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Schwartzel won his first major championship Sunday. |
The 75th Masters Tournament brought out some of the best kept secrets in golf and began the rejuvenation of another. The biggest story of the tournament belongs to 2011 champion, Charles Schwartzel.
Schwartzel started the final round Sunday at 8 under par, four shots off the lead of 21-year-old Rory McIlroy.
The 26-year-old was in the middle of the pack most of the tournament and even during the final round, but on the back nine with the finish line in sight, the South African made his run. Schwartzel found himself birding the 15th hole, starting a string of four consecutive birdies to close out a remarkable final round.
Schwartzel would finish the tournament 14 under par while going six under for the round. He becomes only the third South African to earn the elusive green jacket, joining the legendary Gary Player and 2008 winner, Trevor Immelman.
As for the leader to start the day, McIlroy seem to hear the footsteps of the great Tiger Woods and began an epic collapse on the back nine. McIlroy started by bogeying the 10th and 11th hole and then double-bogeyed the 12th. McIlroy would finish the round tied for fifteenth at four under par and post his worst round of the weekend, shooting an 80. It goes to show how the pressure can get to even the best of us, including the young man from Northern Ireland.
Woods on the other hand became the youngest player to win a green jacket at age 21 back in 1997 and looked like that kid we once knew this past weekend, especially when wearing his signature Sunday red. Woods started the day seven shots off the lead with a five under par through three rounds of golf.
Then the impossible almost seem to happen. Woods found himself shooting a 31 on the front nine moving him into a share of the lead at one time.
It looked as if Woods was setting himself up for a record-breaking day at Augusta and one of the greatest comebacks in his amazing career. Woods had never won a major championship going into the final round trailing.
The fairy tale ending never came.
Woods would post a 36 on the back nine finishing five under for the day and 10 under for the entire tournament. Woods was already in the clubhouse while Schawartzel was making his run, leaving Woods with nothing to do but watch his fifth green jacket slip away.
The most important thing to come out of this tournament for Woods was to see his confidence level raise and show he can still play with golf's elite. Defending champion Phil Mickelson was not really a factor much of the tournament, besides slipping the green jacket on Schwartezel, finishing one under for the tournament. No player has won back-to-back Master championships since Woods did so in 2001-02.
2012 should not be any different with so much parity in the PGA recently, but the Tiger looks to be hunting once again.
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