Jordan Spieth made a run at becoming the youngest Master champion ever this year, but it was a pair of seasoned veterans who made history at Augusta National.
Miguel Angel Jimenez and Bernhard Langer each finished in the top 10, becoming just the second set of golfers over the age of 50 top achieve the feat in the same tournament.
Jimenez, 50, finished fourth behind winner Bubba Watson, and Langer, 57 was tied for eighth. They became the first pair of “gray hairs” to finish in the top 10 together since Sam Snead and Ben Hogan tied for 10th in 1967.
Facot in Fred Couples’ brief flirtation with the leaderboard, and Sunday at Augusta became a virtual old-folk’s home. Are we sure there weren’t canes mixed in with golf clubs in the bags the caddies carried for four days?
“There’s a lot of good over‑50 players,” Langer told the USA Today. “We can compete at the highest level and even on a very, very long golf course like this one.”
Jimenez confirmed age ain’t nothing but a number, when it comes to taming the country’s most-respected course. “To win a tournament you need to hit the ball well, putt good and go play,” he said. “If you are able and ready to play, you got a chance.”
Alas, none of the elder statesmen was able to dethrone Jack Nicklaus as the tournament’s oldest champion. The Golden Bear was 46 when he won the green jacket in 1986.
Perhaps the experience of decades on tour balances the driving distance and stamina possessed by the younger players on tour.