63 has been a major hurdle in golf

Twenty-five years ago, Nick Price set the course record at Augusta National Golf Club using a wooden driver and laying up on all the par-5 holes.

Technological advances in golf clubs and balls have been great since then, but only Greg Norman has matched Price's 9-under-par 63 at the Masters Tournament.

While there have been a handful of 59s in PGA Tour history, 24 times a player has shot 63 in one of golf's four majors. Norman and Vijay Singh are the only ones to do it twice.

The 63 barrier has never been crossed in the major championships, but many have come close.

Jack Nicklaus had a short putt for 62 at the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol and missed. Tiger Woods lipped out his putt for 62 at the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

At the Masters, Price's birdie putt on the 18th hole rimmed the cup, and he had to settle for 63.

"They were asking what happened on that 18th hole, and I came up with this line," Price said. "I think Bobby Jones' hand came up and popped it out the hole. And said, 'That's enough.' "

Low scores and excitement have been synonymous with the Masters for years, but only 13 players have shot 64 or better in competition.

Lloyd Mangrum established the benchmark with his 64 in the opening round in 1940, and it took 25 years for anyone to match it. Nicklaus fired his 64 in the third on his way to a record-setting victory. Four players shot 64s in the 1970s, including Gary Player in the final of his 1978 victory.

Norman matched Price's record in the 1st of 1996. Since then, only David Toms in 1998 and Jason Day this year have been able to produce 64s.

Price, now 54, would not have been the first choice of many to establish the record at Augusta National because he was a medium-length hitter.

He barely made the cut in 1986, then promptly bogeyed the first hole. From then on, Price said, he "probably had the best 17 holes of putting I've ever had."

Price said it could have been even lower.

"What I suppose I remember the best was walking up the 14th hole, and I think at this stage I was 7 under, and saying to my caddie, 'Do you know what the course record is.' And he nodded at me and said, 'Yeah,' " Price said. "And I said 'Let's do it.' I birdied 15 and 16. I had a lip-out on 18, but had a really good putt that I ran over the top edge on 17. It could have been just about anything."

Price couldn't reach the par-5s in two, and he laid up on all four. He used his pinpoint iron play, though, to make 10 birdies.

"One of the things I'm most proud of is that I did it with a wooden driver," Price said. "That's not to take anything away from Greg's 63, but I think he shot his in '96, 10 years later, so technology in drivers had changed considerably. I'd like to think there would be an asterisk on mine for using medieval clubs."

Norman started off slowly in his round of 63, with pars on his first six holes. Then he birdied Nos. 7-9 to make the turn in 33. The Great White Shark then turned it up a notch.

"It was just indicative of my style of play," Norman said. "I loved to be aggressive when I felt I was on."

On the final nine, he birdied Nos. 12-15. He added another at the 17th, and had his final birdie at the 18th to match Price's score.

Norman thinks the record will fall one day.

"Records are made to be broken," he said. "One day, under perfect conditions, someone's going to shoot 62, for sure."

Nick Faldo, a three-time Masters winner who now serves as analyst for CBS, doesn't agree.

"I think the golf course, hole locations now, speed of greens, firmness of greens, for someone to shoot 62, that is highly unlikely," Faldo said. "There's still a scare factor of doing it."

Faldo is a member of the 63 club, having shot his at the British Open at Royal St. George's.

"Driver, 2-iron for 63, those were the days when golf courses were long, not driver, 9-iron like today," Faldo said with a laugh. "I've shot 63 so I don't want anyone to shoot 62, very simply."

Low scores have not always translated into a green jacket. Of the 12 men before Day who shot 64 or better, only Nicklaus and Player went on to win.

"The big thing is I would trade that round for a green jacket in a heartbeat," Price said. "It's always nice to have a course record at a very nice golf course and a major championship, but in hindsight it's not something that's going to enhance my career. I still look at it as a tongue in cheek, it was an achievement, but certainly not like winning it."

Reach John Boyette at 706) 823-3337 orjohn.boyette@augustachronicle.com.