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The best players who never slipped on the Green Jacket at the Masters

By David Salituro

14 Apr 1996: Greg Norman of Australia feels the pressure after hitting the first ball of the final round off the fairway and in to the crowd during the final round of the 1996 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit:Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT
14 Apr 1996: Greg Norman of Australia feels the pressure after hitting the first ball of the final round off the fairway and in to the crowd during the final round of the 1996 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit:Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT /
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ORLANDO, FL – DECEMBER 14: Greg Norman waits to hit a tee shot on the 10th tee during the first round of the PNC Father/Son Challenge at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 14, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Manuela Davies/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL – DECEMBER 14: Greg Norman waits to hit a tee shot on the 10th tee during the first round of the PNC Father/Son Challenge at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 14, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Manuela Davies/Getty Images) /

1. Greg Norman

Greg Norman first came to Augusta National out of Australia in 1981 with a game that seemed perfectly suited for the course. His long, powerful drives and short game ensured he would be a contender at the Masters for years to come. And he was. In 23 career appearances, he finished in the top 10 nine times. But, through both bad luck and bad play, he never won the Green Jacket.

The list of Norman’s near-misses at the Masters is a long one. In 1986 he was tied with Jack Nicklaus playing the 18th hole on Sunday before putting his approach shot into the gallery and making a bogey. The next year, faced with a sudden-death playoff against Larry Mize, he was safely on the green while Mize had a challenging chip shot on the 11th hole. Mize miraculously holed his shot and Norman missed his, denying the “Great White Shark” yet again.

Norman’s best opportunity to win the Masters, though, came in 1996. That year he held a six-shot lead going into the final round. Despite being two-over on the front-nine he still led Nick Faldo by two. He then bogeyed 10 and 11, hit his approach shot into Rae’s Creek on the 12th for a double bogey, and hit into the water again on the par-three 16th for another double bogey. He shot six-over 78 on the round and finished five shots behind Faldo.

After that tournament, Norman struggled to keep things in perspective. “I screwed up. It’s all on me. I know that,” he said. “But losing this Masters is not the end of the world. I let this one get away, but I still have a pretty good life. I’ll wake up tomorrow, still breathing, I hope. All these hiccups I have, they must be for a reason. All this is just a test. I just don’t know what the test is yet.”

Next. The 5 shots that define the magic of the Masters. dark

Norman sounded like a man resigned to his fate never to win the Masters. He would win 20 career PGA Tour titles and two majors, spending 331 weeks as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, a total surpassed only by Tiger Woods. But Norman’s career will always be defined by what he didn’t do, and that was nowhere more evident than at Augusta National.

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