Hoch’s Only Major Still a Blunder

Ever since he missed a two-foot putt that would have won the 1989 Masters, the one he handed to Nick Faldo, Scott Hoch has lived with a rhyme of his name:

Hoch, as in choke.

It’s a hurtful, unflattering, not very pleasant little phrase, one that Hoch has had to swallow hard and accept for seven years.

And after he opened with a five-under-par 67 Thursday, Hoch proved he still hasn’t been able to put 1989 behind him.

He said missing that putt on No. 10, the first playoff hole with Faldo, doesn’t haunt him any more.

“It haunts you guys,” Hoch said.

The haunting still goes on, although it seems to reside at Hoch’s address too. Hoch said it would mean a lot for him to win here.

“It wouldn’t be the importance of winning so much, it would be the importance of getting the press off my back,” said Hoch, who lost to Faldo on the next hole. “You know, just bringing up other stuff that I’ve done that is bad.”

One of those bad things happened last year at Houston. Hoch led by five shots going into the last round and had a seven-shot lead with 13 holes to go, but blew up and let Payne Stewart win.

Of course, Hoch isn’t the only player to fail to close the deal, but he may be one of the best at beating himself up while also taking a few shots at the media.

“I looked in the local paper and they had the odds for players [winning the Masters],” Hoch said. “They had about 70 players in there and I didn’t even rate odds. The guy who did that, you know, I’m wondering, where has he been?”

Hoch has been all over the place at the Masters since 1989.

He tied for 14th in 1990 and tied for 35th in 1991, then missed the cut in 1994, the next time he played. Last year, he tied for seventh.

Hoch has six PGA Tour victories, but at 40, his resume reads no majors, only a major blunder.

There’s nothing like taking a pratfall on a giant stage in front of a sellout crowd and the spotlight squarely on your face to humble someone.

“I’ve had a number of opportunities to win, and I haven’t capitalized as much as I feel I should,” he said. “And I know that I haven’t capitalized as much as you [reporters] feel I should have too.

“But when you lose a tournament that is so high profile like this and lose it the way I did. . . . I mean, I didn’t have a three-putt for 72 holes. I saved mine for prime time, I guess. It does hurt.”