1980

By Robert Eubanks
Chronicle Sports Editor

Augusta, Ga., Monday, April 14, 1980 -- Severiano Ballesteros, who reputedly can hold 11 golf balls in his hand, had the 44th Masters and a record in his grasp.

He dropped one and almost lost the other in what was supposed to be a Sunday stroll at the park-like Augusta National.

Ballesteros saw a 10-shot lead at the turn dwindle to two before he righted his act for 72 and a 275 total which defeated Jack Newton (68) and Gibby Gilbert (67) by four strokes.

His winning blow was a 4-iron over the pond and a 2-putt birdie from 20 feet on 15, dashing what hopes his pursuers had of a complete, and record-setting, collapse.

The dashing British Open champion from Santander, Spain, who turned 23 this past Wednesday, thus became the youngest man and only the second foreigner to win the Masters. Jack Nicklaus was 23 years and almost three months old when he won the first of his five Masters in 1963.

Gary Player, winner of three Masters, became the first foreign champion in 1961.

Seve had entered the final round at 13-under-par 203 and leading by seven shots over rookie Ed Fiori. He was 16 under par at the turn, taking aim on the tournament mark of 271 shared by Nicklaus and Ray Floyd and Nicklaus' 9-shot winning margin.

All that became secondary when Ballesteros 3-putted 10 for bogey and hit it into the water on 12 (double bogey) and 13 (bogey), trimming his edge to three over playing partner Newton and two over the charging Gilbert.

``I was comfortable -- 10 shots is a lot,'' he said. ``Then I was uncomfortable. I'm in trouble. I was thinking I was about to lose the tournament.

``I say I must try hard and, finally, I started playing well. I am very pleased.''

``I didn't give myself a chance of catching him,'' said Newton, whose best previous finish was a tie for 12th last year. ``I couldn't make the putts when it counted.''

Gilbert, who had never finished higher than 38th in three previous Masters, said he told a couple of people prior to Sunday's round ``that I wasn't going to try to win. I was going to try to finish second.'' He had shot 68 after making the 36-hole cut by only three shots and was nine shots behind after 54 holes.

Newton, an Australian who splits his time between Myrtle Beach, S.C., and his native land, said he thought the key was the 14th hole. Ballesteros had his drive clip a tree and bounce left 20 yards into the rough, but he rapped a 6-iron over some 20-foot pines and 2-putted from 25 feet for a par.

``As it was, he was just behind me at 25 feet away on 14,'' Newton said. ``He could have hit it on the bank and 3-putted. Coming on the heels of 12 and 13, it would have shaken him.

``After he made that par and then hit the good drive on 15, I though he would win the tournament.''

``He may be right, but the one on 15 (his 4-iron approach) was more important because if I put the ball in the water .∞.∞.'' Seve said as his voice trailed off.

Ballesteros had an advantage. Both were putting downhill on the 15th green, slickest on the course, and Newton was away. Seve went to school when Newton's 25-footer zipped 8 feet past the cup. Ballesteros barely touched his putt but it ``kept rolling, rolling, rolling'' and stopped a couple of feet below the hole for an easy birdie.

``I saw Gibby Gilbert was 10 under,'' said Ballesteros, who was 12 under at the time. ``I just try to put it close. If it go in, okay; if not, I make four.''

``I knew he was 12 under when I was 10, but I knew he could make it to 15 and he can make birdie, which he did,'' Gilbert said. ``If he birdies 15, and you just about have to give it to him, it is his.''

Newton, meanwhile, missed his second putt and ``that was the ball game.''

Ballesteros and Newton parred in while Gilbert missed the green and couldn't drop an 8-foot putt to account for the winning margin.

Former U.S. Open champion Hubert Green, the 1978 runner-up who started 10 shots back, fired a 5-under-par 67 to finish fourth at 281. PGA champion David Graham of Australia had 70 for 281.

At 283 were Player (70), Fiori (73), ex-Open champ Jerry Pate (67), Tom Kite (69), Georgian Larry Nelson (69) and Ben Crenshaw (69).

