The Best Masters Masterpieces

There are some sure signs of spring and none of them involve a groundhog. No instead you know its spring when the robins are tweeting outside your window, the grass turns from brown to green, the baseball season kicks off, and the greatest golfers in the world gather at Augusta National for the Masters. The Masters is the first of the four majors of the calendar year and the beginning of the serious golf season. Here we will take a look back at the few that have been able to tame this course. This is a countdown of the five best performances in the Masters in the last 30 years, so the likes of Ray Floyd of 1976 did not make the list.

5. 1998 Jack Nicklaus: I know, I know, Jack didn't win the Masters in 1998, but he did manage to finish in sixth place just four shots off the lead, at the age of 58. This happened 12 years after he captured his final green jacket in 1986 and people thought he was too old then. Nicklaus shot 283 over the four rounds, including an impressive 68 on Sunday. It is always nice to see the veterans of the sport do well at Augusta and this one was the most impressive of them all. A close runner up was 49 year old Ray Floyd at the 1992 Masters, who finished just 2 strokes behind winner Fred Couples.

4. 2001 Tiger Woods: Coming into the Masters that year Tiger had won the last three majors. He would go on and win the 2001 Masters and complete what was called the Tiger Slam. He would finish with a 272, 16 under par for the tournament. Woods was able to stare down his closest rivals at the time, David Duval and Phil Michkelson, and become the first person to ever hold all four major titles at the same time.

3. 1980 Seve Ballesteros: In 1980 Ballesteros came to Augusta National at the age of 23 and simply made himself at home. At the time he was the youngest Masters champion ever. The Spaniard just dominated the first three rounds and came into Sunday with a seven stroke lead. He shot an even par 72 on Sunday and came away with a four shot victory and the first of his two green jackets.

2. 1995 Ben Crenshaw: The 1995 Masters win of Ben Crenshaw was something right out of a Hollywood script, but it was 100% real. Just four days prior to the start of the championship Crenshaw's mentor, Harvey Penick, died. Crenshaw, along with Tom Kite, attended Penick's funeral the day before the Masters began. Crenshaw was struggling with his golf game at the time, he had missed the cut three times in his last four tournaments. That all changed at Augusta as he won by one stroke over Davis Love III. When he drained his last putt on the 18th on Sunday, Crenshaw dropped to his knees and wept, an image that I can see in my mind to this day.

1. 1997 Tiger Woods: The 1997 Masters was a coming out party for Tier Woods. He would win his first major and do it in a most convincing way. Woods decimated the field by 12 strokes. In the process he became the youngest paler to win the Masters at the age of 21. The tournament was over by the time Sunday rolled around, but people still tuned in to see Tiger dominate. It may just be the biggest drubbing ever administered in a golf tournament.