Hogan Award bittersweet for Masters maverick
Ken Green never thought he'd be in town and attend the Masters Tournament as a spectator for this reason.
Green, who played in six Masters from 1986 through 1997 and was the first-round leader in his first appearance, attended the Golf Writers Association of America awards banquet Wednesday night, where he accepted the Ben Hogan Award with Tom Watson.
Earlier in the day, Green attended the Masters practice round.
The Hogan award goes to a golfer who remains active in the sport despite a physical handicap or serious illness.
Green certainly qualifies.
The 51-year-old, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who played on the Champions Tour last year, is in the process of returning to golf after being in a motor home accident that took the lives of two people and led to the amputation of his right leg.
The accident, which happened in Mississippi last June when the vehicle blew a tire, took the life of Green's brother, Billy, Green's girlfriend and his dog.
"It's a double-edged sword; I'm honored they (the golf writers) have thought of me and gave me consideration, but I'd preferred not to have that accident," said Green, who accepted the Hogan Award at Savannah Rapids Pavilion.
"The tragedies that have happened are mind-boggling."
In March, his son Hunter, a student at Southern Methodist University, died of an accidental overdose from a mix of alcohol and prescription drugs.
"It's a been a horrific year for me," Green said.
Winning the Hogan award took a little sting out of it.
"When things like this happen, it helps perk you up," he said. "It gives you a little boost. When you go through what I go through, you have down time and bad moments."
SINCE GETTING his prosthetic leg, Green has worked to make his return to golf.
He played in a mini-tour senior event and will make his return to the Champions Tour on April 23 in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga., where he will team with Mike Reid, who was his partner there last year.
He will be the first player to play in the Champions Tour event with a prosthetic leg.
"I've taken a beating here, there's no doubt about it," Green said of his injuries. "The idea of playing professional golf is what has kept me going."
Other than the Legends of Golf event, Green doesn't know when he'll play again on the Champions Tour. He's been turned down for a major medical exemption this year by the PGA Tour, which has him furious.
At Augusta National Golf Club on Wednesday, Green was able to relive many of the memories from his colorful Masters days. At the top of the list is the 68 he shot in the opening round of the 1986 Masters that gave him a share of the lead with Bill Kratzert.
"I think about all the putts I made that day," Green said. "I don't care what anybody says, it was the most ridiculous putting round in Augusta history."
Green said he made five putts of more than 30 feet, including one he estimates was "80 or 90" feet on the fifth hole. He was a few yards short of the green and putted from there to a back-center pin position and made it.
He capped off the round by making a 30-foot birdie on the 18th hole.
Of course, the 1986 Masters turned out to be the one in which 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket.
"The Golf Channel constantly shows that Masters and they always refer to me and show the bunker shot I holed out on No. 18 on the second day; that's a shot I'll always remember," said Green, who followed the 68 with rounds of 78-74-76 to finish 44th.
GREEN HAS always been something of a maverick in golf. He made waves at the Masters, but it turns out he was ahead of his time in certain areas. He had one of the first female caddies (his sister, Shelley, in 1986) and he was the first golfer to have one of his children caddie for him in the Par-3 Contest. Now, almost all the players have a family member as their caddie.
Green also says he and his buddy, Mark Calcavecchia, started the tradition of skipping balls across the water on the par-3 16th hole during practice rounds.
Some patrons interviewed this week thought that Seve Ballesteros was the first player to skip the ball across the pond on No. 16.
"They're mistaken," Green said.
Here's how he knows he and Calcavecchia were the first: he received a letter from then-Masters Chairman Hord Hardin telling him "we don't do that here," said Green, who continued to skip his ball across No. 16 whenever he played in the Masters.
He also received a letter from Hardin chastising him for having one of his children caddie for him in the Par-3 Contest.
"I got numerous letters," Green said. "I tossed them pretty quick."
Green was also fined by the PGA Tour for some of his actions during the Masters.
"I was probably fined more times at the Masters than at any other event; I was fined at least once for every event I played, and twice once," said Green, for offenses ranging from cursing to club abuse.
The reasons for so many fines at Augusta National, he said, was because "there were so many different officials on every hole."
His most famous incident came in the 1997 Masters.
Playing with an injured finger, Green shot 87 in the first round and was planning to withdraw.
In those days, the pairings were changed each day, and he decided not to withdraw when he found he drew Arnold Palmer in the second round as a playing partner.
"He was my hero growing up and I had a wonderful time playing with him," Green said.
Green got in trouble, however, on the 15th hole.
"I'd always dreamed of having a beer with Arnold Palmer and I knew I'd never get that chance again, so I had a friend bring me a beer."
Afterward, when questioned by officials, he admitted to drinking the beer, which is a violation of PGA Tour rules.
"Like a fool I opened my mouth and told the truth, which is what I always do," Green said.
Back in 1989, he snuck friends onto the grounds, hiding two of them in the back seat and two more in the trunk of his car. He had to get eight people in, so he made two trips each day.
"We had 16 people and my wife had half the badges," Green said. "She wouldn't come and she refused to send them."
Green told Augusta National officials his problem.
"I told them the truth and they wouldn't let me do it (buy more badges)," Green said. "So I improvised."
Green pulled off the stunt every day that week.
"I got pretty good at it and never got caught," he said. "I would drop them off and tell them they were on their own (to avoid being caught without a badge).
"As luck would have it, the only person who got caught was one of her (his then-wife's) brothers."
With his checkered past at Augusta National, Green said he was "a little leary" when he called the club to see if he could purchase some extra Wednesday practice-round tickets for some relatives who made the trip with him this week.
"I was hoping they didn't hold a grudge against me."
Green got the tickets.
Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
