A Grip on Sports: The Masters is on hiatus this April, but that doesn’t stop us from remembering a few from Aprils past

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What would you be doing today if the world were normal on this 11th of April? (That’s somewhat of a rhetorical question, asked only to lead into a long-winded discussion of what I would be doing.) Hopefully, you would be sitting on your behind, parked in front of your TV set and watching Saturday at Augusta. Moving day at the Masters. It is one of my favorite Saturdays of the year.

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• The world isn’t normal, is it? So we won’t be watching this year’s Masters. It was postponed long ago. (OK, it was only a few weeks, but it seems long ago.) There will be a replay of the 2004 Masters’ final round on CBS today, which would be fun to watch – if it were 2004. It isn’t of course, and watching Phil Mickelson try to jump won’t be as much fun in 2020 as it was then, but it is something.

But before you decide on your schedule for today, take some time to walk down Magnolia Lane with me. I have pretty much every year since 1970, either watching the tournament on CBS or reading about it in depth in Sports Illustrated, back when the second-greatest sports writer of all time, Dan Jenkins, was covering golf for the magazine.

What follows are my 10 favorite Masters since then, in order, counting down to the one that gets my heart beating even today.

(Before we get to my list, an Augusta National story. My father-in-law loved golf. He played constantly. And his one goal was to play Augusta. Never happened, of course. He was a firefighter in L.A. His grandfather had entered this country illegally from Poland via Canada. Middle class all the way. In other words, not Augusta material. He also happened to be the greatest guy you’ll ever meet.

Anyhow, on vacation one time with his family, he had Kay drop him off, with his golf clubs, at the entrance of Augusta National early one morning. The girls went off to “enjoy” Augusta. Fred stood out front and tried to get someone to invite him to play. No lie. Spent hours there. No one would do it. They really couldn’t.

He was proud of that story. I told him once I would get him on the course somehow. He laughed. I meant it. It didn’t happen. But I do have a small heart-shaped vial of his ashes. I carry them in my golf bag. And someday I hope to scatter them at Augusta National. Fulfill my promise. It hasn’t happened yet. It may never happen. But like Fred, I hope to walk the course. With him. Someday. Now back to the list.)

10. 1975: Though I remember Billy Casper winning in 1970 (my dad was a Casper fan), this is the first Masters I got really excited about. Jack Nicklaus finished 12-under and won by a stroke over Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. I really liked Miller. His 63 in the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open is one reason I love the game. But he never won a green jacket.

9. 1977: Nicklaus and Tom Watson dueled down the back nine on Sunday, with Watson winning his first green jacket by two strokes. Nicklaus, needing a birdie at 18 to tie, instead bogeyed. His sixth Masters win would have to wait.

8. 1997: Tiger Woods has. He won his first here, which makes it memorable to me, but the tournament itself wasn’t otherwise noteworthy. Woods won by 12 strokes and finished 18-under. Both are still a bit unfathomable. It led to the course evolving and to a golf renaissance in this nation.

7. 1998: This one was personal. The first story I ever had published concerned a Long Beach State golfer named Mark O’Meara. I wrote it while I was the assistant sports information director for the 49ers in the fall of 1979. The Orange County Register ran it with little editing. My dad was so proud. So was I. It led, down the road, to a job offer. So, understandably, when O’Meara won a major, I was interested. But I also remember Nicklaus, 58 years old, was in contention until late Sunday. He finished sixth.

6. 1995: Ben Crenshaw won his second Masters, sinking a putt on 18 to ensure a one-stroke win over Davis Love III, He then sunk to his knees and broke into tears. Crenshaw’s mentor, Harvey Penick, had died earlier in the week and the emotion was raw, real and memorable.

5. 1987: This one was memorable because of one shot. And because Greg Norman came up short, a common occurrence over the years in Augusta. The two went to the second hole of sudden death, the 11th, after eliminating Seve Ballesteros on the 10th. Larry Mize’s seemingly impossible birdie chip from 140 feet went in and he became the only Augusta native to win the tournament.

