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Ballesteros wins second Masters
By Robert Eubanks
Chronicle Sports Editor
Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, April 12, 1983 -- If Seve Ballesteros didn't turn out the lights as he made his entrance, he certainly dimmed them Monday afternoon.
Ballesteros, 26, the dashing Spaniard seemingly unaffected by the feared winds at Augusta National Golf Club, punched out a pair of birdies and an eagle in four holes as the last round of the weather-plagued 47th Masters got under way.
His challengers, the greatest golfing talent in the world over the past two years, never recovered from the rapid-fire blows. Ballesteros, who started the final round 1 stroke behind defender Craig Stadler and Masters record-holder Raymond Floyd, carved out a 5-under-par 275. He also finished first in the 1980 Masters. Ballesteros and three-time winner Gary Player of South Africa are the only foreigners ever to win the tournament.
Monday was the second straight day of ideal conditions, made difficult for golf by gusty winds, in distinct contrast to the first three scheduled days of the tournament.
The event had been plagued by torrential rain that forced cancellation of Friday's second round and brought darkness into play on Saturday, so that Ballesteros returned early Sunday morning to par 18 and complete a 2-under-par 70 that left him a shot off Gil Morgan's pace.
``Before the start, I thought my aim was to play good and see what happens. This is a funny game,'' he said.
Were the first four the best holes he ever played?
``Probably the most important,'' said Ballesteros, who won a tournament record check of $90,000 (11 million in Spanish pesetas), up from $64,000 in 1982. ``I was 9-under-par after four holes. My confidence shot straight up.
``I got my birdies early. On this course, you have to wait for birdies. In the last round, if you have to make three-four birdies, they won't come. When you play aggressive here, this golf course will kill you.''
``It's like a guy getting knocked down twice in the first round of a three-knockdown bout,'' said two-time Masters champ Tom Watson, the latest serious challenger who sagged to 73-285, tying Floyd for fourth. ``The west wind made the first holes different although it didn't bother Seve too much. The wind was gusty: Blowing, dying, blowing.''
``Birdie, eagle, par, birdie. It was like he was driving a Ferrari and everybody else was in Chevrolets,'' said Tom Kite, whose 69 tied former Texas teammate Ben Crenshaw (68) for second at 284.
Crenshaw, playing about an hour ahead of Ballesteros and Watson, admitted he looked at the scoreboard because ``I was so far behind and I wanted to see the progress of everybody.''
``Seve started so well, good night!'' he said in exasperation.
The lights went out just after the field emerged from Amen Corner. Ballesteros, whose lead was down to 4 strokes when he bogeyed No. 12, averted further disaster when he almost birdied No. 13 after driving into the woods.
Watson, who barely missed a 45-foot eagle putt on No. 13, was only 3 back until he double-bogeyed No. 14. Stadler, the only other player with a remote chance, bogeyed Nos. 11 (water), 12 (missed green), 14 (three putts) and 15 (poor chip on 4th shot) to fall 6 behind and out of the chase. He had 76 for 286.
Both Kite, who has been out of the top 10 only once in nine Masters, and Crenshaw, a runner-up by 8 shots to Floyd in 1976, admitted they started too far back.
``It's nice to finish second, but that's not what we're hear for,'' said Kite.
``I've been there before,'' said Crenshaw, who still was buoyed by continued good play after his troubles of 1982.
That they finished second was testament to the difference in which Seve and his primary challengers handled the fickle winds Monday.
A seven-iron second shot netted Seve an 8-foot birdie on No. 1, earning a tie with Floyd and a 1-shot lead on Stadler, who bogeyed. Then, a driver and 245-yard four-wood shot to 15 feet produced a 15-foot eagle putt on the par 5, 555-yard second shot. ``That's a shot I don't have, stopping a four-wood from a downhill lie,'' said Kite. ``I can't even stop a wedge shot that close on that green. That being the case, I know I didn't have a chance this week.''
Suddenly Ballesteros was 8-under-par and 2 strokes ahead of Floyd and 3 ahead of Stadler, who later narrowly missed an eagle chip on No. 2.
After Seve two-putted No. 3 from 20 feet, he rapped his four-iron tee shot within 2 feet for a birdie on the 205-yard fourth hole, giving him a 3-stroke advantage.
