| 1984 Masters | |
Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite were linked together throughout their careers. They grew up in Austin, Texas, and were pupils of famed golf instructor Harvey Penick; they were teammates at the University of Texas and both continued to live in Austin as their professional careers took off.
In the final round of the 1984 Masters, however, Crenshaw and Kite went in opposite directions. Kite was the third-round leader, Crenshaw two strokes behind. But Kite went out on Sunday and shot a shaky 75, falling back into a tie for sixth place.
Crenshaw went out on Sunday and posted a 68, surging into the victory - the first of his two majors (both Masters wins).
Crenshaw is a noted student of golf history, and there is a famous story about the 1984 Masters that demonstrates that knowledge. Crenshaw hit a perfect drive on the par-5 No. 13, and he was debating, with a three-stroke lead, whether to go for the green in two - hitting over water - or play it safe and lay up.
As he stood over the ball, Crenshaw looked into the gallery and saw Billy Joe Patton. Patton was a great amateur golfer who led the 1954 Masters on the back nine of the final round. Patton was trying to become the first amateur to win The Masters, but on the par-5 holes of Augusta's back nine - the 13th and 15th - Patton went for the green in two and on both holes found water instead. He wound up in third place.
Crenshaw, after seeing Patton in the gallery that day in 1984, decided to play it safe. He laid up, made par, and went on to a two-stroke victory.
The kicker to the story? Billy Joe Patton did not attend the 1984 Masters. Whoever Crenshaw saw in the gallery wasn't Patton; but Crenshaw thought it was, it reminded him of Patton's fate in 1954, and led him to play cautiously with the lead.
1984 Masters Scores
Results from the 1984 Masters golf tournament played at the par-72 Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. (a-amateur):
| Ben Crenshaw | 67-72-70-68--277 | $108,000 |
| Tom Watson | 74-67-69-69--279 | $64,800 |
| David Edwards | 71-70-72-67--280 | $34,800 |
| Gil Morgan | 73-71-69-67--280 | $34,800 |
| Larry Nelson | 76-69-66-70--281 | $24,000 |
| Ronnie Black | 71-74-69-68--282 | $19,425 |
| David Graham | 69-70-70-73--282 | $19,425 |
| Tom Kite | 70-68-69-75--282 | $19,425 |
| Mark Lye | 69-66-73-74--282 | $19,425 |
| Fred Couples | 71-73-67-72--283 | $16,200 |
| Rex Caldwell | 71-71-69-73--284 | $13,200 |
| Wayne Levi | 71-72-69-72--284 | $13,200 |
| Larry Mize | 71-70-71-72--284 | $13,200 |
| Jack Renner | 71-73-71-69--284 | $13,200 |
| Nick Faldo | 70-69-70-76--285 | $10,200 |
| Raymond Floyd | 70-73-70-72--285 | $10,200 |
| Calvin Peete | 79-66-70-70--285 | $10,200 |
| Andy Bean | 71-70-72-73--286 | $8,400 |
| Danny Edwards | 72-71-70-73--286 | $8,400 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-73-70-70--286 | $8,400 |
| Jay Haas | 74-71-70-72--287 | $6,475 |
| Hale Irwin | 70-71-74-72--287 | $6,475 |
| Gary Player | 71-72-73-71--287 | $6,475 |
| Payne Stewart | 76-69-68-74--287 | $6,475 |
| Isao Aoki | 69-72-73-74--288 | $4,680 |
| George Archer | 70-74-71-73--288 | $4,680 |
| a-Rick Fehr | 72-71-70-75--288 | |
| Peter Jacobsen | 72-70-75-71--288 | $4,680 |
| Greg Norman | 75-71-73-69--288 | $4,680 |
| Tom Purtzer | 69-74-76-69--288 | $4,680 |
| Bernhard Langer | 73-70-74-72--289 | $4,000 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 72-73-70-74--289 | $4,000 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 75-70-75-70--290 | $3,600 |
| Tommy Nakajima | 75-70-70-75--290 | $3,600 |
| Gary Koch | 70-75-70-76--291 | $3,100 |
| Mark McCumber | 73-71-74-73--291 | $3,100 |
| Dan Pohl | 74-71-72-74--291 | $3,100 |
| Craig Stadler | 74-70-74-73--291 | $3,100 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 74-71-74-72--291 | $3,100 |
| Scott Simpson | 72-70-76-74--292 | $2,800 |
| a-Robert Lewis Jr. | 73-70-75-75--293 | |
| Andy North | 76-68-80-69--293 | $2,600 |
| Lee Trevino | 68-73-74-79--294 | $2,500 |
| Morris Hatalsky | 73-71-75-76--295 | $2,300 |
| David Ogrin | 73-73-76-74--296 | $2,200 |
| a-Clark Burroughs | 72-74-75-76--297 | |
| Curtis Strange | 71-74-75-77--297 | $2,100 |
1983 Masters | 1985 Masters
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