Masters peers count loss of Billy Casper

You could argue that it had to be the worst day of Billy Casper’s professional life – a 106 marked on the unreported scorecard tucked in his shirt pocket after his final competitive round in the 2005 Masters Tournament.

Yet you couldn’t wipe the smile off the Hall of Famer’s face. Even after hitting five balls in the water on the 16th hole, Casper holed out for 12, threw his arm around Charles Coody and said, “I just wanted to make my good friend Charlie Coody not feel bad about his 15th hole.”

Brian Taylor, his caddie that day, asked whether he was all right as they tucked the clubs in the trunk for the last time at Augusta National.

“I got more attention for that one round than all my 51 wins on tour,” Casper said with a smile.

Perhaps the most underrated champion in the history of the game, Casper never begrudged the attention his Big Three rivals bathed in every year. He was comfortable with his accomplishments and his place in the wider world.

Casper died Feb. 7, 10 months after passing out in the Augusta National clubhouse the day after the 2014 Champions Dinner. He will be sorely missed by his peers at tonight’s annual gathering of the Masters Club.

“I was very shocked and saddened by his death,” Ar­nold Palmer said. “He was a great guy for golf and a great player. We had some real good competitions. He and I went head-to-head a lot of times. I don’t think he got all the credit he deserved.”

“He was a great player, and he was a nice guy,” Jack Nicklaus said. “I don’t think he ever got the credit he was due for his career because he had a great career. … He’ll be missed by all of us because he was a good friend.”

Ben Crenshaw, who presides over the Champions Din­ner, said he planned a tribute for Casper, who won the 1970 Masters and ranked seventh on the all-time PGA Tour win list.

“What he meant as a golfer, I can’t imagine a more underrated player and what a slight that was for his whole career,” Crenshaw said. “I guess one thing is he was so consistently brilliant so many occasions. He certainly was not flashy. He played so well within himself and had the tools necessary to play great golf.

“Two things that stand out to me. He had a very inquisitive mind for the game of golf and knew his game and played to it. But I don’t think there’s a more fabulous pair of hands. A brilliant chipper and short game and one of the best putters of all time, without a doubt. He just went about it in a very smart, concise way.”

Casper is remembered as much for his humanity as for his golf.

“Just an extraordinarily kind person with a wonderful way and a big smile,” Cren­shaw said. “He really did a lot of extraordinary things for other people and was always thinking about other people.”

His final Masters round in 2005 was at the request of his grandkids, who were attending for the first time and had never seen him play. He wouldn’t tell them “no” even if the course was too big for a 70-year-old.

“All he ever wanted was to take care of his business on the golf course and take care of his family,” said Bob Casper, the third of Casper’s 11 children – five by birth and six by adoption.

Casper relished his annual trips to Augusta, often taking three or more hours to play a practice round on the second nine because he would stop so often to speak with friends he’d see every year. But he never worried about being the center of attention.

During one practice round in the early 2000s, Bob Casper was caddying for his father when Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara came up behind him on the 11th hole. Casper walked to the 12th tee and said, “We’re going to let those guys through us.” Then he went under the ropes and sat in one of the patron chairs behind the tee.

“O’Meara and Tiger walk up and Tiger asked, ‘Where’s your dad?’ ” Bob said. “I turned and pointed to him. Tiger said, ‘C’mon Billy, let’s play.’ Dad said no, you guys go ahead. I was so mad. It was my perfect opportunity to walk with Tiger and watch him. But they go on and then came Larry Mize. Well, we played in with Larry Mize. Dad just didn’t want to be in the middle of everything. That’s the kind of guy he was.”

He did enjoy being in the middle of the Champions Dinner, sharing stories with the friends in a fraternity he felt blessed to be a part of for 44 years.

“I just really think a lot of Billy Casper,” said Phil Mickel­son, who lived across town from Casper in San Diego but would catch up every year in Augusta. “I’ve had a chance to spend a lot of time with him at the Masters the last six or seven years and enjoyed that time. We always made a point to sit down and grab a drink and catch up on what’s gone on throughout the year. That’s the sad thing is coming to Au­gus­ta without his stories to look forward to.

“He’s meant so much to the game. Everybody in the game knows what an incredible career he had and what a great player he was. But the people outside the game weren’t aware of just how talented he was.”