Back to Back Again

 It's been over 54 years since one of the most unique and storied feats ever occurred in the game of golf. At age 26, Jack had a chance at his 3rd Green Jacket and carded a 288 even par to end Sunday's round, but had not yet earned the crown of 1966 Masters Champion. Tied with both Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer, the threesome rolled down Magnolia Lane early Monday morning to kick off an 18 hole playoff. In such a unique format and setting, Jack rolled a 70 to come out on top earning his 3rd Green Jacket, becoming the first player to ever earn the title of back-to-back Masters Champion and strengthening legendary status and rarified air only in professional sports where you can be known by a single first name like Jack or Tiger.

Now we settle into a weekend where the familiar and the unfamiliar clash at every sight. The awe-inspiring technicolor greens and fairways at Augusta National, manicured to perfection, run into shades of burnt orange and yellow mixed into treelines usually flooded with patrons. No matter how we feel about the year 2020 and the roller coaster at hand, we as fans of golf can relish in a back-to-back feat that we will likely never see again. The Masters Tournament will be played back-to-back without a major championship in between November of 2020 and April of 2021.

With this spirit of golf's historic moments in mind, we profiled each back-to-back Masters Championship title which has only occurred three times in the 86-year history of the tournament.

The year before Jack won his 3rd Green Jacket in '66, his play in 1965 at Augusta National has long been documented as one of his most memorable moments in golf. Prior to that tournament, Jack had a mixed relationship with the public which most golf fans today would find unfathomable. During his 3rd round he heard cheers and shouts of encouragement for the first time from the gallery while posting a 64 and often admitting it was one of the best rounds of golf he had ever played. He capped off that Sunday in 1965 with a record 17-under 271 to beat rivals Arnold Palmer and Gary Player by 9 strokes.

Jack's achievement as back-to-back Masters Champion stood until the 1990 tournament when a tall English pro won his 2nd Green Jacket in playoff fashion beating Raymond Floyd, the 1976 Masters Champion. On Sunday, Floyd birdied hole 12 to take a four-shot lead over the field with six holes to play. Known as a good front runner, it looked as though the competition was fading away when Nick Faldo birdied holes 13, 15, and 16 as Floyd bogeyed hole 17 leaving them tied at 10-under through 72 holes. Next came a sudden death playoff, breaking from the format by which Jack won his back-to-back Masters Championships. Faldo and Floyd both made par on number 10 to begin the playoff and moved on to hole 11. Floyd crumbled under pressure, flying a 7-iron approach into the water, while Faldo comfortably landed 18-feet from the pin, capping off the 1990 tournament with a couple of easy putts.

The prior year, in 1989, Nick Faldo became the first man from England to win The Masters. After a dismal third round 77, Faldo fired a final round 65 to force a sudden death playoff with Scott Hoch. The round finished under dramatic circumstances as both Greg Norman and Ben Crenshaw bogeyed the final hole to miss out on the playoff. Hoch played the first playoff hole beautifully setting up what most in the golfing world consider to be a dream scenario; a 3-footer to win The Masters - and that's where the moniker "Hoch rhymes with choke" began. Scott Hoch didn't even touch the cup as Nick Faldo birdied the next hole to win the 1989 Masters Tournament and the first of his three Green Jackets.

The 65th Masters Tournament at Augusta National brought yet another storied moment in golf and cemented Tiger's place in history with invention of the "Tiger Slam". The scene was set as David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Tiger all held a share of the lead on Sunday. Duval birdied number 15 to sit atop the leaderboard before bogeying alongside Phil at number 16. Tiger made par on both 16 and 17 before sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole in his signature Sunday Red becoming the only player to ever hold titles to all four major championships at the same time. He had previously won The U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and The PGA Championship in 2000.

Following Tiger's 2001 Masters Championship, Augusta National Golf Club introduced a new element to the legendary property lengthening the course by 285 yards. Perhaps the least dramatic of all three back-to-back Masters title defenses, Tiger jumped out to an early lead on Sunday carding a birdie on each of the first 3 holes. Over the weekend, Tiger hit 69% of fairways, 75% of greens, and made 19 birdies. Such a performance, after dominating so many of golf's major championships the years prior, elevated Tiger to one of the pinnacles in golf, earning the title of back-to-back Masters Champion.

So as we navigate our own rarified and unique circumstances and events around the global pandemic and our most beloved major championship, we should expect more clashes between the familiar and unfamiliar. There's no doubt the grounds of Augusta National will have something special in store as we get the treat of watching back-to-back Masters Tournaments in both November and April. In a calendar year where shock, awe, and disbelief seem like a weekly occurrence, would anyone be surprised to see Tiger defend his 2019 Masters title? In a year with back-to-back Masters Tournaments, in a situation where Tiger could become the first to win back-to-back of back-to-back Masters Titles? What a year for golf and the hallowed grounds that await at the end of Magnolia Lane.