The ghosts of golf's past whispered through the pines at Augusta during the final round of the 1995 Masters. Ben Crenshaw capped an emotional week that included the death of his longtime friend and golf coach Harvey Penick, the victory of close friend Davis Love III at the Freeport McMoRan Classic to earn a spot at the Masters, and the ascension of his own golf spirit into the realm of majesty as a repeat Masters Champion. I don't know how I grew so much confidence in just a few days. A golfer never knows that it is going to be their week.
Fate decides things here.
But I felt like I had fifteen clubs in my bag, and the fifteen was Harvey Penick. Harvey Penick's Crenshaw's Inspiration Harvey Penick, who died at age 90 one week ago today, taught Ben Crenshaw since Ben was seven years old. Penick's simple philosophies about golf have captured the hearts of millions of golfers through his Little Red Book that has become the top selling golf book in the world. Crenshaw learned of Penick's death on Sunday night while dining at the Augusta clubhouse. He flew to Austin, Texas on Wednesday morning to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral, along with Tom Kite.