My memory of last year's Masters at Augusta is that on the opening day Billy Casper, one of the "golden oldies" still playing in the event, made history.

Nobody before had hit five balls into the lake on the short 16th. Nobody before had taken 14 on any hole in the tournament.

When he finished Casper, 73 years old and winner in 1970, had completed a round of 106. Nobody had scored more than 95 before. And nobody had taken 57 on the inward half before.

It was not as if it all went wrong at the 16th either. Casper's front nine 49 equalled the worst ever.

Now, though, 12 months on you can be excused for thinking that it was all a figment of somebody's imagination.

The Masters media guide for next month's tournament arrived recently. At 380 pages it landed with a thud.

Right at the end is the player summary, recording the deeds of every player who has ever appeared. For Billy Casper it states that the last year he played was 2001, not 2005. And that his highest-ever round was 89, not 106.

In the record section the highest front nine score listed is the 49 of Charles Kunkle in 1959. No mention of Casper matching that. The highest back nines are the 49s of Jess Sweetser in 1936, Richard Chapman and Tony Manero in 1955 and Frank Conner in 1982. No mention of Casper's 57.

No surprise then to see the highest round given as Kunkle's 95, not Casper's 106. Or the highest score on the 16th Herman Barron's 11 in 1950, not Casper's 14. Or the highest score on any hole not his 14, but Tom Weiskopf's 13 at the 12th in 1980 and Tommy Nakajima's 13 on the 13th in 1978.

So why the omissions? Because when Casper came off the course he kept his scorecard in his pocket and said he was withdrawing.

Officially therefore, because the card was not signed, handed in and verified, the round was scrubbed out. It did not happen. It never was.

Except we all know what we saw. And whether Casper likes it or not the round will be remembered, albeit unofficially.

"I have the card - I'm going to frame it," he said. "I have kids and grandchildren here and I had to finish for them.

"The score doesn't mean anything. I couldn't make a swing, but I just wanted to do it one more time."

He had not played in the previous three Masters but, urged on by his offspring and with a lifetime exemption for winning the title, he decided to make one more appearance.

"I started out with six balls and then thought I'd better take a dozen." He would have run out but for that decision.

There are plenty of other sportsmen who might wish that on a day when it all went horribly wrong they could "do a Casper" and wipe it out.

David Seaman at the last World Cup, for instance, when that free-kick from Ronaldinho dropped over his head into the net.

"Sorry, strike that one from the record books. I'm not handing in my scorecard," the ex-Arsenal keeper would love to have been able to say.

Or Malcolm Nash when he was smashed for those six sixes in an over by Gary Sobers. "Let's not count those. I'm withdrawing."

We have had all had days we'd like to forget and on golf club noticeboards everywhere you will see the "No Return" against some people's names.

Normally it's a way to hide embarrassment, but a professional sportsman, however old he is and especially one who's won the event in the past, should not need to resort to that.

If 106 was the best Casper could do on the day then 106 it is and that is what should be recorded. Not "withdrew" as appears in the Masters media guide.

Jack Nicklaus was not particularly proud of his last two rounds in the tournament before he retired, but 77 and 76 are there for all to see.

Arnold Palmer made the halfway cut only 23 times in the record 50 Masters he played, but you can still find out what he scored in the other 27.

Two years ago the great man bowed out with two rounds of 84. In 2002 he shot 89, his worst-ever score, and 85. Thirty over par for 36 holes - but it's there in black and white.

The Open championship has an age restriction on its past champions. They cannot keep playing beyond 65.

The Masters is the only one of the four majors to give a lifetime exemption to its winners and allowing them back has produced some memorable moments.

No-one who was there will forget Nicklaus's last-day charge in 1998 - when he was 58 - that eventually brought him a sixth place finish. Palmer's round of 76 in 2001 when he was 70 was some achievement.

And for years, of course, the first day crowds lined the first fairway to see Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead tee off as honorary starters, Sarazen continuing in that role until he was 97.

In their later years the trio never went further than the first tee. But having decided to play the entire course last year should Casper really have been the arbitrator in whether his score counted or not?