Floyd shot himself out of it by failing to sink a 6-foot putt after a trap shot on No. 5 and then two-putted from 20 feet for par on No. 7. Playing partner Watson, who missed a 15-foot eagle putt on No. 2 and birdie putts from similar distance on 3 and 4, finally got his putting touch going by making birdie with a 20-footer on No. 5 and chipping up on No. 6.
However, he drove into the trees, went into a front bunker and made bogey 5 on No. 7.
Then came the shot he figured would turn the tournament around. While Ballesteros was using a pair of three-woods and a sand wedge to the 535-yard eighth where he later two-putted from 30 feet, Watson got on with two driver shots and rammed in a 25-foot eagle putt.
That put him 7-under-par, only 2 strokes behind Ballesteros.
``I had a chance on 8 but then I had two three-putts and a bad drive for three bogeys in a row and the poor wedge shot at 14 sealed the coffin,'' said Watson.
Ballesteros sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 9, going 10-under-par and taking a 4-stroke lead over Watson and Stadler, 5 over Scott Simpson and 6 over Stadler. Crenshaw was 2-under-par and Kite even par, 10 shots behind.
A 10-shot lead at the turn had dwindled to 4 when Ballesteros lost a bit of concentration in 1980. He was determined not to repeat that. Although he did make a pair of bogeys, his foes also had trouble solving the wicked winds that make the Augusta National treacherous.
His 2-iron second shot to the bunker resulted in bogey on No. 10 and Ballesteros saved par with a chip on 11 before his six-iron tee shot went over the green and he missed a 12-foot par putt on No. 12.
Watson hit a bad drive and bogeyed No. 10 and three-putted No. 11 and trailed by 5 before Seve's bogey on No. 12.
Up ahead, Kite and Crenshaw were making their move.
Crenshaw eagled No. 13 with a three-wood second shot to 8 feet, dropping him to 4-under-par where he remained.
Kite, meanwhile, got into the red numbers with a six-iron to 4 feet on No. 12 and followed with a two-putt birdie from 40 feet on No. 13. Although he two-putted from 35 feet after bunkering his four-iron tee shot on No. 16, Kite rapped a nine-iron to 7 feet on No. 17 and a five-iron to 10 feet on No. 18, tying Crenshaw.
``I had the advantage of posting the score early enough,'' Crenshaw said. ``I'm proud of myself today.''
``Barring a complete collapse by Ballesteros on those last holes, I never had a chance,'' Kite said. ``Even though this may be my highest finish in the Masters, I've had better chances to win.''
Ballesteros appeared in trouble when he hooked his drive over the creek and into the woods on the 465-yard 13th. However, he played an eight-iron out onto the fairway, then unbelievably was able to put his three-iron third shot right of the flag, which was only 18 feet from the edge of the green. Although his 12-foot birdie putt missed, it was like a new lease on life.
The 14th then jumped up and grabbed Watson. He drove into the trees. Although he had a good lie, hit his second shot, a 130-yard pitching wedge, two inches fat and two-putted for double bogey 6 following a poor chip.
Ballesteros played the remaining holes in rather routine fashion although he was forced to lay up into the head wind and two-putted for par on No. 15, which normally is birdie territory because of his great length off the tee.
``I told my caddie (Nick DePaul) after I parred 13, that `From here to the last hole, we have to play the last holes in par' and we did,'' Ballesteros said.
He was able to reach that goal by chipping it in from 20 feet on No. 18 after his nine-iron second shot was over the green and his first pitch was short.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin closed with a 69 to tie Stadler for sixth at 286. Dan Pohl, who lost to Stadler in a sudden-death playoff last year, and Lanny Wadkins each had 71 to match Morgan (74) at 287.
Simpson double-bogeyed No. 12, falling to even par for the tournament with 73-288.
Jodie Mudd, the former Georgia Southern star who started the day four-under-par and only two shots out of the lead, shot a 14-over-par 86 for 298.
Mudd, playing in his first Masters as a pro, had stated he wasn't going to be intimidated by his high-powered company near the top, saying ``I can beat those guys.'' However, he lost five strokes to par in the first five holes. Mudd started by driving into the left woods and made a double bogey six.
He also hooked his drive on the second hole and made bogey six, was short of the green and missed a 10-foot par putt on No. 3. Mudd also bogeyed No. 5.
After parring No. 6, Mudd had bogeys on eight straight holes, parred Nos. 15 through 17 and then finished with a bogey, finishing off his 44-42-86.
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