Good or Bad, a Memorable Masters

The good news for Kenny Perry is that he will be remembered for losing the Masters with class and dignity.

The bad news is he will be remembered for losing the Masters.

Not since Ed Sneed bogeyed the last three holes 30 years ago, then lost on the second playoff hole to Fuzzy Zoeller has a player allowed a green jacket to go from all but hanging in his locker in the champions locker room to the shoulders of another man.

Oh sure, Greg Norman blew a six-shot lead on the last day in 1996, but his fate was sealed by the time he walked off the 12th tee that day. In a very real sense this was worse because Perry played 70 holes of brilliant golf and was no doubt wondering what he was going to say in his victory speech after almost holing his tee shot at the par-3 16th.

"I blew it," he said, about as honest a statement as you will ever hear a player make. "It just seems like when I get down to those deals, I can't seem to execute. Great players make it happen and your average players don't. And so that's the way it is."

Perry is considerably better than an average player. He's won 13 times on the PGA Tour and has made potfuls of money. He would have been the oldest man to ever win a major had he made par at either 17 or 18 on Sunday. The argument can be made that a win at Augusta would have made him a candidate for the Hall of Fame someday. Lanny Wadkins -- one major win (the '77 PGA) and 21 tour victories was just voted in. Fred Couples -- one major (the '92 Masters) and 15 wins will no doubt go in someday. Perry's record would have been comparable.

Not now. Now he's Scott Hoch, whose missed three-footer to win in sudden death against Nick Faldo in 1989 may be Augusta's most memorable one-shot choke -- or Colin Montgomerie -- players who will be remembered more for the majors they lost than the John Deere Classics or Scottish Opens that they won.

It is almost cruel to write those words, but they're true. As Perry himself pointed out, this is the second time he has come to the 18th hole needing a par to win a major and failed. The first time was in 1996 at the PGA Championship in Valhalla, not far from his home in Franklin, Kentucky. Most people remember Perry sitting in the CBS tower chatting with Jim Nantz and Ken Venturi before Mark Brooks tied him to force a playoff. Perry remembers the bogey in regulation, just as he will remember the bogey in regulation this time around.

The ending -- Angel Cabrera tapping in a par putt at the second playoff hole to win -- was remarkably anti-climactic given all that had gone on at Augusta on Sunday and throughout the week. This was a final day that produced a dramatic head-to-head duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, even if they teed off an hour before the final pairing. It produced a memorable three-man playoff and an afternoon of twists and turns that had the thousands on the grounds, and no doubt millions watching on TV, enthralled at times, spellbound at others and baffled at the finish.

Cabrera made a par on the first playoff hole when he could almost as easily have taken an X. Perry, who hadn't made bogey for 23 straight holes, made three bogeys in the last four holes he played. Chad Campbell stood in the middle of the 18th fairway in the playoff knowing both Perry and Cabrera were going to have to get up-and-down for par and dumped an eight iron into the right bunker. Then he missed a three-footer for par.

There was more. Anthony Kim made 11 birdies on Friday -- one fewer than Woods made the first three days. Gary Player knelt in prayer on the 18th green to say goodbye after 52 Masters, while Fuzzy Zoeller whistled his way into Masters-retirement 30 years after his memorable win. Norman came back to Augusta for the first time in seven years, made a brief appearance on the leader board on Thursday, then left the clubhouse on Friday -- perhaps for the last time as player -- hand-in-hand with Chris Evert, his caddie in the par-three tournament on Wednesday.

This will be remembered as the year the Masters became the Masters again. The men who run the tournament finally figured out that they had gone too far with the changes to the golf course and they received considerable help from near perfect weather.