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DEL.ICIO.USGood goodbye for Coody
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Augusta — Last year it was Jack Nicklaus (65) playing it out on the ninth green, the world breathlessly awaiting the benediction to his career in the Masters. The year before, it had been Arnold Palmer (74), shooting 84-84 and out, a farewell with tears.
Now, it was Charles Coody, modest — “I’m no hall of fame player,” sly humor, good nature, just a good ol’ Texas country boy. He would be playing his 112th and last round on these hallowed grounds. He’d played a round to forget on Thursday, an 89, bottom of the leaderboard, so he wouldn’t be attracting a crushing crowd, wanting his round hole-by-hole. Good ol’ Charlie, a few quiet moments together, a slap on the back, and see ya.
Then the scores came up on the big leaderboard at the 18th hole. “Leaders Thru 17: Purdy 4, Jobe 4, Coody 19,” all numbers in green, meaning over par.
Wait a minute! Coody plus-19? Wasn’t he plus-17 the day before, and wouldn’t that mean he had a round of 74 going? Sure enough, the 68-year-old was leading the two young guys from the PGA Tour by two strokes. Just to make sure, he looked at his final putt a long time from several angles, then carefully rolled it in, downhill from 15 feet. He’d finished with 74, two strokes over Ted Purdy and Brandt Jobe, not to mention better than both Palmer’s and Nicklaus’ last rounds.
“I was 1-under par through 15, and I was thinking even par, but I made a couple of bad swings,” he said. “I still left a few out there.”
He came out of the scorer’s cabin, and instead of having a nice little head-to-head, Charles Coody of Abilene was swarmed. They were there from England, Ireland, Canada, not to mention West Palm Beach and Dallas. They leaned heavily against the restraining rope, their tape recorders extended like hungry little birds waiting to be fed. Suddenly, everybody wanted a piece of him. They had satisfied their urge temporarily, talking first with the son and caddie, Kyle, who was feeling pretty good about his old man.
“He played great,” Kyle said. “It was a great day for both of us,” and all the Coodys.
Charlie had been at this a long time, and golf has always been a business for him, with an occasional injection of glory. Like the year he won the Masters and earned his right to Green Jacket status. That would have been 1971, when he birdied the 15th and 16th holes and beat Nicklaus and Johnny Miller, “two yellow-haired kids,” by two strokes. The purse was $25,000. For the last 36 holes, he gets $5,000, the going rate for champions indulging in their last run to glory.
But golf, the business. “The first tournament I played, I finished 16th and won $640. I thought I’d struck gold. I’d just been married, and to pay bills, I’d borrowed $500 from my mother. My wife had borrowed $700 from her mother, so we were $1,200 in debt before we even cut the cake.”
So this would be the end of the line. “It’s definite. It’s time to go,” he said. “It’s good to finish with a good round, but I’d already made up my mind last Sunday. If I kept playing, 160 would have been a good score. It’s beyond my length now. There are about eight par 5s out there for me. My handicap here would be about 7 or 8.”
Back home in Abilene, he has his own course, the Diamondback Golf Club. “There, I’d probably be scratch.”
It’s over for him in the Masters, by his own choice, though he’ll probably be back to play in the Par-3 Contest and a few rounds with Kyle. He’ll always have the closing to dwell on when he wants to lie back and mellow out. The crowd around the semicircle 18th green had seemed to be rather small. Then Charles Coody sank that last putt, and suddenly the sound cascaded into a roar, something to be sealed away in memory. The 74.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Furman Bisher, Golf
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By Buddy
April 7, 2006 07:31 PM | Link to this
What a grand finish for the ‘71 Master’s champion. Todays round will be a great memory that will surely be near the forefront in the forty years of Charle’s Master’s memories.It is rounds like this by former champions that have added to the tradition and lore of the Masters in a way that no other tournament can duplicate. It is a shame to see the former champions disappearing as with them go the stuff that the Masters was built on. The Masters tournament should do everything possible to encourage these gentleman to remain competitors for as long as possible. Congratulations to all the Coody family and to all the former champions.
By bill
April 8, 2006 07:29 AM | Link to this
Since I began following the Masters in the early 60’s, past champions and amateurs have had a lot to do with making the tournament the greatest in golf. Now, it appears, we are on the verge of losing one of those key elements - past champions are becoming extinct. Why not offer a past champion the option of registering as a “non-competitor”, then have them tee off Thursday from a different set of tees? We might be rewarded with their presence for a few more years at least.
By Chuck
April 18, 2006 05:57 AM | Link to this
Lest we forget, Charlie Coody could have easily been a two-time Masters Champion. In 1969, in the 4th round, he led the tournament after 15 holes, but George Archer overtook him in the last 3 holes to win.