Mercurial Master

In the clubhouse at the Augusta National Golf Club, defending Masters Champion Gary Player, 26, nervously sipped his nightly glass of Gastric Mixture G.6690--a concoction he had carted all the way from Muller's Pharmacy in Johannesburg, South Africa. "I'm playing tremendous golf," he said, "and I've got a good chance to win. But let's face it: Arnold Palmer is the man to beat. He's the best player in the world today, and he practically owns this golf course."

For the first three rounds of this year's Masters, husky Arnold Palmer, 32, did indeed seem to own the 6,980-yd Augusta National course. His long drives hugged the center of the rolling fairways. His powerfully punched iron shots dug deep into the rain-softened greens. His putting was deliberate and deadly. On the second day of the tournament, he birdied eight holes and scored a silky 66. "I've won this tournament twice [in 1958 and 1960]," said Palmer, "but the only thing people seem to remember is the way I lost it to Gary on the last hole last year. Well, now I'm in front--and I plan to stay there."

We Ain't Lost. But on the final day, Palmer's plans went abruptly awry. "I played so bad," he groused later, "that I couldn't have made the Podunk Open." Fretting, frowning, fuming, he shot a Sunday golfer's 39 on the par-36 front nine, made mistakes that would make a duffer blush: a smothered drive that carried only 100 yds. off the tee, a No. 5 iron that smacked into a tree and caromed back over his head. Before he finished the round he had dropped to third place, behind Dow Finsterwald and Player. To his caddie, Nat ("Iron Man") Avery, Palmer said sadly: "Well, Iron Man, we lost the tournament there." The caddie shook his head. "We ain't lost nothin', Mr. Arnold," said Iron Man. "We still got eight more holes to play." (Recalled Avery later: "He just look up at the sky like he is wishing for some miracle to come down.")

Iron Man was right. Erratic and emotional, Arnold Palmer is at once exciting and exasperating; his patented, last-gasp finishes have given golf some of its brightest moments. In the 1960 Masters, he birdied the last two holes to beat Ken Venturi by a stroke. In the 1960 U.S. Open, deep in the pack after three rounds, he fired a last-day 65 to win. This spring in the Palm Springs Golf Classic, Palmer birdied five straight holes on the final round to beat Gene Littler. "I can always tell when Mr. Arnold is ready to make his move," says Caddie Avery. "He jerks at his glove, tugs at his trouser belt, and starts to walk fast. When Mr. Arnold do that, everybody better watch out."

But by the time Palmer reached the 16th hole at Augusta last week, his cause finally seemed hopeless: he needed two birdies merely to stay alive for a three-way play-off with Player and Finsterwald. Then, at the 16th green, Palmer got his miracle: he pitched a 50-yd. chip into the cup for a birdie. Keyed up now, he stepped up to a null putt on the 17th --and banged it straight into the hole for his second straight birdie. On the 18th green, both Player and Palmer played cautiously for pars, solemnly shook hands and--the tension broken--began to laugh. For the first time in the Masters' flamboyant history, three players were deadlocked for the lead after a full 72 holes.

Turning Point. Next day the unique three-man play-off for the richest prize in golf (winner's share: $20,000) brought 15,000 unruly fans flocking to the dogwood-dotted course. They lined the fair ways, clustered 50-deep around the greens, wrestled with Pinkerton agents, trampled down greens and tees.

For unlucky Dow Finsterwald the match was over quickly: shaken by a wayward drive that injured a spectator on the second hole, he shot a sickly 77. At the end of the front nine, playing superbly, Player led Palmer by three strokes. Then Palmer's putter suddenly got the range--and Player's, just as abruptly, went wild. At the icth hole, Palmer snaked in a downhill 25-footer for a birdie and picked up two strokes when Player's five-footer hung improbably on the lip of the cup. "That was the turning point," admitted Gary later.

For mercurial Arnold Palmer, that one break was enough: over the next six holes, while Player watched helplessly, he rattled off four more birdies. Final scores: Palmer, a four-under-par 68; Player, 71. "Arnie's won this thing three times now,"* said ex-Champion Player. "There's no good reason why he shouldn't win another three. Who's going to beat him?"

*Only other three-time Masters winners: Jimmy Demaret (1940, '47, '50), Sam Snead (1949, '52, '54).

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