A Five-Iron, 182 Yards and a Floyd Keepsake

Call it Raymond’s revenge. Floyd, who shares the Masters scoring record of 271, wasn’t close to that Sunday when he finished at four-over-par 292.

But Floyd aced the 182-yard 16th with a five-iron. The ball landed about 25 feet to the right of the pin and slowly rolled into the hole.

“It got closer and closer, teetered and teetered, the crescendo started from the crowd,” Floyd said. “They could see the line. I saw beer, sodas and sandwich wrappers go flying. That’s when I knew it went in.”

It was the seventh hole in one on the 16th hole. The others were made by C. Ross Somerville in 1934, Willie Goggin in 1935, Ray Billows in 1940, John Dawson in 1949, Clive Clark in 1968 and Corey Pavin in 1992.

“It’s a nice memory to take home,” said Floyd, 53, the 1976 Masters champion.

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In his 38th Masters, 56-year-old Jack Nicklaus didn’t have the type of week he expected, mainly because his scores kept going in the wrong direction--70-73-76-78.

Nicklaus finished at nine-over-par 297. It was his worst 72-hole score at the Masters. Nicklaus missed cuts in 1959 and 1967 and withdrew after one round in 1983.

He was warmly greeted by the gallery as he finished his round Sunday.

“I appreciate that,” Nicklaus said. “I’ve played poorly the last three days. I did not have a good Masters.”

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Scott McCarron, the 30-year-old former UCLA player, came out of nowhere in his Masters debut to close with a 74 and finish tied for 10th at two under 286.

McCarron handled Augusta National’s slick greens well with his long-handled putter. It’s 49 inches long, which comes in handy sometimes.

“I get better drops from the cart paths,” McCarron said.

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Seve Ballesteros finished at 11-over-par 299, but believes he’s heading in the right direction.

“When you reach the bottom, there’s only one way to go,” he said. “I think I reached the bottom.”

It has been an ugly 1996 so far for Ballesteros, who won the Masters in 1980 and 1983 and the British Open in 1983 and 1988.

In three events this year on the PGA Tour and in Europe, Ballesteros, 39, has missed two cuts and tied for 67nd at Dubai.

“I feel like my game is getting better,” he said. “It’s not how I want it, but it’s getting better. I just need to compete.”

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He began the week as one of the favorites, but after shooting 72-74-75-75 for eight-over-par 296, Colin Montgomerie wasn’t very happy.

Said Montgomerie: “I take nothing positive from this week at all.”