Let’s get one thing straight right out of the gate: Nick Faldo didn’t just win the 1989 Masters.
He took it. Ripped it from the jaws of cold, damp Augusta chaos with a Sunday 65 that no one talks about enough.
And sure, you’ve probably heard of Scott Hoch’s infamous two-footer. But if that’s all you remember from that tournament?
You’re missing the real story — and one of the gutsiest performances in major championship history.
The Final Round Nobody Expected
Heading into Sunday, Faldo wasn’t exactly a favorite. He’d just shot a 77 on Saturday — tied for the worst round ever by a player who went on to win the Masters. At that point, he looked more like a footnote than a future champion.
But then came Sunday. Cold, misty air. Breath visible. Augusta playing tougher than usual. And Faldo? He went out and birdied eight holes, shooting a blistering 65 that felt like it came out of nowhere.
He dropped a 12-footer on 13, a tricky breaker on 16, and — just for good measure — a bomb from 30 feet on 17. No luck, no drama, just pure execution under pressure. It wasn’t just about making putts; it was about outlasting a field full of killers.
And all of it happened while the leaderboard flipped like a Vegas slot machine.
When Everything Went Sideways (For Everyone Else)
Augusta’s back nine on Sunday always delivers drama. But in 1989, it was full-blown theater.
At one point, six different players had a share of the lead.
Seve Ballesteros, celebrating his birthday, torched the front nine in 31 but hit a wall thanks to a mud-ball controversy at 10.
Greg Norman, playing catch-up again, looked like he might finally exorcise his Augusta demons… until a bogey on the 72nd hole took him out. Ben Crenshaw had a shot too, but a late bogey killed his chances.
Suddenly, Scott Hoch was standing over a two-footer to win it outright.
The Miss That Made History
You know what happened next.
Hoch’s birdie attempt slid by the hole, leaving him a short par putt to win. Two feet. That’s it.
And then… it didn’t even touch the hole.
The crowd gasped. Hoch looked stunned. Augusta had just witnessed one of the most painful moments in Masters history. That miss followed him for years. Fair or not, the nickname “Hoch as in choke” stuck — even though he won plenty afterward and cracked the world’s top 15.
But here’s what often gets lost: Faldo still had to finish the job.
Faldo’s Cold-Blooded Finish
On the second playoff hole — the brutal 11th — Faldo delivered.
The same hole he’d bogeyed every single round that week.
This time? Pure redemption.
He hit it to 25 feet and rolled it in like he was tapping in for par at his local muni. Arms up. Roars echoing. Faldo had just claimed his first green jacket, and he did it on a hole that had haunted him for days.
That’s what mental toughness looks like. That’s what major champions do.
The Ripple Effect: Why This Win Mattered So Much
Faldo wasn’t just winning for himself — he was part of something bigger.
British golf had been in the wilderness for decades. Then Sandy Lyle won in ’88. Now Faldo followed it up, making Britain the first non-U.S. country to go back-to-back at Augusta. That hadn’t happened since the tournament began in 1934.
It signaled a changing of the guard. Europe wasn’t just showing up at majors anymore. They were winning them.
And Faldo’s win, tucked between two legends (Lyle before, Ballesteros and Woosnam after), helped shift the sport into a more global era.
Don’t Let One Miss Define the Moment
Yes, Hoch’s miss was brutal. But Faldo’s win wasn’t a fluke. He earned it.
That 65? One of the great Masters final rounds ever. That birdie on 11 in the playoff? Cold-blooded. His bounce-back after a third-round 77? Legendary.
And yet, this major often gets brushed aside. Maybe because it didn’t have the fairytale finish. Maybe because it was messy, complicated, and unforgettable in the wrong ways.
But maybe… that’s exactly what made it great.
“That putt felt fine. I just lined it up wrong.” — Scott Hoch