The 2020 virtual Masters: A dozen potential surprises
By Bill Felber
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1994, 1999 (1990-1999), -1.03
Olazabal was the second of three Spanish players to win a Green Jacket, contributing the 1994 and 1999 championships to that nation’s overall five championships. The 1994 title involved a stirring three-way battle with Americans Tom Lehman and Larry Mize.
Olazabal’s Thursday 74 left him six strokes behind Mize’s 68 and apparently out of the championship picture. He changed that with a 67 on Friday to move into a five-way tie for fifth place just two behind Mize.
A Saturday 69 moved Olazabal one stroke ahead of Mize, but one behind Lehman, who also shot 69. On Sunday, Olazabal remained one behind Lehman until catching him with a birdie at the eighth hole, which Mize also birdied to create a three-way tie.
That tie held until Lehman and Mize both bogeyed the 12th hole, putting Olazabal one ahead. He eagled 15 to open his lead to two over Lehman, but a bogey at the 17th moved Lehman back within a stroke coming to the final tee. Lehman bogeyed 18, and Olazabal’s par cemented his victory.
His 1999 title was nearly as tense. This time he carried a two-stroke lead over Davis Love III into Sunday’s final round, but a stretch of three consecutive front nine bogeys dropped him briefly into a tie with Greg Norman.
A birdie at the par 3 6th restored Olazabal’s advantage, and the two leaders played seesaw with the lead until Norman bogeyed the 14th to fall one back. Another Norman bogey at 15 restored Olazabal’s two-stroke edge over both Norman and Love, and he played steadily the rest of the way to beat Love by those two strokes, Norman finishing three back.
Virtual Masters projection: T-13.