Ballesteros, Norman Expected to Lead Way as Masters Starts Today

AUGUSTA, Ga. —  The Masters begins today, and Seve Ballesteros is going to win it.

Greg Norman said so.

“If I had to pick one player, it would be Seve,” Norman said.

The Masters begins today, and Greg Norman is going to win it.

Seve Ballesteros said so.

“I think Greg is very smart--he’s trying to take some of the pressure off himself,” Ballesteros said. “So I will say this: If I have to pick one player, it would be Greg Norman.”

So there you have it. Ballesteros and Norman, the two best players in the world in the opinion of six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus, are going to be touring some of golf’s grandest real estate with everybody else trying to catch them.

It’s going to be quite a chase. A field of 90 will be dodging dogwoods, following doglegs, touring fairways so lush and greens so fast, they’re more like that nice pile carpet in the living room.

“Greg and Seve are the best players in the game right now,” said Master Jack. “Greg is maybe a little bit better. Either one of the two is the top choice to win the tournament, no question about it.”

Alas, there is some question. Ballesteros and Norman may be generally regarded the class of the field, but they’re both going to be trying to drop some recent bad experiences here and bury them in a bunker.

Ballesteros, a two-time Masters winner, lost in a playoff with Norman and eventual winner Larry Mize last year when he three-putted the first extra hole, missing a 3-footer for par.

“That’s over for me,” Ballesteros said. “Missing that short putt, at the time, it was tough, like it would be for anybody. I don’t want to recall that.”

Norman has his own problems. He’s tired of recalling how he felt standing there on the second playoff hole and watching Mize chip in from 140 feet to beat him. Like Ballesteros, Norman knows history when he sees it.

“History,” he said, “is dead.”

Nonetheless, Norman has not won the Masters in seven tries, although he has been second twice and fourth once. Winning here would help Norman check some emotional baggage he’d just as soon not carry around any longer.

“The stigma of the Masters,” Norman said.

Besides that, there’s something else that bothers Norman.

“They say the tournament doesn’t really begin until the last 9 holes on Sunday,” he said. “Why the hell do we play the other 63 holes then?”

Probably because during that time, some other golfer is going to fall out of one of these pine trees, yell, “Surprise!” and be, well, this year’s Larry Mize.

Tom Watson, who won here in 1977 and ‘81, picked either Norman, Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle or Jay Haas. Watson also chose a familiar name. His own.

“I’m going to be in there, I hope,” he said. “I’m playing well enough that if I hit the ball well and putt well, I’ll be in there.”

Where might he be? Augusta National Golf Club covers 6,905 yards and favors players who tend to draw the ball right to left off the tee because many of the holes dogleg to the left. At the same time, players are often required to hit high drives and irons in order to carry the tall pine trees lining the fairways.

Some players have a natural left-to-right fade off the tee, such as Lee Trevino, or they are unable to draw the ball, and these players usually have a great deal of trouble with the course.

Beyond dealing with the course, psychological aspects also come into play.

“It’s going to be much more difficult for Greg Norman than me,” Ballesteros said. “I’ve won twice, and he hasn’t won yet.”

Although Ballesteros had rounds of 76-78 and missed the cut in the Players Championship, his last tournament appearance, he likes his chances this time.

“I feel like I’m ready,” Ballesteros said. “I feel like I’m playing well. I’m happy. There’s nothing wrong with being happy, I think.”

Nicklaus is playing in his 30th Masters, but this will be the first time he will be using a metal driver in the Masters. Nicklaus broke out the new driver at the Doral and also used it in the Players Championship, where he, too, missed the cut.

“I’m really playing real well,” Nicklaus said. “How that relates to competition in a tournament and scoring, I don’t know. But I’m getting more confidence with the metal driver. I’ve hit the ball consistently straighter.

“Mentally, it’s got me interested in playing well, and that’s kind of exciting. I’ve been hitting the ball so badly, I didn’t want to play.”

Nicklaus won here in 1986 at age 46, even though he trailed Ballesteros by 4 shots with 4 holes to play.

“I didn’t think I was going to play well,” Nicklaus said. “I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence. I don’t know why. But I have a lot of confidence now.

“I don’t putt as well as I used to, but sometimes I get it rolling. I may not make the cut, I may not shoot a decent score at all, but at least I can go out and play decent.”

Nicklaus played 54 holes at Augusta National last week and feels as though he is prepared for another run. Ballesteros spent seven hours on the course one day last week, most of it around the greens, working on his chipping and putting.

“It’s important to know every detail of this course,” Ballesteros said. “The more you practice, the more you know.”

Of course, Fuzzy Zoeller won in 1979, the first time he ever played here.

Such inconsistencies make the Masters one of golf’s biggest mysteries and greatest attractions.

“This is an event,” Watson said. “This is for purists. This is for tradition. This is for a career.”

MASTERS GOLF TOURNAMENT

Dates: Today through Sunday.

Site: Augusta National Golf Club course (Par 36-36--72, 6,905 yards), Augusta, Ga.

Purse: To be announced (Last year, $867,100, with $162,000 to the winner).

Field: 90 (62 U.S. pros, 10 U.S. amateurs, 16 foreign pros, 2 foreign amateurs).

Defending champion: Larry Mize.

Former champions in field: Tommy Aaron, George Archer, Seve Ballesteros, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Doug Ford, Bernhard Langer, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Art Wall, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller.

Format: 72 holes stroke play (18 holes daily).

Cut: After 36 holes, field will be cut to the low 44 scorers and all tied for 44th place, and all players within 10 strokes of the leader.

Playoff: If necessary, sudden-death playoff will be held immediately following Sunday’s final round.

Television: USA, 1-4 p.m. PDT, today and Friday; CBS, 12:30-3 p.m. PDT, Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. PDT, Sunday.