Former Champions Know the Drill

For former champions Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara, their closing round left them something to remember. Couples, the 1992 champion, had four birdies, no bogeys and put up a 68, the same score as 1998 champion O’Meara.

Couples finished at four under for the tournament, but was never in contention.

“There was not a whole lot of pressure,” he said. “If I would have been playing two hours later, it wouldn’t have been as easy.”

O’Meara eagled the second hole when he holed a bunker shot and would have finished even better, but he hit a tree limb on his drive at the 18th and wound up with a bogey.

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For what it’s worth, Nick Faldo’s victory at the 1996 Masters was a $450,000 payday. Tiger Woods made $1,008,000.

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Franklin Langham, a scoreboard operator at the Masters as a teen, finished at four over in his first Masters. Said Langham: “It was fun working the scoreboard, but playing is tougher.”

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He bogeyed the last two holes, but Steve Stricker still shot a 71, finished eight under and tied for 10th.

“Knowing that I’m back here next year is pretty satisfying,” Stricker said.

The top 16 players are invited back each year.

“I came here not expecting very much, and this gives me more confidence. It was a great experience. I actually had visions of having the opportunity to win.”

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Toshi Izawa of Japan shot 67 and tied for fourth--the highest finish for a Japanese player.

Said Izawa: “All of Japan was watching on TV. They will be sleeping on Monday and blame it on the Masters tournament.”

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Bernhard Langer, 43, who won the Masters in 1985 and 1993, shot 69-68-69 the last three rounds and tied for sixth. As you might expect, he was overjoyed. “Overall, I’m very pleased,” he said. “This shows I can still compete with the best in the game.”

Langer also paid a compliment to Woods for winning his fourth consecutive major title.

“Ten years ago, I would have said that Tiger’s win would be impossible, but now I know everything is possible for Tiger.”

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Mark Calcavecchia birdied the 18th for a 72 and finished tied for fourth with Izawa. It was Calcavecchia’s best finish since 1988 when he was the runner-up to Sandy Lyle.

Woods’ feat left Calcavecchia impressed.

“Like most, I think you have to win all four in one [calendar] year [for a Grand Slam],” he said. “But he can still do that!”