There are many familiar and iconic sights that catch our eye during the week of a Masters. The azaleas, the beautifully manicured fairways in resplendent green, with immaculately white bunkers dotted strategically amongst it all. In terms of more substantive images; Hogan’s Bridge is perhaps the most noteworthy, with it serving as the gateway to the green of one of the world’s most devilishly ingenious par threes. Founder’s Circle in front of the quaint Augusta National clubhouse is another, while Gene Sarazen’s own Bridge on the 15th also provides an instant reminder of defining moments from the past.
However, there is one image that has been a constant part of the Masters Tournament for almost 40 years.
Since 1976, Augusta native Carl Jackson has caddied for Texan Ben Crenshaw at the Masters. And they’ve been through a lot in 38 years. Near-losses, two victories, and enough memories together to sustain a lifetime.
Two wildly different backgrounds, but one forged bond each year at Augusta National.
Now 67 years of age, Jackson will caddie in the Masters for an astonishing 53rd time. Starting at the age of 14, after dropping out of school to provide for his family, he caddied for Billy Burke in the 1961 Tournament, which was won by Gary Player. Nine years later, he would be alongside the legendary South African, who would finish third, one shot out of the playoff between Billy Casper and Gene Littler. Clearly, the stock of the tall and quiet Jackson was rising among the annual competitors at the season’s first major, with his most important and rewarding partnership yet to begin.
Ben Crenshaw was a 24-year-old Texan of slight build and a fiery temperament when he enlisted Jackson’s services in 1976. They would be a perfect foil for each other. Their pairing would bring immediate success, with Ben finishing second behind an inspired and uncatchable Raymond Floyd. From this first year together, it would lead to an enduring friendship that bridged the race issues of the time.
Reflecting on that first year, Crenshaw recollects: “I knew right off the bat that his knowledge of the course would help me. Carl started trying to make me discover things about the course, and it was just really enlightening. He says valuable things and he says them at the right times. He reads me really well. We've had a great time from the start."
Together they would become perennial contenders, with another runner-up finish coming behind Seve Ballesteros in 1983. However, the following year, Crenshaw would claim victory, which legendary writer Dan Jenkins would entitle: ‘Breakthrough for the Heartbreak Kid’.
More years of contention would come throughout the next decade, but their second victorious moment together would be as emotional as it was unexpected. In 1995, aged 43, and having buried his mentor Harvey Penick the day before the tournament, Crenshaw would roll back the years as he won a second Green Jacket with Jackson serving as an on-course guardian as well as caddie.
“I was watching and being protective of Ben the whole week,” Jackson said. “People in the gallery kept reminding him of Mr. Penick. He lost it on 18 fairway, really. Hit a great drive and had an 8-iron to the green and some of the gallery started congratulating him and offering condolences. I had to say, ‘Ben, we have more golf to play here.’ And sure enough he hit a bad 8-iron into a dangerous position.”
Crenshaw’s ball had landed short of the right bunker.
With a difficult chip remaining, particularly under the cloud of emotion, Jackson reflects on the situation: “If he hits it a little short or soft, it will come back down the fairway. I suggested to Ben to play it way over to the right and let the slope bring it back toward the hole and he agreed to that. Some reporter said it was a terrible chip, but he didn’t know we were going where we could make bogey.”
And that’s what Crenshaw did, holing a short putt for bogey before succumbing to an outpouring of pent up emotion. That Sunday, the Masters champion said of his on-course companion: “I can’t say enough about that man.”
This week will be their 38th Masters together. The only break came in 2000, when Jackson was in the middle of a successful battle with cancer. Crenshaw would help cover the cost of the treatment, with Carl quipping: "I was in a hole once or twice in my life, and Ben was there with a shovel."
''We are so lucky to have come this far and shared so many things,'' Crenshaw said. ''I couldn't have accomplished the things I've accomplished here without Carl.''
Carl Jackson speaks about Crenshaw in equally glowing terms: “I couldn’t pick a better friend, employer to work for. Ben has been just 100% the same all of the time.”
It remains to be seen just how many more trips down memory lane there will be for Crenshaw and Jackson. As the course has gotten longer, Ben has gotten older, and it has become an ever increasing struggle to compete around the layout that they both know and love intensely.
“Ben's fire’s still burning,” Jackson stated. “That champion’s fight, it has to subside before you can quit. I watch good putters, but they can’t do it like Ben. His putting stroke was made for fast greens, period. That man knows something about feel that nobody else knows.”
As for the man on the bag himself, “If the Lord will bless me with my health, I’ll come back as long as Ben will have me.”
Let’s hope that there are a few more chapters to be added to their story together.