The Masters: Ranking the 25 most exceptional performances at Augusta

T-17: Nick Faldo, 1990 Master; 278 (-10), Std. Deviation -2.40

The 1990 tournament was Faldo’s second consecutive victory; nearly three decades later, only Faldo, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have successfully defended.

Faldo opened indifferently with rounds of 71-72 that placed him in a four-way tie for 10th entering the weekend. He still trailed leader Raymond Floyd by three strokes as play began Sunday, but that margin merely set up one of the memorable two-person showdowns in tournament history.

That final round began inauspiciously for the champ, who double bogeyed the first hole to fall five back. He got one back with a birdie on the second, then gained two more when Floyd bogeyed the 5th as Faldo birdied the 7th.

The players made the turn separated by two strokes, but a Faldo bogey at 10 moved the margin back to where it had begun, at three. A Floyd birdie at 12 padded his lead to  four strokes.

Faldo turned his game around at 13, birdieing that hole plus 15 and 16 to move with one. When Floyd bogeyed the 17th, the two former champions were tied, and one hole later that’s how they finished, creating a sudden death playoff…the same scenario in which Faldo had won one year earlier.

At the 10th hole, both players made par. At the 11th, though, Floyd pulled his approach into the pond, enabling Faldo – who found the middle of the green – to lag his birdie putt close and tap in for a winning par.