Sudden-death playoff was stunning end to 1987 Masters Tournament

The Masters is the only major tournament with a sudden-death playoff, and the 1987 playoff capped an exciting day with a memorable finish.

Larry Mize faced two of the game’s all-time greats: Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros had won a combined five majors at the time. Mize, with his one PGA Tour win, was ranked 34th in the world.

“I don’t think anybody thought he had a chance. I think it was a foregone conclusion,” said author Stephen Goodwin, who covered the 1987 Masters for GOLF magazine. “Seve or Norman was going to win it. These guys were legitimate one-two in golf at the time. Who was this guy Mize?”

On the first playoff hole, Mize, the shortest hitter of the three, ripped his tee ball down the left side and down the slope 25 yards past Ballesteros and Norman in the fairway. Mize took advantage, stopping a 7-iron shot 12 feet below the pin; Ballesteros and Norman hit their approach shots into the back fringe.

Mize had a chance to win with an uphill putt with little break. He never gave his putt a chance and tapped in for par. Norman also two-putted for par. Ballesteros needed five feet for par. It seemed routine, but Ballesteros missed, his putt remaining left of the hole.

While Mize and Norman walked to the 11th tee, the teary-eyed Spaniard made the long, lonely walk up the 10th fairway, the biggest hill on the course, toward the Champions Locker Room.

Roger Maltbie, who missed the playoff by a shot, was standing under the famous oak tree outside of the clubhouse answering reporters’ questions when Ballesteros walked by. Media members ditched Maltbie to get a quote.

Ballesteros was in no mood to talk, though. Maltbie overheard the brief conversation.

“I say nothing,” Ballesteros said. “I no feel good right now.”

It was now a dogfight between Norman and the unheralded Mize.

Steve Melnyk, a native Georgian and CBS analyst, was in his spot above the 12th tee. As Mize and Norman each split the 11th fairway with their drives – Norman 30 yards farther than Mize – Melnyk became concerned.

“The real issue is it was getting dark. Really dark,” he said. “It might not have looked like it at home, but our camera guys opened up their irises as much as they could. If it went another hole, I don’t think they could have played.”

Mize held a 5-iron in his hands as he sized up the situation. A pond guarded the front left portion of the green, and a bunker rested behind. Ben Hogan, the two-time Masters champion, famously said, “If you ever see me on this green in two, you’ll know I missed my second.”

Facing an approach of 194 yards to the pin, Mize snatched up some grass blades and released them, trying to figure out the wind. He unconsciously played away from the pond, his approach bleeding to the right. As soon as the ball flew off the clubface, Mize looked up in disgust.

Norman hit a conservative 7-iron to the right fringe, his ball resting 40 feet away. While two putts for par was no sure thing, Norman appeared to be in good shape.

Charles Mize knew itlooked grim for his son. He wondered whether his run at a green jacket was over.

“I didn’t give up,” he said. “But that’s a tough par to make from there.”

Earlier in the day on the 11th, Mize missed his second shot to the right, just off the green. He then rolled in a 20-foot par putt from the right side. He knew what the ball would do if he got it on line on the right pace.

Using his 56-degree sand wedge, Mize pitched the ball perfectly, his ball bouncing twice before reaching the putting surface. The ball began tracking like a putt as it headed toward the hole.

A wave of noise grew louder as the ball approached. When it fell into the cup, Melnyk couldn’t contain himself. As the ball disappeared, he yelled out, “Ohhhhhh!”

“It’s probably the worst announced shot in history,” Melnyk said. “That was me. I became a fan. It was instinctive. I was delighted for him. I genuinely became a fan. I did have the presence of mind to go silent after that. Nothing is always good. The sights and sounds of the broadcast trump anything I could say.”

Mize leaped, throwing his wedge to the side. Patrons screamed and jumped up and down. Bonnie Mize tried to soothe David, who was days away from his first birthday.

“I turned to him and said, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK. It’s only Daddy.’ ” Bonnie said.

A shell-shocked Norman squatted with his putter resting against his left shoulder. He remained frozen for a few seconds before getting up to attempt to read his putt again. His birdie chance never came close.

“You’d have to be stunned,” Mize said. “You always have to expect the worst. You’re not really expecting me or anybody to chip in from there. That is the unexpected.”

Afterward, when asked of Mize’s shot, Norman responded with good humor.

“I didn’t think Larry could get down in two from where he was, and I was right,” he said. “He got down in one.”

Ballesteros watched the shot on television from the Champions Locker Room.

“To make that chip, that isn’t lucky. The chip was good all the way,” he said to The Associated Press days later before playing in the Cannes Open in France. “But from that distance … it happens maybe once a century.”