Strange Gets Another Shot : Golf: Seven-under 65 puts him in position to make up for blown back nine of 10 years ago at Augusta.

AUGUSTA, Ga. —  It’s the 10th anniversary of the Masters disaster of Curtis Strange, the one he can’t forget and can’t get away from, but the one he has a chance to correct today.

In the sunshine Saturday at Augusta National, Strange made the big early move with a seven-under-par 65 that placed him two strokes behind co-leaders Ben Crenshaw and Brian Henninger.

In 1985, Strange shot an 80 in the first round at Augusta, but came back with a 65 on Friday and a 68 on Saturday. After going four under on the front nine Sunday, he found himself leading by four shots with only nine holes to play.

He didn’t win.

Still leading by three strokes, Strange hit his second shot on the par-five 13th into Rae’s Creek in front of the green. He played the ball out of the water, but the ball rolled back into the creek.

Strange took a bogey, but still led by one shot. Then on the par-five 15th, Strange knocked a four-iron into the water, took a bogey and saw Bernhard Langer take the lead with a birdie.

Langer wound up with his first of two Masters titles, Strange wound up with a bogey on No. 18 and bad memory. He shot 71 and finished tied for second.

Ten years after, Strange is still reliving that day.

“I mean, I lost the golf tournament, I finished second, but I played good,” he said Saturday.

“Does it help or hurt tomorrow on the back nine if I am still in contention? Who knows? I don’t think about it, but I’ve won and lost some golf tournaments since then.”

Strange finally bagged his major title at the 1988 U.S. Open, which he won again in 1989. But he hasn’t won a tournament of any kind since then.

Strange thinks that whatever happens, it’s likely to occur on the back nine. That’s what happened to him 10 years ago.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “You’ve got the best par-five in the world at 13. You’ve got holes where you can make a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys.

“I like watching it, much less playing it.”