Saturday 31 March 2018 20:30, UK
Sergio Garcia has a chance to join an exclusive back-to-back club at the Masters this week, with only three players having done the double.
Tiger Woods earned himself another place in the history books when he completed the "Tiger Slam" in 2001, and he followed that up with a comfortable three-shot win the following year.
Woods finished six shots behind Vijay Singh in 2000 before going on to dominate the rest of the majors, claiming record-breaking wins at Pebble Beach and St Andrews before making it three in a row at the PGA Championship.
The following April, he got off to a steady start with a 70, and further rounds of 66 and 68 gave him a one-shot lead over fierce rival Phil Mickelson. Woods kept his nose in front as the star pairing both turned in 34, matching each other shot for shot with birdies at seven and eight, while David Duval was making an impressive charge up ahead.
Duval reeled off six birdies in seven holes on the front nine and became the outright leader when he birdied the 15th, only to give the shot back at the next. Mickelson also bogeyed 16 to fall two behind Woods, who came up the 18th needing a par to win and closed out his historic victory with a birdie to finish on 16 under par.
Woods relinquished ownership of the next three majors and made another steady start to the 2002 Masters, although rounds of 70 and 69 left him five off the pace after Singh carded a second-day 65.
But a superb 66 from Woods lifted him into a share of the 54-hole lead with Retief Goosen as Singh slipped back with a 72, and when Woods birdied the second and third and Goosen bogeyed one and four, the defending champion was four clear.
Woods bogeyed five but got it straight back at six, reaching the turn with a five-shot advantage as Goosen went out in 39, effectively setting up a procession for Woods on the back nine.
Goosen's birdies at 15 and 16 trimmed the deficit, but Woods had more than enough in hand and coasted to the finish line, posting a composed 71 on a day when only one player in the field broke 70.
Nick Faldo fell in love with the 11th green at Augusta National after claiming back-to-back Masters victories in a pair of play-offs, edging out Scott Hoch in 1989 and veteran Ray Floyd a year later.
Faldo's first win is largely remembered for Hoch's incredible miss from two feet at the first extra hole, but what is often overlooked is how the Englishman blitzed his way through the field in regulation. He stumbled to a third-day 77 and started the final round five behind leader Ben Crenshaw, but four birdies over the first seven holes on Sunday lifted him to within two of new pacesetter Seve Ballesteros.
No fewer than six different players held or shared the lead during a riveting back nine, and Faldo reeled off four birdies in five holes from the 13th to post a stunning 65 and set the clubhouse target at five under.
Ballesteros fell out of contention when he took five at the 16th, and Hoch bogeyed 17 to relinquish the outright lead while Crenshaw and Greg Norman, who had birdied four of the previous five holes, both bogeyed the last to finish one adrift.
Faldo was resigned to defeat when he failed to get up and down from sand at the first extra hole - the 10th - and Hoch had lagged to two feet, but the American buckled under the pressure and blocked the putt.
Hoch missed the green at the 11th and pitched to six feet, but he was soon picking up his marker as Faldo picked out a line in the gloom and rolled in the winning birdie putt from 25 feet before being helped into the Green Jacket by Sandy Lyle.
Twelve months later, Faldo became only the second man after Jack Nicklaus to defend the title at Augusta after Floyd also came to grief at the second extra hole. Faldo fired the low round of 66 on Moving Day to get within three of the lead after 54 holes, but he started the final day with a double-bogey before recovering with three birdies in an outward 35.
The defending champion was four adrift when 1976 winner Floyd, who was bidding to become the oldest major champion at 48 and the first to win a major in four different decades, birdied the 12th. But Faldo birdied 13 and 15 before rolling in an incredible hard-breaking putt for a two at 16, and the pair were tied for the lead when Floyd bogeyed the penultimate hole.
After finishing tied at the top on 10 under, both Faldo and Floyd missed birdie putts on the first extra hole before the veteran American tugged his seven-iron approach into the water left of the 11th green.
Faldo found the heart of the green and safely two-putted to retain his title, and a distraught Floyd said afterwards: "This is the most devastating thing that's ever happened to me in my career. I've had a lot of losses, but nothing like this."
Jack Nicklaus became the youngest Master at the age of 23 in 1963 and lost out to friend and rival Arnold Palmer the following year, but he won the next two editions and set a scoring record that would stand for 32 years before becoming the first man to defend the title.
Nicklaus was tied for the lead after 36 holes in 1965 along with Palmer and Gary Player, and the patrons anticipated a thrilling battle between "The Big Three".
But the Golden Bear was in a class of his own on Saturday, carding five birdies in seven holes in an outward 31 before he picked up further shots at 13, 15 and 16 to match the course record of 64 which put him five clear of Player.
The South African was unable to put pressure on his rival on the final day, which became a procession as Nicklaus cruised to a 69 to finish on 17 under, while his record winning margin of nine shots stood until Tiger Woods blitzed Augusta in 1997.
Nicklaus was devastated when one of his closest friends was killed in a tragic plane crash while en route to Augusta from Ohio the day before the 1966 tournament, yet he managed an opening 66 in the first round.
He followed up with a disappointing 76 which left him a shot adrift of Paul Harney, but two level-par rounds of 72 over the weekend saw him finish on level par alongside Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer, who missed a four-foot putt at the final hole which would have landed him the title.
Nicklaus, who had set a tournament record of 17 under par when winning the Masters the previous year, returned on the Monday for an 18-hole shoot-out and both he and Jacobs covered the front nine in 35 while Brewer was three strokes worse.
Jacobs then bogeyed the 10th and The Golden Bear birdied the 11th to move two shots clear, with Brewer's double at the 12th effectively ruling him out of contention.
Nicklaus matched Jacob's birdie at 15, and both men parred in to leave Nicklaus as the champion for the second year running, earning him the princely sum of $20,000.
