AUGUSTA — Larry Mize arrives at his 39th consecutive Masters this week, and as any 63-year-old former champion must, he’s forced to contemplate the end of his competitive run here.
As he told the Augusta Chronicle, “I definitely won’t go past next year (2023) – I don’t think so.”
Mize, the Columbus native and Georgia Tech man, won his green jacket in 1987 in classic fashion. He chipped in from 140 feet off the green at No. 11 to beat Greg Norman in a playoff. As Mize broke into a joyous dance, Norman was once more consigned to the role of stunned Masters victim.
Mize has two other top-six finishes on his Masters resume (a sixth in 1992 and a third in 1994, when he had the lead for the first two rounds). But age is undefeated. He has missed the cut the last four years and was 19 over (88-87) by the time he departed last year.
Whenever he does call it a day, retiring with Mize will be that iconic chip shot. As Tiger Woods pointed out this week, changes to the hole, including some major alterations this year, have all but eliminated any chance of duplicating that shot in the future.
“We (already) thought the Larry Mize shot was gone; now it’s really gone with them raising the green up even more on the right-hand side. And we’re further back, so we’re more prone to hit the ball over there anyways. So, it’s a harder and more difficult pitch,” Woods said.
Memory will just have to serve, as it so often does with great pleasure at the Masters. And even when he is done playing the tournament, Mize will be happy to relive that moment in ‘87 that will always be unlike any other.
As he once told Golf Digest, “People sometimes apologize to me for asking me to talk about it. “I say, ‘Are you kidding?’ There aren’t many things I enjoy more than talking about what happened that day.”
Break with tradition
Yes, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley was aware that Dude Perfect would record a YouTube video at Amen Corner. The sports and comedy group didn’t jump the fence to invade the grounds of the world’s most famous golf club several weeks ago to produce a video that has gone viral.
However, it took some research before the club broke with tradition.
“My first reaction was, who are these guys? I’ve never heard of them,” Ridley said when asked about the group that produced the All Sports Golf Battle video that posted earlier this week.
In a video, narrated by Jim Nantz, the group of five uses non-golf sporting equipment to play each of the three holes. The participants were Tyler Toney, Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert and Cody Jones, all former college roommates at Texas A&M, and they were joined by pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau, who was at Augusta to practice for the Masters. Tennis rackets, baseball bats, croquet mallets, kickballs, Frisbees, pool cues, hockey sticks were used to “play” the iconic golf holes.
Ridley said two things stood out to him when discussions began. The five members of Dude Perfect had the “upmost respect” for Augusta National. Also, it didn’t go unnoticed that the YouTube channel had nearly 60 million subscribers.
“That sort of got my attention,” Ridley said of the substantial following.
The bottom line for the club was the exposure the video gave to the club and tournament, especially to a younger audience.
“I think it accomplished what we wanted to,” Ridley said. “I’ve heard from a number of my law partners who have teenage children who said, ‘This is great. My kids want to go out and play golf.’ That’s sort of the idea.
“We’ll look at more things like that but always through a lens of our culture and respect for the game and respect for the institution in this place.”
Community donation
During is pre-tournament press conference, Ridley announced a donation of $1 million to Augusta Technical College for the development of a new automotive service training center in the Laney Walker neighborhood. The new facility will quadruple Augusta Technical College’s current training footprint to meet the rising demand for automotive technicians and professionals in the area. Once operational, the center will offer 16 certification programs to approximately 1,270 students annually as the region’s leading automotive training center. Augusta National’s donation will allow the center to open later this year.
Steve Hummer and Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.
About the Author
