Champions try to leave game gracefully

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Billy Casper plays one last Masters round, takes 106 strokes and leaves a pitied figure. Jack Nicklaus steps aside after missing another cut and no one wants to see him go.

Two extremes of the same dilemma. When’s the proper time to bow out?

“This is not a celebrity walk-around,” Nicklaus said after announcing he just played his last Masters. “It’s a major golf championship, and if you’re going to play in this championship, you should be competitive.”

One of the Masters’ noble traditions is the lifetime exemption given to past champions, be it Phil Mickelson, six-time winner Nicklaus, a self-imploding Seve Ballesteros or 73-year-old Casper.

Those greats provide the historical link the Masters cherishes, past to present. Amateur after amateur has come home from Augusta with treasured memories of a practice round with Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer, listening to yarns told by Byron Nelson or the late Gene Sarazen.

“The Golfing Union of Ireland president introduced me to Sam Snead,” Honda Classic winner Padraig Harrington recalled of his first visit in 2000.

“I sat down and I talked to Snead for a while at the table, and that was very special. You don’t get many memories like that; it’s as good as it gets.”

Augusta National sends the old guys out first, one more taste of the stage before giving way to the real contenders. In most cases, it does little harm.

But it can lead to embarrassing situations. Doug Ford, the 1957 champion, missed the cut or withdrew from 30 straight Masters, getting to the point where he would often just play 18 and then withdraw.

Ford, Casper and Gay Brewer were recipients of the infamous 2002 letter from Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson asking they no longer play. They complied – until Casper acceded to wishes from family members wanting to see him out there one last time.

It was a struggle, but likely only to go down as a typical out-of-his-league round until he reached the water-guarded 16th. Five dunked shots later, Casper took a 14.

Ugly? Yes. But Tom Weiskopf once took a 13 at the par-3 12th much closer to his prime.

“It’s not something you’re looking to see at all,” said 1971 champion Charles Coody, Casper’s annual playing partner. “It takes a pretty cold-hearted person to watch that and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.”

Should someone save the old champions from themselves? Johnson tried once, instituting a cutoff at age 65, then reversing course after hearing from Nicklaus and Palmer.

That allowed Palmer to make it to 50 Masters last year. But, like Brewer, he didn’t make a cut in his past 20 appearances.

The difference, of course, is that fans flocked to see Palmer chop it around while Brewer played to the birds and azaleas.

“It comes down to what does the public want,” said two-time champion Gary Player, 69, who has made one cut in his past 12 attempts.

Nicklaus suggested a Tuesday pseudo-event that would reserve some late-day practice times for senior ex-champs to play without pressure of a scorecard. Fans could walk along and watch.

“Nothing special, no prizes,” he offered. “Just let them play as a group and let the people say thanks for being here.

“I think you’d find Arnold would come back and do that, and I think the other guys would play, too. I think it would be a nice thing.”

The final word, as always, belongs to Augusta National.