Or would the winner be one of five guys one shot back: Steve Elkington, trying to take home a present for his two-week-old daughter; 24-year-old Mickelson, looking to begin the run of majors that everyone has predicted for him; Couples; Haas; or even Scott Hoch, who was attempting to get back the unforgiving two-footer he missed to lose the 1989 Masters? Wait a minute. Curtis Strange was only two strokes behind, the Shark three. In all, 23 players, representing nine green jackets, were crammed into a seven-shot bunch.
On Sunday, however, Henninger's training wheels came off with bogeys at 2 and 3. Elkington made a mess of things with bogeys at 9 and 11. Mickelson's potential crashed and burned with a 73, and Hoch faltered with the same score. Couples three-jacked 11 and 12 and never resurfaced. Haas dumped one into the water at 15 and bogeyed 16. All of which left three players in a green-jacket raffle — the red-hot pairing of Love and Norman, and Crenshaw, who was playing 45 minutes behind them. They were tied at 12 under.
Then Crenshaw rolled in the prettiest little putt you ever saw at 13 for a birdie and a one-shot lead. On the next hole he punched a shut-faced eight-iron from under a tree that kicked obediently off a mound and to within 12 feet of the hole, an impossible, indescribable piece of luck and skill. In the gallery Julie said to herself, Harvey bounce. At home in Austin, 81-year-old Charlie Crenshaw could feel himself starting to well up. In the pro shop at Austin Country Club, Tinsley Penick, Harvey's successor as head pro, watched on his 16-inch set.
Crenshaw missed his 12-footer at 14, but up ahead something odd was happening to Norman and Love, who together had made 11 birdies and not a single bogey in 15 holes. Faced with an easy tee shot at the par-3 16th, Love carried his seven-iron too far. "Sometimes you wonder if things are meant to be," he would say later. "That shot went four or five yards farther than I should be able to hit and stayed on top of that hill. No way it should stay up there." He three-putted. On the par-4 17th hole Norman had the easiest 106-yard sand wedge you could want, blew it 40 feet to the left of the hole and then three-putted. What in the world was going on?
Norman was done (he would tie for third), but Love came back with a birdie at 17 and a 66 that tied him with Crenshaw at 13 under. Then he had the pure joy of going to Jones Cabin to watch history's finest putter have a go at maybe history's finest greens.
"I just had this strong feeling the whole week," Crenshaw said later. "I never had a week like this, where I really enjoyed playing golf the whole week." Just trust yourself.
Maybe Harvey Penick has learned to channel golf tips through Augusta caddies, or maybe Crenshaw went out and won all by himself. However it happened, Crenshaw birdied the next two holes — the 16th from five feet and the 17th from 13 — for a two-stroke cushion. In the gallery Julie Crenshaw's makeup started to run a little, and back in Austin, Charlie Crenshaw soaked his sleeves with tears, and Tinsley Penick held a celebration for two with only one person in the room.
When Crenshaw bogeyed the 18th for a 68 and a 14-under-par, one-stroke victory, he bent over at the waist and held his face in his hands and cried. Then he came out of the scoring tent and held Julie's face in his hands, and they both cried. Then he hugged his sobbing brother, Charlie, and everybody cried. All in all, you would've loved to have had a piece of the Kleenex concession.
"I believe in fate," said Crenshaw when it was all over. "I don't know how it happened. I don't."
Love, does. "I just had this feeling all week that this was going to happen," he said. "Either way, one of Harvey's boys was going to win." For his trouble, Love gets the discomfort of knowing that his 13-under 275 was the lowest score not to win the Masters.
Sunday night closed with the Crenshaws eating dinner in the Augusta National clubhouse while the Gatlin Brothers serenaded them from the porch. That was as good a way as any to end the three most unforgettable consecutive Sundays in Ben Crenshaw's life. A lesson. A death. A championship. It's funny how things work out. A little man spends his whole life trying to teach you his grip, and then you find out you have been in it all the while.
On Sunday, however, Henninger's training wheels came off with bogeys at 2 and 3. Elkington made a mess of things with bogeys at 9 and 11. Mickelson's potential crashed and burned with a 73, and Hoch faltered with the same score. Couples three-jacked 11 and 12 and never resurfaced. Haas dumped one into the water at 15 and bogeyed 16. All of which left three players in a green-jacket raffle — the red-hot pairing of Love and Norman, and Crenshaw, who was playing 45 minutes behind them. They were tied at 12 under.
Then Crenshaw rolled in the prettiest little putt you ever saw at 13 for a birdie and a one-shot lead. On the next hole he punched a shut-faced eight-iron from under a tree that kicked obediently off a mound and to within 12 feet of the hole, an impossible, indescribable piece of luck and skill. In the gallery Julie said to herself, Harvey bounce. At home in Austin, 81-year-old Charlie Crenshaw could feel himself starting to well up. In the pro shop at Austin Country Club, Tinsley Penick, Harvey's successor as head pro, watched on his 16-inch set.
Crenshaw missed his 12-footer at 14, but up ahead something odd was happening to Norman and Love, who together had made 11 birdies and not a single bogey in 15 holes. Faced with an easy tee shot at the par-3 16th, Love carried his seven-iron too far. "Sometimes you wonder if things are meant to be," he would say later. "That shot went four or five yards farther than I should be able to hit and stayed on top of that hill. No way it should stay up there." He three-putted. On the par-4 17th hole Norman had the easiest 106-yard sand wedge you could want, blew it 40 feet to the left of the hole and then three-putted. What in the world was going on?
Norman was done (he would tie for third), but Love came back with a birdie at 17 and a 66 that tied him with Crenshaw at 13 under. Then he had the pure joy of going to Jones Cabin to watch history's finest putter have a go at maybe history's finest greens.
"I just had this strong feeling the whole week," Crenshaw said later. "I never had a week like this, where I really enjoyed playing golf the whole week." Just trust yourself.
Maybe Harvey Penick has learned to channel golf tips through Augusta caddies, or maybe Crenshaw went out and won all by himself. However it happened, Crenshaw birdied the next two holes — the 16th from five feet and the 17th from 13 — for a two-stroke cushion. In the gallery Julie Crenshaw's makeup started to run a little, and back in Austin, Charlie Crenshaw soaked his sleeves with tears, and Tinsley Penick held a celebration for two with only one person in the room.
When Crenshaw bogeyed the 18th for a 68 and a 14-under-par, one-stroke victory, he bent over at the waist and held his face in his hands and cried. Then he came out of the scoring tent and held Julie's face in his hands, and they both cried. Then he hugged his sobbing brother, Charlie, and everybody cried. All in all, you would've loved to have had a piece of the Kleenex concession.
"I believe in fate," said Crenshaw when it was all over. "I don't know how it happened. I don't."
Love, does. "I just had this feeling all week that this was going to happen," he said. "Either way, one of Harvey's boys was going to win." For his trouble, Love gets the discomfort of knowing that his 13-under 275 was the lowest score not to win the Masters.
Sunday night closed with the Crenshaws eating dinner in the Augusta National clubhouse while the Gatlin Brothers serenaded them from the porch. That was as good a way as any to end the three most unforgettable consecutive Sundays in Ben Crenshaw's life. A lesson. A death. A championship. It's funny how things work out. A little man spends his whole life trying to teach you his grip, and then you find out you have been in it all the while.
