Larry Mize, 1987: Miracle finish for hometown boy

People always ask me where the ball and club I used to chip in from 140 feet to win the 1987 Masters in a sudden death playoff are now.

I still have the ball, but you'd have to ask my wife Bonnie where it's at. It's probably in a drawer somewhere in our Columbus, Ga., home. She's kept all the balls of the tournaments I've won.

The Augusta National Golf Club has the club, which is a MacGregor sand wedge. I gave it to them 1« years after I won. It usually takes me that long to wear out a sand wedge. When I did, I sent it to Augusta.

The first time I used that club was in the Masters the year I won. My regular wedge was getting worn out. I thought about changing at The Players Championship, which was the last tournament I played in before the Masters. But I didn't want to change then because there are a lot of flop shots and funny lies at The Players Championship.

It's a different kind of chipping at Augusta. It's more in front of you and more bump-and-run. So I decided to change that week.

I trailed by two shots going into the final round. There were enough people there in front of me and enough big names that I was kind of lost in the crowd. I think that was really a good thing. There wasn't much attention on me. I took that as a positive. I thought it would be perfect for me to slip in there on Sunday and win the thing.

I was up against Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in the sudden-death playoff. I was by far the lesser known player of the three. How did I feel? I was nervous and excited all in one. But I was probably more confident than you think I would be. I felt that way because of how I'd played all week, plus I'd just birdied the 18th hole to get in the playoff.

After I hit a really good drive on the first hole of the playoff, which was the 10th, I obviously felt a lot better walking down that fairway.

My caddie when I won the Masters was Scotty Steele. He started with me in January 1985 and we stayed together for five years, so the Masters win was just short of the mid-point for us. The biggest thing I remember about him that week was if I messed up, he'd say it was no big deal. He was always trying to keep me calm. When I hit that 5-iron to the right of No. 11 in the playoff, he said something to the effect of don't worry about it, that it would work out somehow. He was a real comfort to me there.

After I won and did the press conferences, the people at the Masters told me there was a dinner for the champion that night. I had no idea. Bonnie went home to get me a shirt and she changed into a dress.

You're eating dinner and everybody is very nice, coming by and congratulating you. We finally left about 11:30 p.m. It was a long evening, but there was no problem. I'd love to do it again. It was a fun evening.