Thursdays are for dreamers, and few dream bigger at the Masters Tournament than Ben Crenshaw.

Ben Crenshaw had gone 10 years without a below-par round at the Masters, but the 54-year-old ended Thursday at 1 under. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

The 54-year-old two-time champion sees golf through different azalea-colored glasses from today's generation. The game and everything associated with it is all about beauty and emotion and poetry and grace.

And miracles.

"I felt like I had a few miracles out here happen," Crenshaw said Thursday.

Maybe you have to believe in miracles when you see a man who hasn't broken par in 11 years at Augusta National Golf Club shoot 71 on a course built beyond his reach.

Maybe you have to believe in miracles when you think of Crenshaw doubled over and weeping after the whispers of the mentor he buried on the eve of the 1995 tournament carried him to an improbable triumph.

Maybe you have to believe in miracles when the "gentle" man wags his finger and "has a feeling" on the eve of the greatest American comeback in Ryder Cup history.

Maybe you have to believe in miracles when his friend and caddie of 30 years, Carl Jackson, says "we could dream a little bit" the day before Crenshaw wakes a few echoes with his style and putter.

"It's not just wishful thinking," Jackson said Wednesday.

"He made me seem like a prophet," Jackson said Thursday. "At least for a day."

At least for a day - when the leaderboard was filled with a mixture of characters - the most unlikely name of all settled into eighth place. Crenshaw hasn't won anything since his emotional tribute to Harvey Penick at Augusta National 11 years ago.

He's missed nine of 10 Masters cuts since. He's posted zero rounds under par since his 68 clipped his dear friend Davis Love III by a stroke.

"It's just been too big for him," Jackson said.

So has the senior circuit. Crenshaw hasn't won anything and counts only four top-five finishes in five seasons on the Champions Tour.

Making his 35th Masters start, Crenshaw makes no illusions about his form.

"It is definitely a young man's course," he said of the layout he played from the member's tees in November. "You come to grips with reality. But to play the course is fun. I don't know how many more years I can play, truthfully."

Crenshaw admits he has to do "a lot of different things in order to play half-decent." Things like leading the field with only 24 putts and getting up and down for pars.

"I have to chip and putt here," he said. "That's the only way I can get around."

That has always been the recipe for success at Augusta National. As the course played firm and fast for the first time in the super-sized era, the under-par crowd was filled with every flavor of player - from big-five bombers Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson to dink-and-dunkers Arron Oberholser and Rocco Mediate.

And then there was Crenshaw, weaving a little more Augusta magic.

"He's one of the greatest putters who ever lived," said Tiger Woods, who stood a shot behind Crenshaw.

Crenshaw basked in the sunshine of a relatively spotless round on the place he loves, in spite of all the changes to it. He stills raves about all of the greenside challenges he calls "fun to play in sort of a morbid way."

"I enjoy playing here so much," he said. "It's meant so much to me. I've been fortunate to be a champion here. ... I know I've been luckier than most."

How much luckier can he get? How many miracles does he have left?

"I just want to play and see where it goes," Crenshaw said.

Making a cut might be dream enough and largely attainable if, as Jackson said, "the good Lord keeps the rain out of here."

Can a 54-year-old really win the Masters on a course that's grown too big for him? Can he win again 11 years after he won again 11 years after he won his first?

"It's doubtful," Crenshaw said. "I wish to say it was different, but it's doubtful. I've had my time here."

Maybe so, but he can still dream a bit.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.