AUGUSTA, Ga. -- What did it? Was it this onrush of heat after early week conditions that would have given polar bears chilblains? Was a suddenly lovely Thursday the nature's trick that rolled back the years for two Masters, 50-year-old Larry Mize and 54-year-old Greg Norman?

Neither led the 73rd Masters tournament. But Mize amazed the sun-swept crowd with a 5-under-par 67, only two strokes behind leader Chad Campbell -- and just the third time a player age 50 or over has shot a round that low here. (The other two? By Jack Nicklaus, of course).

Norman shot a 70, five strokes off the lead pace, in his first Masters in seven years.

Neither of these old boys will win. There are bounds to even the most extravagant dreams. But Mize and Norman made great conversation pieces out there.

Most Masters spectators are, well, mature because you have to have a few years on you to nail an admission ticket here. And you should have seen all the grins through the customers' wrinkles when Mize and Norman rolled back the years.

MEMORABLE CHIP

Mize stands 22 years past the glorious 140-yard chip shot that won the 1987 Masters in a playoff against Norman.

Mize must have been humming Memory all the way around Thursday's first round.

Few have ever endeared themselves to Masters crowds as much as Norman, even in his almost perpetual bad fortune here. But Mize is almost as much a gallery favorite. He is more than just a native Augustan. His born-to-the-South courtesy under any and all conditions has made him thousands of fans here, even in the 24 nontitle years when he couldn't pull off much of what the Masters demands.

The crowd rocked when Mize birdied the first, second, 10th, 13th and 14th holes, and quieted only when he bogeyed No. 4.

His fans might have been stunned after all these barren seasons, but Mize wasn't.

``I said [Wednesday],

I could win this tournament,'' he said. ``And if I play like [Thursday] every day, I've got a chance.

``And I still believe. You got to believe, and I do, and this is a great start for me this week.''

Lately, Mize has been what he called ''top-10-ing'' the Champions Tour for players 50 and up. It's fun, and he's doing well, but the Masters it's not.

Mize noted that a number of past Masters played well Thursday, ``and playing here a lot doesn't hurt, when you know the golf course really well. And when you have a championship here to draw on, that's always a good thing.''

Then there's Norman, silver tresses flowing, back at the venue where he stamped himself as a hard-luck champion. In 1996, he tied a course record with a 63 in the first round and galloped out front almost all the way to the bitter end.

Only the year before, Norman had led going into the last rounds of all four major tournaments, won the British Open and tied for second in the Masters, and finished second in the PGA.

Yet in all that time, Norman was never heard to utter a complaining word about the dirt fate did him. Just the other day here, he was asked if so many years away from the Masters made it any easier to forget the disappointments and keep the good images alive.

EVERT HELPING

''No,'' Norman said. ``I think I share the balance of them. Some of the bad stuff was self-inflicted and some of it wasn't.

``I talk about it with Chrissie [Evert, his bride and a pretty fair sports campaigner on her own]. It's interesting, because she went through 13 times getting beaten by Martina [Navratilova], and I went 22 times without winning the Masters. I probably talk more about the Masters than I do anything else when we have those conversations.''

On Thursday, the galleries roared when Norman birdied the sixth, ninth and 15th holes and moaned at his only bogey, at the 11th.

Looking back immediately afterward, he affirmed that he felt the love from the gallery.

''I've always been connected to the gallery,'' Norman said, so truly you would struggle to find anyone who has done it more or better.

``I play with my heart on my sleeve, and I've done very well out of the game. I played my way back into this tournament, which very few people can say at the age of 54, and it's a feather in my cap, to say the least.''

He credited Chrissie with supporting his comeback: ``She wants me out there to play. She actually comes and watches me practice. She will sit there and watch me hit balls hour after hour, and even watch me chip and putt. So, yes, we do talk about it, and she still lives through her academy and sees the great young little tennis players who are 10, 12, 13, 14 years old coming up. She's a great mentor. Even now, there is a great tennis player coming out of there.''

And a fine freshet of nostalgia for the golfer in the family.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@