Any golfer who wins the Green Jacket puts themselves straight into the history books, with there being 55 different winners of The Masters since it was first introduced in 1934.
Two of those men are Sandy Lyle and Larry Mize, with both calling time on their careers following the conclusion of the second round at Augusta National. In an emotional and fantastic scene on the 18th green Lyle, who won his Green Jacket in 1988, waited for Mize, the 1987 winner, after the conclusion of his final round.
Making his 40th and final Masters appearance, the 1987 champion Larry Mize takes in the moment on No. 18. #themasters pic.twitter.com/1ICbTf7AReApril 8, 2023
Lyle, who was making his 42nd appearance in the tournament, had been forced to wait on a 12-foot putt on the final green after play was suspended on Friday afternoon, something which playing partner, Jason Kokrak, called "chicken s**t" after pleading with officials to let Lyle putt out.
However, the Scotsman wasn't able to hole it and, returning on Saturday morning, he would duly two-putt for bogey and a 20-over-par tournament total that left him bottom of the leaderboard.
Mize, on the other hand, finished five shots ahead of Lyle, albeit in second last place, with the Augusta-native double-bogeying the last to sign off with an 80. However, neither man seemed to care less as both embraced on the final hole with smiles on their faces as their incredible Masters run came to an end.
Speaking after his 40th and final Masters appearance, Mize, who is the only Masters champion from Augusta, stated: "It's just unbelievable, surreal. Words don't do it justice to have won here and played here for 40 years. Pretty incredible. I mean, the fans were great. To get a reception like that and weather like this, I didn't expect that. I didn't expect that at all."
Speaking about seeing Sandy on the 18th, Mize added: "Yeah, that was very special for Sandy to come out and greet me there. Sandy's a good friend, a great champion, and to finish off with him is pretty cool. Yeah, I liked that."
Lyle, who revealed that he spent last night drinking "a lot of tequila and a bit of whisky tasting at about 1 o'clock this morning," was also reflective about the situation, as he spoke about the meeting with Mize on the 18th hole.
"I obviously know what's going through his mind and it was just a part of a, just a welcome, and also to a new era, I suppose, for the both of us. I just think it was the right thing to do. The wives suggested it and I thought about it and said, yeah, I'm going to go back out there and welcome him to a new era."
