Golfing Disasters Part 1: If you're going to write a series about golfing disasters then the week of the Masters is surely the most appropriate time to start.
I hesitate to mention anything close to my heart in the same sentence as Formula One, but for the television viewer, at least, the attraction of Augusta has parallels in the world of motorsport. As long as nobody is badly injured, a spectacular accident is a welcome addition to the entertainment and be honest, when you settle down to look at the Masters, the prospect of a leading contender chucking a few balls in the water or having a chip roll back to his feet will be at the back, if not the front, of most people's mind.
Golfing meltdowns come in many forms and Augusta is the perfect course to induce them. The power game may have reduced the risk-reward factor on the back-nine par fives but it has not eliminated it. A mid-iron over water is a lot less daunting than a fairway wood and easier to hold on the green, too, but chasing Tiger Woods on the final day in 2002, Ernie Els sunk to an eight on the 13th and Vijay Singh twice pitched into the lake for a nine on the 15th. Colin Montgomerie had a pair of eights there in 1996 and Ben Crenshaw, Ignacio Garrido and Jumbo Ozaki have all managed 11s.
Augusta's worst case of dropped shots came when Tom Weiskopf took 13 at the par-three 12th, the shortest hole on the course. Former champion Fred Couples says there is no bigger thrill in golf than the walk from Augusta's 11th green to 12th tee. "Thousands of people are cheering for you. Then you step up for what looks like a fairly harmless shot. The twitch you feel just as you're making contact is gut-wrenching."
It certainly wasn't harmless for Weiskopf during the first round in 1980. Four times a Masters runner-up, Weiskopf had only ever put one ball into water during 48 of his previous competitive rounds at Augusta. This time his seven-iron tee shot dropped into Rae's Creek which runs in front of the green and after taking a penalty drop he drowned four more balls with his sand wedge. Weiskopf was renowned for his short fuse, but with each splash he barely moved, just reaching out for another ball from his caddy and dropping where the previous one had been. "Extremely embarrassing, not to mention disappointing," was his understated reaction afterwards.
Those are all examples of the instant meltdown. But to be leading for a long time only to suffer some minor mechanical failure and be gradually overhauled is surely more painful. Greg Norman's 1996 loss to Nick Faldo will merit a column of its own and there have been other, similar collapses.
Ken Venturi was still an amateur when he took a four-shot lead into the final round in 1956, but he three-putted six times and carded 80 allowing Jackie Burke to claim the title. In fact the greens rather than the water hazards are Augusta's strongest defence and their difficulty contribute most to an estimated course rating (SSS) of 76.2. Gary McCord once described the rather plain and bunkerless 14th hole as "just a green surrounded by grass" but the 10,000 square foot putting surface is the toughest on the course with fearsome slopes. The ninth is another innocuous looking hole but the green drops eight feet from back to front and I once stood alongside as Scott Hoch feathered a putt 50 yards back down the fairway.
No doubt any of us would swap places with anyone on the Masters leaderboard next Sunday afternoon, but you can be sure that some of the world's greatest players will have their gut-wrenching moments.
At Augusta, golfing disaster does lurk around every corner.
