A Masters Piece

This year's Masters was by far one of the more exciting tournaments in quite a while. While there may not be an image that stands out quite like Tiger at the 16th hole in 2005, or Phil's reaction after winning his first major. This however, had tension and drama all the way to the final shots, and story lines galore.

The story lines began before play on Sunday did with the final round pairing of Tiger and Phil Mickelson. While most would prefer to see them as the leaders on Sunday, the chance to see them paired together, and trying to one up each other hole for hole was amazing.

Phil had the clear advantage early on, tying a record low with 30 strokes on the front nine. No matter what trouble he got into he hit out of it just fine. He lost some of that gift on the back nine though as he missed a few key putts that would have given him a fighting chance for the win. Still a good score despite a 69% Greens in Regulation and only hitting 61% of the fairways.



Tiger remained steady throughout the day until the end. Although it is rare to see him struggle on the final few holes of a major, it showed that even the great Tiger Woods can not accomplish every miracle.



His collapse on the final holes was forgotten as soon as Kenny Perry arrived though. With a two stroke lead into the final two holes Perry bogeyed both holes after going 22 straight without one. He lost his lead and went into a three man playoff with Chad Campbell, who was stuck between the lure of Tiger vs. Phil and the final pairing, and Angel Cabrera, the eventual winner.

It seemed as though every time Perry had an opportunity to seal the victory he pulled his shot left. The most remembered images of the final round were the pained look on his face after every poor shot. With Cabrera in front of a big oak tree on the first playoff both Campbell and Perry had a chance to knock him out: both hit their ball far right. Angel is saved and eventually wins.

This Masters will be remembered as the one Kenny Perry lost not Angel Cabrera won. That is a shame as Perry is known as the nicest golfer on the whole tour. However, congratulations to Angel Cabrera, (also a very nice man), who never took himself out of contention and gets to bring his second major home to Argentina. Feliicitaciones Angel.