GWD_MAY_16

IAN WOOSNAM
Woosnam’s win
made it four
British
successes in a
row at Augusta.
MOST PUTTS. BUT I WAS GETTING A LOT OF EASY TWO-PUTTS’
It was nice of him to say something.
Many would have said nothing.
He didn’t have to, you’re right. It was nice
of him. He was my hero growing up.
I always wanted to swing the club like
him. So when I played with him it was a
big thrill. He was playing great, too, even
if he was struggling a bit with the
putting yips. I remember he yipped
a short one on the first green in the
last round. I must admit that made
me feel better. I relaxed a little. But he is a
great player, one who appreciates the game
and how you should act, even in the last
round of a major.
The crowd was pissing off the
wrong guy, right?
All I can say is that the angrier
I get, the better I tend to play.
They made me more
determined. If I had been a bit
younger it would have been no
RIGHT: Woosnam’s iron shots into
Augusta’s exacting greens were the
key to his win 25 years ago.
surprise if I had dived into the crowd and
given the guy a punch on the nose – if
I had found him. But those guys are never
brave. They say what they say and then
scurry off somewhere. I hate that. Be a
man and say it to my face, if you have
something to say.
You got to the last tee tied with Tom
and José Maria Olazabal. Is there
anything else that sticks in your
mind before that point?
In the third round, I also played
with Tom. We were on the 15th
green. It was very windy. I putted
from the back of the green and
left the ball hanging on the
lip. I was worried that it
might still be moving when
the flag came out. From a
distance it looked like
Tom and I were
having a bit of a row.
But what he was
actually saying was,
“Mark it”. He was
concerned that I was
going to incur a penalty. The problem,
though, was marking a ball that was
halfway over the hole.
Things like that stick with me. Tom
made another eagle at the 15th on the last
day. He made two eagles in three holes so
it was certainly exciting. Where I really
won the tournament, though, was on the
16th. We both went over the green. I was
further away and chipped to eight
feet. Tom knocked his down to four
feet. The putt I made for par there was
bigger than the one I made to win two
holes later. That kept me in the game. It
was the same as the one on 18, too, a
slight right-to-left break, which is what
you want in that situation. I saw the line
right away. My only problem under
pressure is hitting putts too hard
sometimes. But those two went right in
the middle.
When you got to the 18th tee, did you
see Olazabal drive into the bunker on
the left?
I did. He went from that bunker into
another short of the green and made
May 2016 Golf World 43