``Missing the Masters was a severe disappointment to me,'' Sarazen wrote in his 1950 book, Thirty Years of Championship Golf. ``The following year I made sure that nothing would interfere with my being on hand for that event.

Impressive accomplishments for a sixth grade dropout from Harrison, N.Y., who changed his name from Eugenio Saraceni to Gene Sarazen at age 16 because he thought the new name ``sounded like a golfer.''

Four Grand Slam winners pose at the Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y., July 28, 1970. From left to right, are: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. AP/File Photo

He won his first tournament and $20. He made a hole-in-one and the next day his name was in the papers: Eugenio Saraceni.

He was more than just a golfer. The feisty Sarazen, who played competitively until 1973, was one of the most beloved Masters champions.

There was his flamboyant personality, the trademark plus-fours he wore and the fact he was just 5-foot-5 inches (only 5-4 1/2 Ian Woosnam is a smaller among Masters champions).

During his playing days, Sarazen was a world traveler in the name of golf.

He continued to be golf's greatest ambassador when he hosted the classic Shell's Wonderful World of Golf television broadcasts that focused on golf courses around the world. The shows aired in the 1960s, returned to television in the mid-1990s in re-run form and now have been revived with the top players of today going head-to-head at famous courses.

Of all his accomplishments on the golf course, Sarazen may be best remembered for the shot he hit on April 7, 1935, in the second Masters Tournament. Trailing by three strokes with four holes to play in the final round, Sarazen holed out a 4-wood shot of at least 220 yards on the par-5 15th hole, which played to 485 yards at the time.

The double eagle, followed by pars on the final three holes, helped Sarazen shoot a 2-under-par 70 and tie Craig Wood for first place after regulation play. Sarazen went on to win the 36-hole playoff the next day, 144-149.

In an interview with The Augusta Chronicle in 1995, Sarazen said ``if I hadn't won, it would have been a double eagle without feathers.''

Sarazen's caddie in the 1935 Masters was a man known as Stovepipe, because he always wore a stovepipe hat. Stovepipe didn't want Sarazen to go for the carry over the pond in two shots on the 15th hole that day in 1935. Sarazen had a lie, he recalled, that was ``none too good.''

``He wanted me to play it safe,'' Sarazen said. ``He was a minister in town. He told that the money bag was very short (at church) so I should play conservative.''

In this day of big purses, Sarazen said he probably wouldn't have gone for the 15th green in two shots now.

In the 1995 interview, Sarazen said ``First-place money was $500 then. I remember after Chip Beck played it safe on No. 15 in 1993, people asked me what I thought about it. I said if I'd had prize money like they have now, I wouldn't have gone for it either. When he (Beck) finished second, he won $183,600. Second-place money in 1935 was $300.''

Twenty years after the ``shot heard 'round the world,'' a bridge to the left of the pond beside the 15th green at the Augusta National was dedicated before the 1965 Masters, and is known as the Sarazen Bridge.

Sarazen's legacy always will include his invention of the sand wedge. He built the prototype in a small machine shop in New Port Richey, Fla., in 1931. He started carrying in his golf bag in 1932.

Before the advent of the sand wedge came along, golfers struggled in bunkers. Skulled shots over the green were commonplace.

This photo shows the Sarazen Bridge at the Augusta National Golf Club. Rob Carr/Chronicle Staff

Sarazen won the PGA Championship three times, the U.S. Open twice and the Masters and British Open once each. Only Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player won all four majors at least once in their careers.

``I was trying to make myself a club that would drive the ball up as I drove the clubhead down,'' Sarazen said. ``When a (airplane) pilot wants to take off, he doesn't raise the tail of his plane, he lowers it. Accordingly, I was lowering the tail or sole of my niblick to produce a club whose face would come up from the sand as the sole made contact with the sand.''

Sarazen came up with the concept of the sand wedge while watching millionaire Howard Hughes work the controls in an airplane.

In 1981, eight years after his last appearance in the Masters, Sarazen was back on the first tee, but not as a participant. At the suggestion of then-Masters Chairman Hord Hardin, Sarazen and Byron Nelson renewed the tradition of honorary starters at the Masters that year.

Jock Hutchison and Freddie McLeod were the first honorary starters for the tournament. They filled those roles from 1963 through 1973.

In the early 1980s, Sarazen and Nelson would play the entire front nine. Ironically, they didn't play the back nine, where bridges are named in their honor. Nelson's bridge is located in front of the 13th tee.

Later in the 1980s, the honorary starters started skipping a few holes on the front nine, playing the side out of order. In the late 1990s, Sarazen limited his play to hitting his tee shot on the first hole.

In the early 1990s Sarazen said he was thinking of giving up his honorary starter's role. Hardin told him, ``Gene, they don't want to see you play, they just want to see if you're still alive.''

David Westin covers golf for The Augusta Chronicle. He can be reached at (706) 724-0851.