Flawless play wins jackets!

Going into the final round of the Masters we as viewers had all we could ask for. We had a star-studded leader board with Mickelson, Westwood, Woods, Choi, and Couples. Only time would tell who could withstand the pressure of golf’s greatest honor.

Freddy Couples had a great pairing with Hunter Mahan and had a quick start birding the first 3 holes. Hewas battling back into the lead but then a bogey on 11 and a double on 12 following a bogey on 16 put a dagger in Freddy’s chances which pushed him out of contention, and was an unfortunate chain of events because it would have been great to see Freddy win.

The K.J. Choi, Tiger Woods pairing was interesting because they had played together the previous three rounds and were still neck and neck going into day four. K.J. wanted to be the 2^nd South Korean to win a major and started off with solid play through 12 and birdies on 2, 6, 8, and 10. He looked like he was on his game and nothing could stop him. Then he bogeyed 13 and 14 to put him out of contention and to finish -11 tied for 4^th place with Woods.

Tiger on the other hand started off horrible and seemed to be scrambling all day long. The media and the fans seemed to be wearing him down. He was in the trees what seemed like nearly every hole. With bogeys on 1, 3, 5, it looked as if Tiger just shot himself out of the tournament. But on cue Tiger rose to the stage with a hole out on 7 for an eagle and birdies on 8 and 9 to put him back within striking distance but no room for error because the field was still 4 strokes ahead of him. Tiger battled hard on the back side but was also battling with himself with miscues. He bogeyed 11, but then had a birdie opportunity on 14 but 3 putted for yet another bogey to push him out of contention. In his interview Tiger stated “ I enter tournaments to win, and I wasn’t able to accomplish that.” So despite his valiant effort and a tie for 4^th place it was sum par for el Tigre.

Lee Westwood was the European who had everything to prove this weekend. Just a couple of years ago he put down the clubs, with no intension of ever picking them back up again. He soon overcame misery, got back in the championship hunt but despite a disappointing finish he stated that he will use this win as a building block and return next year. Westwood bogeyed 1 but then followed with a birdie on 2 and seemed to keep this bogey birdie trend for most of his round not allowing for him to cover much ground. He finished 2^nd overall at -13.

I just want to touch on one more player before we get to the winner. Anthony Kim has been said to be the next up and coming Tiger killer but at age 25 has yet to do so. I believe that he has been paying attention to the press and wanted to come out and prove something to the world this year. We didn’t hear much of him until the 13^th hole where he went birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie and threw up straight up to -12. He had a shot at tying Phil at -14 but was unable to capitalize on 17 and 18. He did prove himself that he can play with the big boys and he is an electric player when he’s hot and is a lot of fun to watch. Kim finished -12 in solo 3^rd.

Now to our main attraction Phil Mickelson. This was an emotional tournament for Phil and his family. Amy being diagnosed with cancer recently has made things hard for Phil. He has skipped out on practice rounds and really struggled with leaving his family to play on tour, so having the family at Augusta was a huge blessing for him. I don’t need to break down Phil’s round too much because this video does it so much better but pay attention to the fist pump on 12 and the shot through the trees on 13 that was a huge momentum turn for the lefty. The par save on 17 and the final birdie on 18 to take it home was the exclamation point on the week for Phil.

The Masters is a tournament that will always hold a special place in my heart and will always bring the thrills and spills that keeps all golf enthusiasts watching. I always look forward to the first part of April for this reason, and can’t wait for the drama to unfold in 2011.