BIRMINGHAM, Mich. -- For the friends and family of Curtis Strange, it was a perplexing situation indeed. They weren't sure whether to send congratulations or condolensces.
What do you say to a guy who was on the verge of completing one of the greatest comebacks ever in a major championship, then blows it all at the bitter end?
'People were afraid to approach me about it,' Strange said Wednesday. 'It was almost like there'd been a death in the family.'
Even his wife doesn't talk about the topic, waiting, instead, for Strange to initiate a conversation.
The bizarre, double-edged calamity, which will be an oft-told tale of golfing lore for years to come, occurred two months ago in the Masters. Strange shot an 80 in the opening round and immediately booked a flight home, sensibly deducing he had little hope of surviving the cut.
Instead, Strange followed with rounds of 65 and 68, and with only nine holes remaining on the final day he held a seemingly secure four-shot lead.
But he bogeyed the 13th and 15th holes as the result of two errant iron shots for which he still is being criticized, and had to settle for a three-way tie for second place behind winner Bernhard Langer.
'It's something that's tough to take, but you have to learn to live with it,' Strange said. 'It's a sad feeling. You go through stages -- sadness, anger at yourself, being upset at yourself because you didn't perform when you should have.
'But I just tried to pick up and go on from there.'
What people don't realize is that Strange takes pleasure in discussing his traumatic change of fortune, finding it therapeutic.
For example, he mentions a banquet he attended at Bristol, Va., about a month following the Masters. He gave a speech, then was ready for a question and answer session.
'There were about 200-250 people there, and when I asked for questions no hands went up,' Strange related. 'I asked them, 'How many of you watched the Masters,' and most of them raised a hand. So I said, 'And you mean you don't have any questions.'
'I started it off by asking myself a couple of questions, and then you couldn't shut them up.'
Despite the deep disappointment, this has been a bonanza year for the 30-year-old Virginian. He has won two tournaments, currently leads the PGA money list with earnings of $423,993 and he has to be considered one of the top choices for the Open beginning Thursday at Oakland Hills.
As a man who once had a reputation for being surly and temperamental, he sees a positive angle to his heartbreaking defeat.
'By losing and talking about it Sunday afternoon (immediately following the championship), people saw Curtis Strange in a different light,' he explained. 'They finally got to see who Curtis Strange is. If I had won, they wouldn't have seen the side of me they saw.
'I would rather have won and they hadn't seen that sensitive side, but people got to see me as a person and not just as a golfer.'
Strange has been criticized for being unnecessarily aggressive on the 13th and 15th holes, but after seeing films of the round, he is satisfied he wasn't entirely wrong.
'There are a lot of armchair quarterbacks in the world,' Strange said. 'I'm one myself in other sports. But there was only one person standing on that fairway that day. I made the decision, and if I can live with the decision then everyone can.'
Strange realizes that he can do a lot to wipe out the Masters memory by winning the Open, and he is thrilled at the opportunity to finish as the year's top money earner.
But there also will be a nagging disappointment.
'I think what a story it would have been,' he said. 'It would have been neat for me, for you, for everyone. But it was not to be.'
