Ben Crenshaw bids emotional farewell to Masters

Ben Crenshaw’s final Masters Tour­nament round Friday was an emotional ride filled with standing ovations, a reminder of fellow Texan Ben Hogan and the sight of his longtime caddie Carl Jackson waiting for him behind the 18th green as he finished.

Crenshaw, who has now played in 44 Masters, announced a year ago that this would be his last time around Augusta National as a participant. He shot 91-85, but the fans didn’t care. They just wanted to see him one last time.

Of all the former champions, only Arnold Palmer (50 starts in a row), Doug Ford (46) and Raymond Floyd (45) have played in more consecutive Masters than Crenshaw.

Crenshaw, 63, slapped hands, gave out a few kisses, doffed his hat numerous times and talked to his good friend country music star Larry Gatlin as he made his way around the course he won on in 1984 and 1995. Some fans shouted, “Thanks, Ben” and others said, “Thanks for the memories.”

“The people, I just will never forget that as long as I live,” he said. “Typical of not only myself but all the champions here, people have a great affection for the people who have won here. It’s palpable. You can feel it.”

That’s especially true for the man nicknamed Gentle Ben, who feels so deeply about golf history and the Masters. Plus, his dramatic victory in 1995 is considered one of the most memorable in tournament history.

Hogan, the man nicknamed the Hawk who also won two Masters and died in 1997, might have made an appearance Friday, Crenshaw said. It came on a hole that has a bridge dedicated to Hogan.

“We were playing the 12th hole, we were going across the Hogan Bridge and there is a red-tailed hawk on the ground right next to the green,” Crenshaw said. “And I have a decent putt at a birdie, and (playing partner) Jason Dufner said, ‘Ben Hogan’s watching. You’d better make that putt.’ And of course I choked, choked on it and missed it. It was just surreal. It was really a neat moment. But that’s kind of the way this place is. It’s got some revelations about it. It’s rich in lore and always will be.”

More than 200 friends of Cren­shaw from his hometown of Austin made the trip to see him play in the Masters one last time. Most of them wore orange hats (in honor of the University of Texas) with the phrase “the last walk” on the back.

“There will be a vacuum that is going to be hard to fill,” said Crenshaw’s brother Charlie, who walked every hole Friday. “He’ll be there, but not playing. It’s going to be tough.”

Fellow Texan and Masters leader Jordan Spieth played golf at Texas, as did Crenshaw, a mentor to him.

“He’s mentioned to me he’s going to be here every year anyways and be as much a part of the tournament as he can be,” Spieth said. “He joked that he’ll be sitting with a beer and a sandwich in the crowd on No. 15 or something. I highly doubt that.

“But yeah, it’s very special and it’s really kind of a shame and sad for the tournament to be losing him. Legends have to go at some point, right?”

Gatlin, who walked the whole way with Crenshaw and was in the gallery for both his friend’s Masters’ victories, was thinking about a line in a song he wrote recently as he walked along.

“It’s one of the best lines I’ve ever written in my life,” Gatlin said. “One friend was talking to the other one about how getting old was sad. The line is, ‘If it wasn’t for the passage of time, we wouldn’t have had the times we’ve had.’ ”

On the 18th hole, Crenshaw was walking up the left side of the fairway when he spotted a familiar figure behind the green, which is elevated from the fairway. It was the 68-year-old Jackson, who had caddied for him 38 times before having to sit this one out because of tender ribs. Jackson didn’t caddie in the practice rounds, either, but did in the Par-3 Contest with Cren­shaw and two other legends in the group – Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

Jackson had changed into his caddie jumpsuit and was waiting behind the green with Masters Chairman Billy Payne.

“Carl is tall enough to where I saw him way back there. I thought, ‘Oh, right, he’s there.’ ” Crenshaw said. “I could barely see him up there. It was a great, great sight to see Carl back there, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

After Crenshaw putted out for bogey, Jackson walked down to the same green where he comforted his friend when he broke down after winning the 1995 Masters in the memory of his teacher and friend Harvey Penick, who had died a week earlier.

During a long hug on the green Friday, Crenshaw told Jackson “I love you, and he said, ‘I love you,’ back,” Crenshaw said. “Can’t be anymore succinct than that. We feel about each other that way; we’ve always been that way. We know how much each other has meant to the other one, and it’s very powerful.”