They say Augusta National is a special place. Every golfer wants to get there and it doesn’t matter if it is to play in The Masters or just walk the course as a patron.
After years of watching it on television and listening to players, media and fans all rave about how extraordinary Augusta National is on so many levels it holds a special place among all golfers.
Special things happen at The Masters and none were more special than Ben Crenshaw’s emotional win in 1995.
Crenshaw had no business winning in ’95 as he came into Augusta missing three of his last four cuts and couldn’t break the top forty in any of his last six finishes. His game was in shambles and he was 43 and no one expected a Nicklaus-like comeback for Gentle Ben.
To add to his misery his longtime teacher, mentor and dear friend had passed away the Sunday before The Masters. The legendary teacher Harvey Penick gave Ben his first lesson at six years of age and Ben had been to see him just a few weeks before The Masters.
Penick was frail and on his last days but checked Ben’s putting grip and told Crenshaw to just trust himself. Crenshaw had to fly from Augusta to Texas on Wednesday to be a pall bearer for his is friend and when he teed it up on Thursday he was emotionally spent.
Luckily, during a practice round his long time caddie, Carl Jackson had noticed something in Ben’s setup and he made a change that finally let him hit the ball solidly once again.
He started well with opening rounds of 70-67 and just got better on the weekend.
He said he had felt a presence out there and that Penick was guiding him around Augusta.
Ben Wright was there and swears there were other forces at work that day, “In 54 years covering the game, I only once felt that a greater power had presided over a major championship to ensure just the right ending, in which the forces for good emerged triumphant.”
Yes, special things happen at Augusta.
Click here for some more ’95 footage set to some cool “Gladiator” music.
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