballesteros bowed out with a three-putt bogey at 10. And when Mize missed the green well to the right of the 11th, with Norman on the front edge, a green jacket appeared imminent for the Shark. Mize figured he had just one play, a 56-degree wedge shot that he would bump and run. He figured he needed the loft because the greens were so fast. "I picked a spot and landed it right there," he said. The ball tracked toward the cup and dropped for birdie. Norman was stunned as he waited to hit his putt that would not fall. "All I could do was just wait there and take it," he said. "It was the hardest 45 seconds of my life."

Tiger Woods

2005, 60-degree sand wedge, 16th hole

Woods was in a tense back-nine duel with Chris DiMarco, who had hit his approach at the par-3 hole to 15 feet and trailed by just one. Woods had knocked his 8-iron shot over the green and the ball was 30 feet from the pin. But Woods could not aim directly for the hole. Because of the slope of the green, he had to pitch away from the hole and let it run up the hill then back down toward the cup. "I knew it was going to be virtually one of the most difficult shots you could have on the golf course," Woods said. "I would have been happy to just make 4 somehow." Woods hit the shot, then saw it creep toward the cup, barely rolling in for birdie. And he needed the two-shot advantage - Woods bogeyed the final two holes to fall into a playoff, then defeated DiMarco on the first extra hole with birdie.

Most memorable putts

Arnold Palmer, 1960, 18th hole: It wasn't a long putt, less than 10 feet, but it certainly was dramatic. Palmer birdied 17 and 18 to defeat Ken Venturi by a stroke.

Jack Nicklaus, 1975, 16th hole: Locked in a tense final-round battle with Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf, Nicklaus broke away by holing a 40-foot birdie at the par-3 hole - with Weiskopf watching from the tee. Nicklaus won his fifth green jacket by a stroke.

Mark O'Meara, 1998, 18th hole: O'Meara, above, became the first since Palmer in 1960 to birdie the final two holes to win by a shot. He made a 20-footer at the 18th to defeat Fred Couples and David Duval.

Phil Mickelson, 2004, 18th hole: His major drought came to an end when Mickelson, above, birdied five of the last seven holes, including an 18-footer at 18 to edge Ernie Els by a stroke. It was just the fourth time in Masters history that a final birdie putt decided the outcome.

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 11:50:44]