Masters 2016: An A-Z of the unique tournament
Amen Corner
THE 11th, 12th and 13th holes had been in existence for 25 years before the veteran Sports Illustrated writer Herbert Warren Wind came up the term to describe the game’s now most famous trinity of holes.
Wind, who was also a jazz buff, decided to combine his two interests and took the name from a recording (‘Shoutin’ in That Amen Corner’) to apply to the stretch as Arnold Palmer landed his first Green Jacket in 1958.
Burk
MARTHA Burk targeted the Augusta National with a failed protest in 2003 to publicise the club’s men-only membership policy. The feminist activist planned to protest at the front gates on the Saturday before being knocked back. Burk says that, one day, she hopes to go after the PGA Tour.
Caddies
BEFORE 1982 the players were required to use the services of a club caddy who was always an African-American. The defending champion gets the number 1 – otherwise the numbers represent the order in which they register.
Demaret
JIMMY Demaret won more Green Jackets (three) than Seve, Hogan and Watson but no other Major. Also known for his colourful clothing and talent as a comedian.
Eleven
COUNT ‘em up. The course record might be 63 but nobody can match Anthony Kim’s 11 birdies in the second round in 2009. His scintillating 65 also included a double and a pair of bogeys.
Fish and chips
SIR Nick Faldo’s choice of main course at the 1997 dinner and, for starters, the three-time champion kicked off with some good old-fashioned tomato soup. The following year Tiger Woods’ first offering consisted of cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries, all washed down with some milkshakes. Other entries include Sandy Lyle’s haggis and Mike Weir’s elk, wild boar and Arctic char. This year Phil Mickelson will be, apparently, heavy on beef.
Goalby
BOB Goalby won his sole Green Jacket thanks to Roberto De Vicenzo signing for an incorrect scorecard in 1968. Afterwards Goalby, who is Jay Haas’s uncle, said he received ‘500 of the worst letters you’ve ever seen’.
Hoch
SCOTT Hoch was 24 inches from golfing immortality before he missed his par putt in the 1989 play-off. “I had some indecision about the line and then I pulled it too,” the man dubbed ‘Scott Choke’ explained.
Ike
THE club’s most famous member and former President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower. A knee injury meant he was unable to transfer his weight properly and he regularly drove into the loblolly pine, now called Ike’s Tree, to the left of the 17th fairway.
Jacket
THE Green Jacket has been awarded since 1949 and tradition states that only the reigning champion can remove it from the club. Faldo was ticked off for wearing his on the Wogan show after his 1989 victory.
King
FOUR-TIME champion Arnold Palmer slipped into a Green Jacket every other year from 1958 to 1964 and it could have been even better – he also had eight other top 10s. In 1961 a par at the last would have beaten Gary Player but he inexplicably made double bogey.
Nobody had more influence than Palmer in catapulting the game into people’s living rooms via his good looks, humble manner and go-for-broke play. The legend last played at Augusta in 2004, when he marked his 50th consecutive start.
Lundquist
YOU might not know the name Verne Lundquist but you will have heard his voice. He was the man behind the ‘Yes sir!’ commentary in 1986 as well as Tiger’s chip-in at 16 in 2005 – ‘Oh my goodness, oh wow, in your life have you seen anything like that!’
MacKenzie
THE Yorkshire surgeon, Dr Alister MacKenzie, was hired to design the course by legendary amateur Bobby Jones and work began in 1931. The course was opened in 1933 but MacKenzie – whose work on Cypress Point so impressed Jones – died 10 weeks before the first Masters the following year.
NO amateur has won the Masters but Ken Venturi should have done in 1956. Ahead by four, he slipped to an 80.
Norman
FEW, if any, have come as close as Greg Norman without winning here. Eight top-5 finishes, including one play-off defeat and, perhaps most galling of all, seeing a six-shot overnight lead disappear to great rival Faldo in 1996.
Ollie
JOSE Maria Olazabal remains Europe’s last winner. In 1996 he was barely able to walk and feared he might never play again due to rheumatoid arthritis. Three years later he was doubling up at Augusta.
Purse
THE total prize money this year will again total $7.5m with the winner picking up a cool $1.35m. In the inaugural year, Horton Smith came away with $1,000 from a kitty of $5,000.
Qualify
AROUND 90 men will tee it up in 2011, compared to 156 in the other Majors, and that includes past champions and five amateurs. The field is opening up, but very slowly.
Rae’s Creek
IRISHMAN John Rae came to Augusta in 1734 and, at one time, owned more than 8,000 acres. The creek named after him, which finishes in downtown Augusta, winds through Amen Corner and is crossed by Hogan’s Bridge on the 12th.
Sifford
CHARLIE Sifford was the first black golfer to win an event on the PGA Tour in 1967 but he never played the Masters. Lee Elder became the first African-American to play in the Masters as recently as 1975.
Turfrider
GENE Sarazen hit the ‘shot heard round the world’ when he holed from 230 yards with a new model of 4-wood called a Turfrider. Craig Wood, who was finished and had already been accepting congratulations, was then taken into a play-off which he lost soundly.
Unique
THE Masters has the smallest field, is always played on the same course, has honorary starters, no trophy, calls its fans patrons, has limited TV coverage, dyes the water blue and has a Par 3 contest on the Wednesday. Otherwise it’s very similar to the other Majors.
Venturi
NO amateur has won the Masters but Ken Venturi should have done in 1956. Ahead by four, a 78 would have done the trick but the 24-year-old slipped to a last-round 80.
White Dogwood
THIS is the name of the par-4 11th where Messrs Faldo (twice) and Mize have closed out play-offs. Ben Hogan said of the hole, which now requires a drive of 265 yards just to reach the fairway: “If you ever see me on the 11th green in two, you’ll know I missed my second shot.”
X (or no return)
This was the only figure next to Billy Casper’s name in 2005 when he failed to hand his card in. It’s thought 1970’s winner would have been round in 106.
Youngest
MATTEO Manassero (below) became in 2010 the youngest to play at Augusta when, nine days short of his 17th birthday, he made the cut. Tiger won his first Jacket aged just 21.
Zoeller
THANK goodness for Fuzzy’s surname though the champion on debut in 1979 will now be perhaps best remembered for his ill-judged ‘collard greens’ comments on Tiger’s first win. Zoeller lost face and plenty of endorsements.
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
