Masters 1999: Trio took center stage at Augusta

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Trio took center stage at Augusta
By Greg Robertson
ESPN Golf Online
The finale at The Masters last April had all the ingredients of high drama. It began with a cast of three: the popular star looking for another moment of glory; the veteran in search of his first major; and the rising young star aiming to speed his ascension.
Fred Couples, Mark O'Meara and David Duval played out the story on a sunny Sunday afternoon on the back nine at Augusta National, one of golf's greatest stages.

Mark O'Meara never led the tournament last year until his final putt fell.
Couples had been in control of The Masters since a first-round 69 gave him the early lead. Although there were fluctuations throughout each day, Couples was the clubhouse leader each day and took a share of first place to the 72nd hole.
Duval had already completed his final-round 67 to finish at 8-under, the same score shared on the final tee by Couples and O'Meara, who had just birdied No. 17 to force the three-way tie.
The 18th green is where O'Meara took center stage. His 20-footer for birdie broke right to left and dead center into the cup, with Duval watching from a television cabin and Couples standing on the green.
As O'Meara thrust his arms in the air as Masters champion, Couples still had to finish up his par putt.
"Once it went in, I felt like scooping up my coin, walking into the tent and getting the hell out of there," Couples recalled.
For Duval, it was another close call -- a label he has since shed in resounding fashion.
"I felt I could have won it," he said. "I shot a 67 on Sunday and didn't beat myself."
For O'Meara, it was the 57th major of his career and his first victory. And he did it in typical O'Meara fashion.
"I went into the tournament and my expectations were pretty low," he said. "I necessarily wasn't playing that great, and what I took out of my win there was that, you know, once again I just kind of hung in there and didn't hit the ball probably the best that I can hit it. But I hit some good shots when I needed to."
Couples didn't see it that way, at least not on Sunday.
"I watched a very good round of golf," he recalled. "I played a good one too, except for one hole."
That hole was the par-5 13th, a hole he had made eagle on earlier in the week and is a great scoring opportunity for the longest players like Couples. But he drove into the azalea bushes well to the left of the fairway, made a miraculous recovery off a service road to the fairway, then dumped his approach into the water. The result was a double bogey that probably cost him the title.
"I was really disappointed," he said. "I thought I was going to win the tournament, and I didn't."
But according to O'Meara, Couples did win in a sense.
"It was an asset for me to play with Fred because he probably hit the ball a little better than I did in the final round," O'Meara recalled. "But his relaxed attitude and that we are friends playing together, that definitely helped me in my situation there."
One year later, the trio returns to Augusta ready for the second act, and the actors' roles have changed.
Duval is now the best player in the world, the winner of 10 events in 18 months including the Mercedes Championship, Players Championship and a 59 on Sunday to capture the Bob Hope Desert Classic. O'Meara is now a two-time major champion, having won the British Open as well last year, while Couples is recently married, relocated to Los Angeles and playing a limited schedule.
O'Meara has the confidence necessary to make another run.
"When I had the opportunity to close the door and win the event, I did it," he said.
Duval feels much the same despite coming up short last year.
"I proved to myself that under the circumstances of trying to win a major that I can handle it," he said. "It took some really excellent putts on Mark's part and some incredible golf to keep me out of a playoff last year.
"So I think, if anything, I know I have it in me to do it."