Leading money-winner Tom Watson recorded 71 for 284, defending champion Fuzzy Zoeller 75 for 287 and Floyd 67 at 286. Others firing 67, the day's low round, were Gil Morgan and Masters rookie Calvin Peete, who were in a 5-way tie for 19th.

That enabled Peete, who became only the second black ever to play in the Masters, to earn a return invite for finishing in the top 24.

A celebrated pairing involving Nicklaus and four-time winner Arnold Palmer cornered a large part of the crowd for the first nine of Ballesteros' round, but it really didn't affect the tournament. Palmer shot a 69 for 288 while Nicklaus had 73 for 291.

It was the first time Palmer finished ahead of Nicklaus in the Masters since 1967. That year, Nicklaus was defending champion and failed to make the cut.

Ballesteros was 16 under and led Newton, Gilbert and Green by 10 at the turn.

He 3-putted 10 from 25 feet, lipping out his second try. It didn't look too bad when he parred and Newton dropped a 15-foot birdie at 11, cutting the gap to eight.

But the stroll turned into a hesitant walk at the par 3, 155-yard 12th, where Tom Weiskopf had hit seven balls into the water and scored a record 13 and 7 the first two days.

Seve, aiming for the safe, central portion of the green, blocked out his 6-iron just as a gust of wind came up and the ball sucked back off the bank into Rae's Creek. He wedged it on and 2-putted from 15 feet for double bogey while Newton rapped a 6-iron to 12 feet for birdie.

At 13, Ballesteros hit his 3-iron approach fat into the creek and after dropping out, missed a 10-foot putt for bogey. Newton reached the green with a 4-iron and 2-putted from 20 feet for birdie, putting him at minus 9 to Seve's minus 12.

Meanwhile, Gilbert had 2-putted from 20 feet after reaching 13 with a 3-wood, had made a 20-footer on 14, reached 15 with a 3-wood and dropped a 7-footer on 16 for birdies, going from 6-under to 10-under.

An overnight rain changed the National from a potential tigress into a lamb, which under humid conditions, gave Ballesteros a shot at breaking the record - a possibility Floyd had predicted if those conditions had lasted for four days.

A thunderstorm, predicted for 3 p.m., never showed and about the only spark in the round belonged to the Palmer-Nicklaus match and the near-perfect play of Ballesteros on the front nine.

Seve appeared ready to follow his game plan of just playing the course and neatly packaging a record triumph.

The only really bad shot Seve hit going out was one of his familiar hooks on the par 5, 530-yard eighth. He received a drop from a cart path, hit a 7-iron through a convenient chute and reached the green with a 5-iron for a 2-putt par from 30 feet.

He hit a pitching wedge to 10 feet for birdie on the 400-yard first hole. He drove the trap, escaped with a 6-iron and hit a pitching wedge to 25 feet for a 2-putt par on two.

A 1-iron to four feet produced a birdie at three and, after he 2-putted from 25 feet at four, Ballesteros reached five with a 4-iron to 25 feet and ran in the putt for a bird.

That enabled him to turn in 33 as he 2-putted six from 25 feet, seven from 20-feet, escaped the woods on eight and 2-putted nine from 25 feet, seven from 20-feet, escaped the woods on eight and 2-putted nine from 25 feet for pars.

Newton, in the meantime, rapped a 3-wood to 45 feet and narrowly missed the eagle putt on two. A 6-iron produced birdie on six, but the left front bunker caught him and he missed a 15-foot par putt on seven.

He also put his 3-wood second shot on the green at eight and 2-putted from 30 feet for birdie. But Newton's 5-iron was just off the edge and he missed a 6-foot par putt on nine.

Gilbert really would have been in the running had he not missed birdie putts of three and five feet on the first two holes. He did run in putts of 12 feet for birdies on four and six to turn in 34.

A chip to 12 feet saved par on 10 before he began his birdie binge.