MoreThe thought of seeing Wadkins on the course again brought to mind some of the greatest shots he's hit over the years. I asked him to take us through his personal top 10.
No. 10, Missed putt in the second round of the 1991 Masters.
"I was first off in the opening round, played in 2 hours, 40 minutes, shot 65 and was leading. The next day, I'm in the last group with Jeff Sluman and it took two and a half hours just to play the first nine. It was like all my adrenaline went away. I was a very fast player and I was used to dealing with slow play, but that day the pace got to me.
"At 9, I just missed a four-footer for par. I casually reached across left handed to bat it in, and missed it for a double bogey. It didn't cost me the Masters, it actually woke me up. It was the slap in the face I needed. I shot 33 on the back nine and got back into contention. I finished third, my highest Masters finish. It was disappointing, though, because that was a Masters I really could've won."
No. 9, Eagle at the 14th hole on Sunday at the 1994 Masters.
"I wasn't having a good tournament, so when I went teed off at 14, a couple of friends who were walking with me (Kent Feddeman and Mike Bylen) went to the concession tent to get something to eat. Bylen said they heard a massive roar from the 14th green while they were still in there and Feddeman looks at him and says, who do you think that was? Bylen says, 'It has to be Lanny. We follow him for two and a half days and he hasn't hit a shot yet. It figures that the one shot we miss, he holes out.' They let me hear about that later. They still do. Sometimes, I'm just out there to provide comic relief for my buddies."
No. 8, Five-iron at the 37th hole of the 1988 British Open.
"The first hole at Royal Lytham [& St. Annes] is a par 3 and my first swing of the day, a five iron, goes in for an ace. I was really excited because it was the British, so excited, in fact, that I think I drove it out of bounds on the second hole. I got such an adrenaline rush from the ace, it was such a shock, that I didn't play well the rest of the day and shot 76. I've made other aces that didn't affect me but this one did."
No. 7, 54th hole of the 1970 U.S. Amateur.
"I was in the next-to-last group and Kite had me by five shots going to the 18th, then I hole this 70-yard shot for eagle. Kite makes bogey there, and I pick up three shots. That eagle turned the whole thing around and gave me a chance. I played that par-5 hole in seven strokes over the last two days. That's the kind of stuff you do when you win."
No. 6, Three-iron on the 9th hole of the 1979 Players Championship.
"We were still playing Sawgrass Country Club, where nobody had ever broken par for 72 holes. I shot 76 in the third round and retained a three-shot lead, that's how hard the wind was blowing. The ninth hole was a really tough par 4 with water front and right. The pin was back right, the wind was coming from the right, 30 to 35 mph. I saw Weiskopf before the round and he told me, don't let indecision affect you, just make up your mind and hit it. So that's what I did. I whistled a three iron out over the water, I mean I really hammered it, and the wind moved it back and it stopped six feet behind the hole. It was so windy, I backed off the putt three times before I made it. I shot 72 for the day, won by five over Watson and was the first to break par for 72 holes. That was as fine a three iron as I probably ever hit."
No. 5, Drive on the 9th hole of the 1977 World Series of Golf.
"I was in the last group Sunday with [Tom] Weiskopf. I've got him by five shots. We used to play a lot of money games, Arnie and Tom versus me and Bert Yancey. On the first tee Sunday, being a smartass, I said, What are we playing for, big boy? Tom says, 'One hundred thousand dollars.' He's dead serious. That was what first prize paid and it was the biggest paycheck in golf at that time. Then birdied something like six of the first eight holes. I was two or three under, playing pretty damn good, but he caught me or got within a shot.
"Tom routinely drove it by me 20, 30 yards. On the ninth hole, he hammers a drive down the left center and it disappears over the hill. It's perfect. He looks at me and grins. I hit a bullet that also disappears over the hill. Down the fairway, there's one ball 30 yards past the other. Weiskopf strolls right by the first one, doesn't even look at it. I check it out. It's a MacGregor Tourney, Tom's ball. I call out to him — Oh, boy — and point at the ball. He looks at me and says, 'Bulls--t.' He checks the other ball, then comes marching back and grumbles, 'There must be something wrong with that ball, I'm going to declare it unfit for play.'
