Do you ever play Augusta outside of the Masters – don’t past champions get membership?
Yes – it has become something of a tradition to play the Sunday before the Masters with my son Matthew. We get out there and blast away and it is great fun. Unfortunately he will be away on work this year and I’ll be away with CBS for the [NCAA] Final Four, so it is going to be a big shame to miss out this time. Past winners of the Masters get honorary membership but you don’t get the same member’s rights. If I wanted to turn up tomorrow I’d still need to play with a member.
A lot has been made of the lengthening of Augusta in recent times. What is your view, as a golf course architect, of the changes?
I like them and they were necessary, given how far the guys hit it. They wanted to get them hitting similar irons into the greens as we
used to in the 80s, and I think they’ve achieved that. The subtleties of the course have remained – they haven’t touched the twelfth hole, for example. I am a fan of what they have done.
Do you consider 1996, where you overcame Greg Norman on that dramatic final day, as your finest Masters win?
All three are incredibly special, but certainly 1996 stands out in a number of ways. That was the best I have even been mentally on a golf course, and to shoot 67 with just one bogey in that kind of situation... well, that is about as good as it gets right there. It also came at a time when I was not at my peak playing-wise –Iwasgettingonabitinmycareer–soIwas very proud of the way I was able to get it done. It is also without doubt the most famous of my wins. Wherever I am – especially in America – people are constantly reminding me of it. They know I have won the Open too, but they are not always correct about the details – they will say, “You won at Birkdale, right?” and stuff like that. But the Masters in 1996 – everyone seems to remember exactly what happened and when.
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