It was pretty disappointing because I’d spent so much time preparing for it. Before I won in 1984, Tom Kite and I tied for second, four shots behind Seve (Ballesteros) in 1983. We were close, but he just outplayed us. I finished second in 1976, too, but I was eight shots back of Raymond (Floyd), so that doesn’t really count.
But in 1983 I felt like if things went well and the ball flew right, I had a chance to win. Seve just beat us. So it was a big relief to win in ’84. I had come close in six or seven majors, I was 32 years old and I thought I was starting to mature a little more. It was a huge relief to finally win.
I really had a good chance to win again in ’87 and ’88 and did not do it. I missed getting in the playoff with Larry Mize and Greg Norman by one shot in ’87 — and ’88 was close and finished fourth. In 1989 I had a shot, too. I needed a par on the last hole to get in the playoff with Nick Faldo and made a bogey. That was very tough to swallow.
You go back and think about it. We all do it. That’s part of tournament golf. You realize if you’d have saved a shot here or hit a different club there or if the ball would have bounced a different way … that’s what makes it so frustrating.
We all do it, but that’s why Augusta is so special. You want to put on that green jacket. When you see other people do it, you feel like you should be able to do it, too. But you know full well there has to be an element of luck involved in tournament golf. Things have to happen in a positive manner to put yourself in a position to win.
You ask any Masters champion, and it’s special. It’s got an aura all its own. People know so much about the history of it. They’ve seen the displays of great golf, and they’ve seen the collapses. I’m just glad I won it.
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