Doug Ford, 1957: Golfer 'went for it' despite caddie's doubt

The 15th hole is where I won the Masters in 1957. But I had to struggle with my caddie to pull it off. I had the same second shot into the par-5 green in the final round as I did in the third round.

On Saturday in the third round, my second shot hit the bank of the pond and rolled in the edge. I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants legs, went down in the water and blasted it out but still made bogey. When I got into the clubhouse, I was three strokes behind leader Sam Snead, and a couple of old-time pros said if I got a chance at 15 tomorrow to lay up.

Well, on Sunday I led by one and drove in the exact same place on 15. My caddie, Fireball (George Franklin), said to lay up and wouldn't let me take the 3-wood out of the bag. He said to take the 4-iron and lay up. We were fighting over the club and arguing so much that the gallery started laughing at us.

Finally, I said, Snead is right behind us and he'll easily be able to reach the green in two. Besides, they don't remember you here unless you go for it and win.

I finally got the 3-wood out of the bag and hit it on the green and two-putted for birdie. So I took the tournament there.

Fireball was a steady caddie for me into the mid-1960s. He was out of Atlanta and just got assigned to me at the Masters in 1952. He and I got along real well. He knew the course.

I holed out my bunker shot on 18, but that gave me a three-shot lead for a final-round 66. So I look back to 15 and the discussion with Fireball as the key to winning.

I keep coming back to the Masters Tournament because it is some course to play, and anybody would give their left arm to play Augusta National if they weren't eligible for the Masters.

I hope to play this year Ç it will be my 48th year, a continuing record for most starts.

But it keeps getting harder and harder to walk those hills at my age of 77. I only play a few Senior PGA Tour events now, the Super Seniors category (age 60-over), but they let you ride carts there. I play some at my home in Lake Woods, Fla., where I own a course, the Lacuna Club. But I ride there, too. The thing I get from lots of people is that they're startled to think I won the Masters. I won a PGA Championship in 1955 at Meadowbrook in Detroit, but the Masters is my most memorable victory.

I guess there aren't too many folks still alive who watched me win the Masters in 1957.