There is arguably not a single golf course on the planet that evokes a stronger sense of nostalgia than Augusta National, with The Masters providing the stage for so many of the game’s most iconic moments.
Augusta National does benefit from The Masters being the only major in the men’s game that returns to the same site every single year.
Nevertheless, fans worldwide feel a unique connection to the venue. All eyes will certainly be on Augusta, Georgia in the coming days as the greatest players make the drive down Magnolia Lane.
For one past champion, the feeling of winning in the city of Augusta was particularly significant.
The only golfer born in Augusta to win The Masters
There is just one player in the history of the event to be born in Augusta and go on to win The Masters during their career.
It turns out that he also produced one of the greatest shots in the tournament’s history to secure the Green Jacket.
Larry Mize was not exactly a favourite to win The Masters in 1987. He had previously registered just one top 10 in a major during his career, while his only PGA Tour victory had come nearly four years earlier.
Nevertheless, he remained a permanent fixture on the leaderboards throughout the week. He did not break 70 in a single round, but he ended each day within two shots of the lead.
A 71 on Sunday ensured that he ended up in a playoff with two-time champion Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman, the world number one at the time. Unsurprisingly, Mize was the underdog.
Ballesteros’ hopes of a third Masters win were dashed when he made a bogey on the 10th. That left Mize and Norman to play the 11th hole.
Of course, if you have only seen one shot from Mize’s career, it is almost certainly the chip-in from off the 11th green for birdie that saw Mize produce a leap into the air that put Phil Mickelson to shame 17 years later.
When Norman could not make a three, Mize’s win was confirmed. It was Jack Nicklaus who presented him with the Green Jacket.
What happened next for Larry Mize after his dramatic Masters triumph
Mize would have to wait nearly six years for another PGA Tour win, while it would prove to be his only playoff victory from four attempts.
Incredibly, he had lost out to Norman in a playoff at the Kemper Open in 1986. That was Norman’s only victory from his first eight playoffs on the PGA Tour.
As reported by the Guardian, Norman would go on to defend Mize ahead of The Masters in 1988.
“A lot of people call it a fluke. They tell me it was too bad I had to lose on such a lucky shot. I keep telling those people that he wasn’t trying to make a bogey. He was trying to make that shot and that’s exactly what he did,” he said.
Mize had been a member of Augusta Country Club next door growing up, while he also worked on the scoreboard on the third hole as a teenager – allowing him to go and watch the rest of the event once the leaders had come through.
Mize would not win another major, but he did continue to play in The Masters in 2023. In fact, he made the cut three times in four appearances between 2014 and 2017 – 30 years after the shot that changed everything for the man born and raised in Augusta.
