Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 9, 1990 TAG: 9004090205
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: AUGUSTA, GA. LENGTH: Long
One year after being the beneficiary of Scott Hoch's well-chronicled miss from 2 1/2 feet, Faldo watched Ray Floyd do the dive Sunday and became the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1965-66 to win consecutive Masters championships.
Floyd, who saw a four-shot lead vanish in the final six holes of regulation, yanked a 7-iron into the water on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, allowing Faldo to retain the green jacket he won here last April.
"It's hard to believe two years in a row," Faldo said. "You can imagine the feeling I had walking back to No. 10 [for the first hole of the playoff]. I knew Ray was not going to give it to me."
But he did.
Floyd pulled his second shot into the pond at the 455-yard, par-4 11th. He dropped, and when his 50-yard pitch for par came up short, Faldo routinely two-putted from 18 feet for par and the win.
"I didn't think I could lose," a dejected Floyd said. "You just can't imagine how I feel. I've never felt anything like this. It's the most devastating thing to ever happen to me in golf.
"The shot [at No. 11] was in the water as soon as I hit it. I guess I pulled it. It didn't feel it, but it went left."
And sent Floyd to a watery grave on a hole that has now decided four of the five sudden-death playoffs in Masters history.
"I'm sure it's tough for Raymond," said Faldo, who earned $225,000 for his third major crown. "He's played plenty of pressure shots over the years. But [the pond] is what makes No. 11 tough."
Faldo, though, certainly wasn't handed everything. Down four with six holes to play in regulation, he birdied Nos. 13, 15 and 16 to shoot 69 and put the heat on Floyd, who admittedly got conservative after nobody made an early run at him.
With his lead down to one shot, Floyd three-putted No. 17 to fall back into a tie. On the 405-yard, par-4 18th, Floyd hit both his tee shot and approach shot into bunkers, but made a 6-foot par-saving putt to finish off a 72 and force a playoff.
On the first extra hole, the 485-yard 10th, Floyd boomed his drive some 30 yards past Faldo. After Faldo dumped a 200-yard 4-iron into the front sand trap, Floyd laced a 7-iron to within 17 feet of the cup.
"It was the exact same as last year," Faldo said. "I hit a bad drive and I put it in the same bunker."
After Faldo exploded to within 4 feet of the hole, Floyd left his birdie effort 6 inches short.
"I thought I had made it," Floyd said. "[The ball] just quit."
Faldo was then faced with his knee-knocker, just outside the range on the same hole that Hoch missed last year.
"Facing that 4-footer after what happened to Scott last year, I thought maybe it would get me back," Faldo said. "I said to myself, `Am I the one who's going to get done in this year?' "
But Faldo calmly rolled in the putt, shipping the playoff to No. 11.
"I made that one and I just kept grinding," said Faldo, who will never be called "Foldo" again.
"I said maybe No. 11 was mine . . . and it was."
After both players drove in the 11th fairway, Floyd lined up for his second shot, 176 yards from the hole. The ball went dead left and landed several feet into the pond.
For all intents and purposes, it was over.
"I still had to hit a shot," Faldo said. "I hit a little three-quarter 8-iron in there and it came up perfect."
Long afterward, Floyd was still shaking his head about a tournament that, for the longest time, had his name written all over it. He said he knew he had let one get away.
"I started playing for pars when nobody got running at me early," Floyd said. "I thought that was the natural thing to do."
After he rammed in an 18-footer from the back fringe at the par-3 12th to go 11-under, Floyd had what he thought was an unbeatable four-shot cushion.
As Floyd downshifted into a playing-safe mode, Faldo began his charge. He reached Nos. 13 and 15 - both par-5s - in two and two-putted for birdie. He holed a 12-footer at the par-3 16th to get to 10 under.
Floyd, admittedly against his nature, laid up at both backside par-5s. He failed to birdie both, and he ended up paying dearly.
After a great two-putt from 45 feet for par at the 16th, Floyd pulled a 9-iron approach at No. 17. From 50 feet, he ran his first putt by the hole 8 feet, then missed his par attempt coming back.
Both players parred the 72nd hole to finish deadlocked at 10-under-par 278.
None of the others within shouting distance of the lead coming into the final round could muster a move.
John Huston, who trailed Floyd by two shots entering the day, three-putted on the first two holes, shot 40 on the front to fall six shots back. He recovered with birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 to shoot 75. He finished in a tie for third with late-charging Lanny Wadkins (68) at 283.
Fred Couples fired a final-round 69 to take fifth at 284.
Six-time Masters winner Nicklaus, who began the day five shots off the pace, never got closer than four of the lead. Firing at the pins trying to make something happen, Nicklaus bogeyed three of the final five holes to come home with a 74 and 285.
Seve Ballesteros (71), Bill Britton (73), Bernhard Langer (74), Scott Simpson (73), Tom Watson (71) and Virginian Curtis Strange (72) finished in a six-way tie at 286.
by CNB