Faldo Repeats by Staying High and Dry : Golf: Floyd hits into the water and loses on the second playoff hole after leading by four strokes with six holes left in regulation.

As Britain’s Nick Faldo went to the the first playoff hole, the 10th, with Raymond Floyd early Sunday evening, he wondered whether fate would turn on him.

It was a year ago in a strikingly similar Masters playoff with Scott Hoch that Faldo won with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole after surviving at the 10th when Hoch missed what would have been a winning two-foot putt.

Only this time, it was Floyd, who opened the door for another Masters victory for Faldo by hitting his second shot into the water at the 11th hole.

Faldo only had to two-putt from about 18 feet to defend his championship--which he did easily with a ceremonial tap-in.

By winning, Faldo became the first player to repeat as Masters champion since Jack Nicklaus in 1965-1966.

Curiously, Faldo played the regulation 18 holes with Nicklaus and then mused later, “If Jack was here now I would ask him to present the green jacket to me.”

The green jacket is worn by Masters champions and the coat fits Faldo for the second consecutive year.

Floyd, who had a four-stroke lead in the regulation round with six holes to play, was shocked by the turn of events.

“It’s the most devastating thing that has happened to me in my career,” said Floyd, who, at 47, was bidding to become the oldest player ever to win the Masters.

Faldo had to come out of a bunker and make a four-foot putt to get par and stay even with Floyd at the 10th hole.

“As I stood over the putt, I thought about Scott (Hoch) last year and maybe it might all go back on me this time,” Faldo said.

“Then, I went to 11 and had mixed emotions, thinking maybe this was my hole, which it was.”

Floyd wasn’t sure whether he pulled his seven-iron shot into the water on No. 11, or whether he was lined up incorrectly.

“I just looked up and the ball was going into the water,” Floyd said.

He took a drop, and his only chance to par the hole was to sink his pitch shot. He wasn’t close and Faldo, who had hit an eight iron to the green, had the championship by two-putting.

It was the third major title for Faldo, who won the British Open in 1987. His victory was worth $225,000 in the $1.25 million tournament.

It seemed that Floyd, who hasn’t played regularly because of his commitment as captain of the Ryder Cup team the last two years, was destined to win.

No one was charging at him and he reasoned that he only had to make pars on the back nine to win his second Masters in a span of 14 years.

Faldo, who was three strokes behind Floyd at the outset of the round, began the day on inauspicious note when he double-bogeyed the first hole.

The 32-year-old pro from Surrey, England, didn’t make his charge until he made birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th holes.

That left him only one shot behind Floyd. And he drew even when Floyd three putted the 17th green for a bogey.

Faldo was playing one hole ahead of Floyd and, when the Brit parred the 18th hole, it was up to Floyd to either win, lose or send the tournament into a playoff.

Floyd pulled his tee shot on the 18th hole into a fairway bunker--the same bunker that Sandy Lyle came out of to within 10 feet of the pin to win the Masters in 1988.

Floyd couldn’t emulate Lyle’s feat, though.

“It was pretty close to being a good shot,” Floyd said of his seven iron that found a greenside bunker. Floyd blasted to within five feet of the cup and made his putt to force the playoff.

Floyd shot par 72 for 18 holes, while Faldo shot 69. All of the other contenders faded down the stretch.

Nicklaus, who was five strokes behind Floyd at the outset of the round, bogeyed three of the last five holes and finished with a 74 and a 72-hole total of 285.

John Huston, a first-time player here, who was only two shots behind Floyd at the start of the round, bogeyed four of the first seven holes.

However, he rallied later to finish in a tie for third at 283 with Lanny Wadkins, who finished with a 68.

Fred Couples got to six under at the 15th hole, but the Los Angeles Open champion bogeyed the next two holes. He wound up at 284, one shot ahead of Nicklaus.

Nicklaus said Faldo was nervous all day.

“It took him a long time to play shots but, when he did, he played them well,” Nicklaus said. “It was at the 15th hole (where Faldo got a birdie) that he began to relax.”

Nicklaus, 50, was trying to win his seventh Masters title.

“Of course, I’m disappointed,” he said. “At the age of 50, I’m not going to get that many chances to win the Masters.

Then, he paused and said, “Only one.”

Floyd wouldn’t second-guess himself for playing conservatively with a four-shot lead.

“It’s not my nature,” he said, “but that’s what the situation dictated.”

Asked what he thought when he was four strokes ahead after his birdie at the 12th hole, Floyd said: “I didn’t think I could lose.”

However, he added: “I didn’t play the way I needed to play. It was a struggle.”

However, it was his iron shot that went into the water bordering the left side of the 11th green that finally did him in.

Faldo was asked what was going through his mind when Floyd’s shot went into the water.

“I still had to stay in the right frame of mind,” Faldo said. “I still had to make four. I just angled an eight iron to the right side and it came up perfect below the hole.”

Faldo said he was more emotional about his victory this year than he was in 1989.

“It was the same deal as last year, coming from behind and just plugging away,” Faldo said.

Is he the best player in the world right now? “Right now I feel good about my game,” Faldo said. “But week in and week out, who knows who is the going to be the best player?”

Faldo never believed that he was playing for second, but the realization came on the final holes that the field was narrowed to himself and Floyd when Nicklaus began to falter.

And he said he was surprised when Floyd’s second shot went into the water because he has played so many pressure shots in the past.

Faldo became the fifth foreign player to win the Masters in the last eight years.

Playing with Nicklaus was an inspiration to him, he said, because he grew up watching Masters win his early Masters titles.

Now Faldo’s goal will be to win a third consecutive Masters title.

All he needs to do is get into a playoff and stay even until he reaches his favorite hole, the 11th.