PGATOUR.COM's Ross: Any doubt what my favorite is?

When you've covered the past 30 Masters, your memory bank becomes chock full with moments that are etched in one's mind. But one -- we bet you can guess which -- stands head and shoulders above the rest.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- I feel like this is so obvious it's almost a cliché, but my favorite Masters, hand's down, is 1986. 

I had walked the front nine with Jack Nicklaus -- and a few thousand of his closest friends -- that Sunday. When he made the turn, though, Nicklaus still trailed by five strokes so I decided to head to the Quonset hut to watch the rest of the final round on TV.

With every birdie he made in that trademark and tremendous back-nine charge, the roars echoed across the Augusta National. The interesting thing, though, was how a group of normally cynical sportswriters were responding with equal enthusiasm in the press building, as well.

We knew we were witnessing history as Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Greg Norman and Tom Kite all fell by the wayside. Incredibly, the 46-year-old Nicklaus, who had been branded by one scribe as done, washed up even, earlier in the week, was going to win his sixth Green Jacket.

I went out to the 18th when Nicklaus finished because I wanted to be part of the experience and it didn't disappoint. The emotion was palpable with every step he took toward the green. I wondered how I would do the story justice, and to this day, I am not sure that I did.

Nicklaus waited for the rest of the field to finish in the Eisenhower Cabin. He was soon whisked away, and his son Jackie emerged from the building, carrying his dad's clubs as he had all week, and headed for the Green Jacket ceremony.

As he walked briskly up the hill, Jackie told me that his grandmother was there that Sunday to see Nicklaus win. She had been at Augusta National for his first Masters victory, too.

I remember asking Jackie, who I had gotten to know while he was playing golf at the University of North Carolina, how old his grandmother was. He wasn't sure, so he suggested I ask his mom, who was following behind.

I dropped back and introduced myself to Barbara Nicklaus. Before I could ask about her mother-in-law, though, she started talking about how nice I had been to write such good things about Jackie during his UNC career.

I couldn't believe it. Her husband had just won a record sixth Green Jacket, and here she was thanking me for writing about her son. But that's the kind of people the Nicklauses are.