Decade by decade, the best of the Masters

Masters: The second transition

The decade of the 1990s mirrored the 1950s, with a rapidly changing power structure and no clearly dominant figure.

The first thing to note is the absence of Tiger Woods from the list.  Although Woods did play in five Masters between his 1995 debut and 1999, he missed the cut in 1996, leaving him one short of the five finishes required for consideration.

The 1997 champion’s time will come.

Forty-one players did qualify for consideration, among them the decade’s other seven champions: Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Mark O’Meara.

Langer was one of only two players to make the cut in all 10, the other being the comparatively unknown John Huston.

But no player exerted true dominance over the decade, a fact underscored by the top 10 list. The champion’s average for the decade,-1.05 standard deviations, is easily the low for any decade of the tournament’s existence. Here’s the top 10.

Rk Player                        Avg. Std. Dev

1.       Greg Norman             -1.05

2.       Jose Maria Olazabal -1.03

3.       Nick Faldo                   -0.83

4.       Fred Couples              -0.76

5.       Lanny Wadkins          -0.73

6.       Ray Floyd                     -0.70

7.       Phil Mickelson            -0.57

8.       Steve Elkington         -0.57

9.       Ernie Els                      -0.51

10.   Larry Mize                    -0.48

Norman is best known for his 1996 final round collapse when he finished second to Nick Faldo. He was also third in 1995,1999 and sixth in 1992.

The case for Faldo is at least as strong as for Norman, particularly given his 1990 and 1996 victories. But for the most part, he was ordinary in his 1990s Masters appearances, with no other top 10s and only two top 20s, ties for 12th in 1991 and 13th in 1992.

Olazabal’s two championships also give him a legitimate claim. He supplements that claim with a solo second to Woosnam in 1991. But he had only one other top 10, a tie for seventh in 1993.

We do not normally think of Wadkins among the dominant Masters’ players of the 1990s or any decade. But he tied for third three times, in 1990, 1991, and 1993.

What of Mickelson? He made six Masters cuts, with a best finish of third in 1996. But two finishes outside the top 30 offset his two other top tens in the decade, landing him no higher than seventh.