1971

By Robert Eubanks
Chronicle Sports Editor

Augusta, Ga., Monday, April 12, 1971 -- Jack Nicklaus, showing a relaxed confidence that may have proved his undoing, had his Easter Sunday party spoiled by Charles Coody, a man with a mission.

Coody, a 6-2 Texan from Abilene, got the birdies when it counted and beat Nicklaus in the final round of the 35th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Nicklaus had pointed to this one ever since winning the PGA championship earlier in the year. A victory Sunday would have put him another mile on the road to winning an unprecedented Grand Slam. They had been tied at 209 going into the final day, but Coody was able to chop two strokes off par for a 72-hole total of 279 while Nicklaus could manage only a 72 to finish at 281.

However, just as Coody had promised, it was not a two-horse race. John Miller, a 23-year-old tourist who once stood the staid U.S. Open on its ear, blistered the National's links for a four-under-par 68 and 281 to share the runner-up spot with Nicklaus. Miller actually had a two-shot lead over Coody and Nicklaus going into the final four holes. He had made two difficult birdies at 11 and 12 after turning in 33 and went nine under par for the tournament when he dropped in a six-footer at 14.

Miller then admitted he seriously began thinking ``how I would look in that Green Coat.'' He saved a par from a trap with a 10-foot putt on the 15th, but Coody was closing in. Coody whipped his three-wood second to the right of the bunker, hit a pitching wedge to nine feet and made it to go eight under for the tournament.

Then, Miller made a good shot out of a trap but his eight-foot par attempt hit the cup and jumped out. That dropped him into a tie with Coody. As Coody went to the 16th hole, he had to obliterate the memory of a finish two years ago. The 16th was the first of three straight finishing bogeys that erased a one-shot lead and put him two behind eventual winner George Archer.

This time, it was Coody who was doing the taking rather than the receiving. He hit a solid six-iron to 15 feet and dropped it in for the birdie that put him into the lead for good. Miller saved a par with seven-footer at 17. On 18, he missed the green to the right with his second shot, chipped short and missed an 18-foot putt for a bogey.

MEANWHILE, COODY pulled his tee shot over the tree on 17 and into the right bunker fronting the No. 7 green. However, he was able to hit in front of the green, chipped within seven feet and make the par that ``won the tournament for me.''

Coody pulled his tee shot to the left again at 18 but reached the green with a six-iron and two-putted from 30 feet. The final one-footer signaled the end for Nicklaus, who just couldn't make the usual birdies on the back side. Nicklaus, who had dropped from eight to seven under when he took three to get down from a sandbar at the edge of Rae's Creek on 12, three-putted 13 from 60 feet. At 15 he hit probably his biggest drive of the day, used a four-iron to allow for a ``Fluffy lie'' but the ball sailed 20 feet over the green and his chip shot went over the pin. He missed the birdie putt. He parred in the rest of the way.

Don January, the former PGA champion who had been at 138 after two rounds, also parred the final 18 to tie Gene Littler, last year's runner-up, who had 69 for 283. Gary Player and Ken Still had 69s and Tom Weiskopf 72 for 284, while tied at 286 were Roberto de Vicenzo (69), 1970 PGA winner Dave Stockton (72) and Frank Beard. Bert Greene finished at 287 and defending champion Billy Casper was in a group of five at even par. Former football star Hale Irwin, only three back going into the final day, had 76 for 288. Four-time winner Arnold Palmer shot 73 for 289.

COODY, A FORMER Air Force lieutenant who graduated from Texas Christian, had enjoyed only moderate success since joining the tour in 1963. His only tour victories had come at Dallas in 1964 and at Cleveland in 1969, although he had managed to win over $310,000 coming into this year. Coody had won $18,039 (39th on the money list) prior to Sunday's win. And he clearly was the underdog as he teed off with the long-hitting Weiskopf, just ahead of Nicklaus and January, the day's last twosome.

Nicklaus wedged it to 15 feet, sank the putt for a birdie at No. 1 and appeared ready to make quick waste of all those who dared to question his superiority.

But it wasn't to be.

``Today, I might have been overconfident,'' he said. ``I probably was too relaxed. I just wasn't nervous enough.'' Coody and Nicklaus bandied the lead back and forth all during the front nine. Coody dropped back to eight under with a seven-footer on two but again caught the trees and missed a 20-footer for a bogey.

NICKLAUS FOLLOWED with a chance to move ahead when he made No. 2 in two, only to three-putt. He dropped two more strokes to par by three-putting both four and five although he got it back by rolling in a six-footer on six.

Coody moved back in front by chipping to eight feet on eight by Nicklaus came right behind him with two putts from 70 feet on the uphill par five hole. That allowed them to turn eight under. January, who briefly went six-under-par, bogeyed five after getting a birdie at two.

Miller came scooting up by dropping birdie putts of 12 feet at three, 30 feet at four and two feet at eight. He turned in 33, six under for the tournament, and received three big lifts that almost propelled him to victory in only his second Masters appearance. He played here as an amateur in 1967 after finishing in the top eight in the U.S. Open, where he shot a 64 in one round.

THE FIRST PICKUP for Miller came on a 10-foot birdie putt at 11. Then, he buried his tee shot under the lip of a trap on 12 but blasted it into the cup for an ``easy'' birdie.

The last was the bird at 14 that apparently was going to give him a solid shot at victory.

However, Coody kept plugging away, even after he dropped back to seven under when he pulled a six-iron over the back edge and three-putted from 60 feet for a bogey of 14. The miss was from four feet. Nicklaus also dropped to seven under when the wind caught his tee shot and pushed it back into the edge of the creek. And he just couldn't find the birdie range after that.