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Masters countdown, 10 days to go: Larry Mize chips in to win in 1987

Larry Mize celebrates after chipping in for birdie to win the 1987 Masters

With 10 days to go before the 81st Masters, we kick off our top 10 iconic images with the story behind Larry Mize's jump for joy in 1987.

Mize birdied the 72nd hole on the final day to get himself into a play-off with Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros, who both made crucial birdies at the 17th and parred the last to close on three under par.

Larry Mize chips in to beat Greg Norman at the 1987 Masters
Image: Larry Mize faced one of the most difficult shots at Augusta under huge pressure in his 1987 play-off

Ballesteros was eliminated when he failed to match the pars of Mize and Norman at the 10th, and the two remaining challengers both split the fairway at the tough 11th.

Mize then left himself a treacherous chip after bailing out to the right of the green, while Norman played a cautious approach which settled in the front-right fringe - some 50 feet from the hole.

Larry Mize celebrates after chipping in to win the Masters in 1987
Image: The chip dropped in the hole at the 11th, and Mize could barely believe what he had achieved

But as Norman might have been thinking he could have two putts to win the title, Mize defied the level of difficulty - and the prospect of his ball rolling past the pin and into the pond - as he played a perfect pitch which found the bottom of the cup.

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Mize's jump for joy remains one of the most memorable Masters images, and he was soon on his way to the Butler Cabin after the luckless Norman missed the target with his birdie attempt.

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