4. 2017: Sergio Garcia finally won a major. Good for him. His emotion was what this tournament was all about, how he controlled it down the stretch and into sudden death with Justin Rose, and how he lost it after he won.

3. 2004: This is another one of those emotional tournaments. A 33-year-old Phil Mickelson won his first major, jumping about an inch off the ground to celebrate, and Arnold Palmer took one last walk up 18 on Friday. Two days later Mickelson won with a birdie at 18, leaving Ernie Els disappointed again.

2. 2019: OK, I’m a sucker for a comeback story. Who isn’t? Tiger Woods came in with four green jackets, but the last had been earned in 2005. In the meantime his life had fallen apart. But on Sunday he did something he had never done before in any of his 15 major wins: rally from behind heading into the final round. Francesco Molinari’s double-bogey at 12 and another at 15 opened the door. Tiger burst through. It was a redemption story without parallel. And once again showed the magic of the back nine.

1. 1986: This one will always be No. 1. Like Woods last year, Nicklaus was considered finished when he arrived at Augusta in 1986. He was 46 years old. No one wins majors at 46 years old. The greatest golfer of all time did, riding a 6-under back nine on Sunday to his 18th, and final, major. I didn’t see it live, because I was playing in a softball tournament that Sunday. But Kim taped it for me and, in an era before social media, it was easy to sit down later that evening without knowledge of what happened. It was an incredible stretch, from Nicklaus’ long birdie putts to Ballesteros dunking his approach at 15. It is nine holes I’ll never forget. By the way, my youngest son, born some 19 months later, is named Jack.

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Gonzaga: I wasn’t sure where to put this, but because so many Zags are always involved, I decided the news The Showcase has been canceled this year belonged in the GU section. Besides, Jim Meehan wrote the story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU has agreed to a four-year basketball series with Utah.

WSU: If you follow Washington State, you are aware of Bryce Beekman’s recent untimely death. What you might not be aware of is Dallas Hobbs’ response to it. And how much it has caught on. John Blanchette talked with Hobbs yesterday and has this column. … Theo Lawson talked with basketball coach Kyle Smith yesterday as well for a Virtual Northwest Passage Forum. You can watch it. And you can read Theo’s story. … They talked a lot about transfers, but that was before the news broke Daron Henson’s name is in the transfer portal. Theo has that story as well. … Around the Pac-12 in hoops, a lot is going on in Tucson. Arizona’s third freshman declared for the draft yesterday. … Another transfer has decided to attend USC. … Is Utah’s Both Gach serious about leaving? … Recruiting is still going on everywhere, including Colorado and Arizona. It’s just done differently. … Washington’s Isaiah Stewart had a pretty high-profile mentor: Russell Wilson. … In football, staying in school may have really helped Oregon’s Justin Herbert financially. … Oregon State receiver Isaiah Hodgins should cash in as well. … Colorado has a new tight end. … Finally, it costs a lot to change coaches. …

Preps: Last night all over the region lights were turned on at football stadiums and auto parades were held to honor senior athletes who didn’t get to finish their year. Dave Nichols has the story of the uplifting event. … Here’s one to think about. Will the coronavirus pandemic change youth sports forever? I’m not sure it will.

Seahawks: The Jadeveon Clowney saga means the Hawks still are looking for pass rushers. … Even though they have a trio of tight ends, they may still take another in the draft. … The XFL didn’t last long. Maybe it will come back again some day. Didn’t we have those same thoughts a few years ago?

Mariners: The baseball draft will still go on, despite the pandemic. It will just be shorter.

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• For the record, in my mind Jim Murray was the greatest sports writer of all time. Just thought you might be wondering. I read every one of his columns from the time I was about seven until I left Southern California in 1983, already an employed sports writer and editor. He was the biggest writing influence on my life. I was also honored to have worked next to him at a couple Dodger games late in his career. It was like sitting in a dugout next to Al Kaline. Until later …