Fuzzy Zoeller wasn't asking for too much. All he really wanted when he played in his first Masters Tournament was to get invited back the next year.

Fuzzy Zoeller's 1979 sudden-death playoff victory was the first by a rookie since 1935. (File)

"That was my goal," Zoeller said of the 1979 Masters. "I was very pleased with what happened only because I made the top 20 and I was in for the next year."

Zoeller got a little more than he bargained for. By becoming just the third first-timer to win the Masters, he got a lifetime invitation. He stretched his playoff victory over Tom Watson and Ed Sneed for 30 years -- which is as far as he's willing to go.

The charismatic Zoeller plans to call it quits after this year's tournament. He would have done it last year except that his children persuaded him to stick it out through the 30th anniversary of his win.

The course is simply too long for a 57-year-old who can't hit it as far as today's rookies. That point was driven home not only by the 81 and 79 he shot last year but also by a barb from the honorary starter, Arnold Palmer.

"I walked in on Thursday morning, and Arnie says, 'What the hell are you doing?' " Zoeller said. "He knew I wasn't enjoying myself, wasn't having fun playing that long old golf course anymore. I really respect Arnold. When he said that to me last year on Thursday morning before he went out to hit his inaugural shot, I looked at him and said, 'By god, you're exactly right. What the hell am I doing?'

"The course before, everybody had a chance. Now only a select few. It's no fun. It's fun to go down there and be there and be a part of it. But as far as playing, I've got to enjoy myself when I'm out there." Few have enjoyed being there more than Zoeller, whose wit and personality have always made him a fan favorite. But he was hardly a favorite in 1979, when he pulled off what nobody had done since Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen in the first two Augusta National invitationals.

"What was going through my head? Absolutely nothing," Zoeller said of his debut, which was made possible by an early season win in San Diego. "I was in awe of the place. It's what I'd always dreamed of."

Zoeller started his final round six shots behind Sneed, and he shot 70. But Sneed bogeyed the last three holes, joining Zoeller and Watson in the Masters' first sudden-death playoff.

"What happened to Ed could have happened to any of us," Zoeller said. "He had some flat tires coming in and let Tom and I back in the ball game. Once you do that and open the door, somebody's going to step in there."

That it was the rookie surprised everyone except Zoeller and his veteran local caddie, Jariah Beard, who'd bet on his man with friends Sunday morning.

On the first extra hole, Zoeller missed his birdie try, but both Sneed and Watson missed shorter putts.

"Tom Watson should have won it right there," Beard said. "His caddie told him what to do, and Watson didn't believe him and missed the putt."

Zoeller asked his caddie to walk to the 11th tee with him.

"Look in that bag and get me out a new nugget," Zoeller told Beard. "I'm going to knock Tom Watson out right now, because I don't want to go to 12 with him."

Zoeller hit his best drive of the week, leaving him just 136 yards to the green and 151 to the cup. Beard recommended pitching wedge, but Zoeller boasted the world's best knock-down 8-iron.

"Well, hit it," Beard said.

Zoeller stuck it six feet below the hole and made birdie, tossing his putter in the air as he skipped around in victory.

The key to his rookie success, Zoeller believes, was having a local caddie familiar with the course. Players were required to use Augusta caddies until 1983, and Zoeller drew a solid partner in Beard, who had caddied there since 1957.

"Jerry and I got along very, very well all week long," Zoeller said of the caddie, whose advice on the greens he followed explicitly. "He kind of led me around there like a blind man with a seeing-eye dog. I hit shots into the greens, and we're walking up to the green, and he's already telling me which way the putt breaks."

Zoeller said that is the reason no rookie has matched his feat.

"I tell everybody that the mistake these young guys make is not taking a local caddie," he said. "They might take them a week early or take them for a practice round, but that's not like having them on the bag during that tournament."

For his final tournament, Zoeller will have a different familiar face on his bag -- his daughter Gretchen, a former college golfer who was instrumental in persuading him to play one last Masters.

"Winning that green coat made my whole career," he said. "You only get one green jacket. You may win it four or five times, but they only give you the one jacket."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.