Ask Steve Flesch what he took away from his spirited run at a green jacket last year, and the answer is surprising.

Steve Flesch's tie for fifth place at the 2008 Masters was his best finish in a major in 28 starts. (File/Staff)

It wasn't that the tie for fifth was his best finish in a major in 28 starts. It wasn't even the $273,750 paycheck.

"What I took out of it -- without sounding corny -- is I had my 10-year-old boy there, and now he's totally hooked on golf because of the experience we shared together on the back nine Saturday and Sunday," Flesch said. "I was playing so good; I was in the final groups those days, and now he's just head over heels about the game of golf."

His top-16 finish earned him an automatic invitation back to the 2009 Masters Tournament, which means his son, Griffin, can enjoy the experience of watching his father play in it again.

Before watching his dad get in contention last year, Griffin "hem-hawed and said he kind of liked" golf, Flesch said.

"Now, if you asked him why all of a sudden that happened, he'll tell you it was from being down there in Augusta and seeing what it was like. I loved it."

What Flesch did not love that week was pulling the wrong club on the par-3 12th hole during the final round. The 8-iron wasn't enough club to carry Rae's Creek, and Flesch left with a double bogey.

Before that miscue, he was only two shots off the lead of eventual winner Trevor Immelman, who was in the group behind him.

After the double bogey, Flesch went with a "no guts, no glory" strategy that resulted in a 78. He opened with 72-67-69.

"I felt like I needed to play 13, 14 and 15 aggressively to even have a chance, and I ended up bogeying a couple of those holes. It kind of put me behind the eight ball," he said.

"I just played aggressively with the lines I took, trying to get too close to the pins. If I'd played it a hair more conservatively, instead of trying to hit it 2 or 3 feet (from the cup), I might have made a few more pars. I was just trying to hit it dead stiff. That's the beauty of Augusta. You try to do that, and if you don't pull it off, you're going to pay the price."

If he finds himself in a similar situation this year, Flesch said he'll use the same game plan and hope for a better result.

"I don't regret how I played them," he said. "I maybe could have played conservatively if I was just trying to make more money, but I was going for the title.

"Sure, if I'd played them conservatively, I might have finished second or third. To me, there's not much difference between second and third and fifth. How many chances at 41 am I going to have to win Augusta?"

Flesch, a lefty who is not a long hitter, should be near the top again this year if he putts like he did in 2008. He tied for sixth in putting in the field with 113, only one more than Immelman.

"I putted great. That's what you have to do at Augusta to play well. I'm not going to overpower that place; I don't think anybody is anymore," Flesch said.

"As long as they've made it, if I don't putt good, I really don't have a chance. I drove it very well for me, albeit for me that isn't very long. But I putted well, and that's what kept me in it."

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.