1987 Masters: Local Golfer's Miracle Finish
The 1987 Masters was the 51st one played. It was won by a native of Augusta, Georgia, in a playoff over two superstars. And that local boy made good by holing-out a famous chip shot.
Winner: Larry Mize, 285
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 9-12, 1987
Leader after first round: John Cook, 69
Leader after second round: Curtis Strange, 141
Leader after third round: Ben Crenshaw and Roger Maltbie, 212
What Happened in the 1987 Masters Tournament
Hometown boy Larry Mize, a native of Augusta, Georgia, won the 1987 Masters in what goes down as another of Greg Norman's hard-luck losses.Mize birdied the 72nd hole to get in the clubhouse at 3-under 285. Norman and Seve Ballesteros each birdied the 71st hole to tie Mize. Ballesteros parred the final hole of regulation, while Norman had a putt to win the tournament but the ball skirted the left side of the cup. And that sent Norman, Mize and Ballesteros into a sudden-death playoff.
Ballesteros, a two-time Masters champion, dropped out on the first hole after a 3-putt. Mize and Norman continued to a second playoff hole.
And on that next hole, Mize found himself short of the par-4 green in two. He needed, everyone thought, to get the ball close enough to make his par putt and keep the playoff going. A bogey seemed a strong possibility from that position. But Mize did better than an up-and-down. His 140-foot chip bounced up onto the green, bounced again, and then rolled across the green, dropping into the cup. A chip-in birdie to win the 1987 Masters.
"I didn't think Larry would get down in two, and I was right," Norman said of the chip-in. "He got down in one."
Norman missed his birdie putt attempt, and Mize was the champion. Norman had begun the final round tied for second place with Bernhard Langer, one stroke behind co-leaders Ben Crenshaw and Roger Maltbie. Maltbie had the solo lead after eight holes but fell away on the back nine. Crenshaw led at various points in the final round, including after his 16th hole. But Crenshaw bogeyed No. 17 and finished tied for fourth with Maltbie and Jodie Mudd. Langer fell into a tie for seventh.
It was another disappointing loss for Norman. The Shark had been a victim of Jack Nicklaus' famous charge at the 1986 Masters (and Norman's own wild approach into the final green); and at the major just previous to the 1987 Masters, the 1986 PGA Championship, Norman lost when Bob Tway pulled off an unlikely hole-out from a bunker on the final hole.
Speaking of Nicklaus, one year after his sixth and final victory he finished tied for seventh. Billy Casper, 1970 Masters champ, made the cut for the last time in a Masters and tied for 50th. Johnny Miller, never a winner of this major but three times a runner-up, also made his last Masters cut, tying for 42nd.
1987 Masters Final Scores
| Larry Mize | 70-72-72-71—285 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 73-71-70-71—285 |
| Greg Norman | 73-74-66-72—285 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 75-70-67-74—286 |
| Roger Maltbie | 76-66-70-74—286 |
| Jodie Mudd | 74-72-71-69—286 |
| Jay Haas | 72-72-72-73—289 |
| Bernhard Langer | 71-72-70-76—289 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 74-72-73-70—289 |
| Tom Watson | 71-72-74-72—289 |
| D.A, Weibring | 72-75-71-71—289 |
| Chip Beck | 75-72-70-73—290 |
| T.C. Chen | 74-69-71-76—290 |
| Mark McCumber | 75-71-69-75—290 |
| Curtis Strange | 71-70-73-76—290 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 73-72-70-75—290 |
| Paul Azinger | 77-73-69-72—291 |
| Mark Calcavecchia | 73-72-78-68—291 |
| Sandy Lyle | 77-74-68-72—291 |
| Craig Stadler | 74-74-72-71—291 |
| Bobby Wadkins | 76-69-73-74—292 |
| Gary Koch | 76-75-72-70—293 |
| Nick Price | 73-73-71-76—293 |
| John Cook | 69-73-74-78—294 |
| Tom Kite | 73-74-74-73—294 |
| Mark O'Meara | 75-74-71-74—294 |
| David Graham | 73 77 72 73—295 |
| Donnie Hammond | 73-75-74-73—295 |
| Corey Pavin | 71-71-81-72—295 |
| Scott Simpson | 72-75-72-76—295 |
| Dennis Watson | 76-74-73-72—295 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 76-71-76-72—295 |
| Calvin Peete | 71-77-75-73—296 |
| Gene Sauers | 75-73-74-74—296 |
| Andy Bean | 75-69-78-75—297 |
| Howard Clark | 74-71-77-75—297 |
| Hubert Green | 80-71-74-72—297 |
| John Mahaffey | 73-75-76-73—297 |
| Gary Player | 75-75-71-76—297 |
| Joey Sindelar | 74-70-81-72—297 |
| Mark Wiebe | 73-74-71-79—297 |
| Johnny Miller | 75-75-71-77—298 |
| Payne Stewart | 71-75-74-78—298 |
| Jim Thorpe | 77-74-76-71—298 |
| David Frost | 75-70-77-78—300 |
| Kenny Knox | 75-75-75-75—300 |
| Don Pooley | 76-75-76-73—300 |
| Mike Hulbert | 76-75-71-79—301 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 75-74-77-76—302 |
| Tommy Aaron | 72-76-76-81—305 |
| Dave Barr | 79-68-79-79—305 |
| Billy Casper | 77-74-75-79—305 |
| Mac O'Grady | 72-79-79-75—305 |
| a-Bob Lewis Jr. | 74-77-79-79—309 |
Previous and next:
1986 Masters - 1988 Masters
Sources:
Augusta.com. "Historic Leaderboard: 1987 Masters," https://www.augusta.com/masters/historic/leaderboards/1987
Augusta National Golf Club. Masters 2024 Media Guide, "1987 Masters Tournament"
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf (commissions earned), Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
Green, Bob. "Oh what a feeling! Mize masters Masters," Spokane Spokesman-Review, April 13, 1987, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g6gpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ee8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6488%2C7541040
