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Time whittles away at past stars
Posted: Saturday April 05, 2003 11:09 PM
Updated: Sunday April 06, 2003 1:50 AM
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Mark O'Meara, the 1998 Masters champion, said he is one of the players not helped by the lengthening of Augusta National. Michael Holahan/AugustaChronicle |
By David Westin
The Augusta Chronicle
For more than two decades, it seemed there was a place reserved for their names on the leaderboards around Augusta National Golf Club.
On television broadcasts of the Masters Tournament, these five players received almost as much air time as network anchormen did during the first week of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
With good reason. From 1985-1999, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Mark O'Meara and Greg Norman combined for nine Masters titles and five runner-up finishes.
Their era of dominance, which started in 1981 when Norman finished fourth in his Masters debut, is ending, if not over.
Ranging in age from Couples' 43 to Norman's 48, they are no longer regarded as perennial Masters contenders.
Now, as this group goes around the course, the applause from the gallery is more for past feats than current ones. Fans can't even serenade Norman this year; the three-time runner-up didn't qualify for the Masters after 22 consecutive starts.
The five have gone from odds-on favorites to long-shots. British oddsmakers place Langer at 80-to-1 to win the Masters. Faldo is 100-to-1, Couples 125-to-1, and O'Meara is not on the board.
The last one of the group to make a run at a Masters title was Norman in 1999, when he finished third.
"This is just a normal cycle," Davis Love III said. "There are new, young players (coming up). People are going to get just as excited by (Tiger) Woods and (Phil) Mickelson and whomever, the new group you look to win. They've got the hero now - they got Tiger."
The five former Masters contenders are still consistent players at Augusta National - Langer has the longest active streak of consecutive cuts made at 19, four behind Gary Player's record. Couples has made 18 consecutive cuts, O'Meara has made 16 of 18 cuts and Faldo is 15 for 19.
In the 2002 Masters, Faldo tied for 14th place, Langer tied for 32nd, Couples tied for 36th and O'Meara missed the cut.
"Freddy hasn't played well in a couple of years; Greg hasn't played much," said Kenny Perry, who is a contemporary of the five. "You see these guys who were always playing great there and their games just change. They're just not as sharp as they used to be. I think they could get back to where they were. I just don't think they want to put the time and effort into it.
"It's tough. I have too many aches and pains and I'm 43. Your body changes, your mind and attitude changes. I don't know if you get a little bored with the game a little bit, or frustrated. Sometimes you go through the motions out there and don't get focused in and mentally ready to play."
It's still too early to totally rule out these players in the Masters; their experience at Augusta National is invaluable.
"They're obviously great players," Charles Howell said. "You look at Langer. He won in 1985 and then again in 1993. (Ben) Crenshaw and Faldo did the same thing. It's hard to ever count guys like that out."
In 1986, at age 46, it was thought that Jack Nicklaus' best days were over at Augusta National. Inspired by a newspaper article that said as much, Nicklaus went out and won his sixth green jacket. Twelve years later, at age 58 and playing on a hip that would be replaced the following year, Nicklaus tied for sixth place.
The five believe they can still win the Masters, even if their recent records suggest otherwise.
"I always shoot for Augusta," Couples said.
Couples was off to a strong start this season, with top-15 finishes in the Buick Invitational and Nissan Open in early- to mid-February. After the Nissan Open, he had a recurrence of a back problem, forcing him to miss the Bay Hill Invitational in mid-March.
"I started to work on my game with (instructor) Butch Harmon and started to play really well," Couples said. "After L.A. (the Nissan Open), my back went out. I was shooting for Bay Hill, the Players Championship and a week of practice before Augusta."
Instead, Couples played in the Players Championship and added the BellSouth Classic, the annual PGA Tour prelude to the Masters, to his schedule.
"Hopefully, I'll be ready for Augusta," Couples said. "It's not an ideal spot to be in. Now I'm trying to work my way into playing better to get ready for one week, and that's not easy to do."
Of the five, Couples is playing the best golf this season. Entering the BellSouth Classic, Couples is the hottest player of the group after finishing 10th at The Players Championship.
At their ages, the lengthening of Augusta National by 305 yards in the past two years hasn't aided the cause.
"It certainly didn't help me," O'Meara said. "Anytime you lengthen a course, it favors the longer hitters. That's just a fact; there's no denying that. When they lengthened it, I was glad I won in 1998, but it certainly would be tougher to for me to win now than it was in 1998."
Bernhard Langer, a devout Christian, helped organize regular meetings of the European Tour Bible Class.
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851.
Copyright 2003 The Augusta Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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