GOLF TUCSON OPEN : Mize Gets First Victory Since 1987

One of the great shots in golf’s history, the playoff pitch-in that won the 1987 Masters, became a frustrating burden to Larry Mize.

He finally shrugged off the weight of that load with a two-shot victory Sunday in the Northern Telecom Open at Tucson, his first in the United States since the incredible shot that beat Greg Norman at Augusta, Ga., more than five years ago.

“I think that shot at the Masters hurt me psychologically,” Mize said after a five-under-par 67 lifted him out of a closely bunched pack.

“After something like that you want to put your expectations pretty high. But you don’t want them to be so high that all you get is frustration.”

And that’s what happened to him.

“I started trying to play perfect golf. You can’t do that,” he said.

So he adopted a new attitude for the 1993 PGA Tour season.

“I’m trying to stay in the present tense,” Mize said. “Be mentally tough. Don’t get ahead of yourself. And enjoy playing golf. You’re not going to hit every shot perfect, so you need to be in a frame of mind to be able to enjoy playing the trouble shots.”

That’s precisely the formula he followed in the run down the stretch at Tucson National.

After five others had led or shared the lead, Mize went in front with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole. He preserved the top spot with a 10-foot par-saving putt at 17, then nailed it with a 4-iron shot to five feet on the final hole.

Mize collected $198,000--the largest check of his career--from the purse of $1.1 million with a winning total of 271, 17 under par.

Jeff Maggert, frequently a contender but not yet a winner since coming up from the Ben Hogan Tour two years ago, was second alone at 273 after a 67.

Maggert had the lead alone until he three-putted from the fringe on the 15th. Dudley Hart, who shared the second- and third-round leads with Phil Mickelson, led a group at 274 that included Robin Freeman, Jim Gallagher and Mike Allen.