Masters Sunday

Issue: Hell of a Sunday, no?

Short Answer: It most certainly was.

Reasoning: I wrote about what the Masters means to me here.  To the golfers, however, it means quite a bit more.  To win a Masters Tournament means to cement your name in the history books.  Just ask Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, or Arnold Palmer.  Or ask Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, or, you guessed it, Charl Schwartzel.  Maybe Charl will win a bunch of times over the next decade and we can put him into the former list.  But, I'm betting he doesn't, and we can keep his name on the latter list.  Yesterday was ol' Charlie's first ever win on the PGA Tour, even though he played as if he had done it hundreds of times before.  Schwartzel was unflappable in birdieing the final four holes of the tournament, although the last birdie was not needed, it put an exclamation point on his win.

To me though, the story wasn't about Schwartzel (alright, it was, but it's no fun to talk about someone that no one knows anything about).  The Masters was more about the following (remember, this is only my opinion):

American golf is being dominated by the world - If you have tuned into the Ryder Cup over the last decade or so, you already know this.  Since 1995, the United States has only won the Ryder Cup twice, and one of those was 1999 when the U.S. put together the greatest comeback in the history of the event (remember the Justin Leonard putt?  And the most horrible shirts in the history of the Cup?).  So what does this have to do with the Masters?  At the end of the third round, the leaderboard looked like this:

1. Rory McIlroy -12 (Northern Ireland (I thought he would shoot his 80 on Saturday, but, you knew it was coming))
2. Angel Cabrera -8 (Argentina)
3. Jason Day -8 (Australia)
4. Charl Schwartzel -8 (South Africa)
5. K.J. Choi -8 (South Korea)
6. Adam Scott -7 (Australia)
7. Luke Donald -7 (England)
8. Bo Van Pelt -6 (United States)

That's right, Bo Van Pelt was the closest American to the lead going into the final round.  Call me crazy, but I don't think anyone really gave Van Pelt much of a shot to win, even after he made eagle at 13 and eagle at 15.  And, guess what?  He bogeyed 16 and 17 and finished at -8, six shots off the lead.  Tiger Woods was the only American to finish in the top 7.  If we don't do something as a country soon, the U.S. Open may have to be renamed.

Tiger Woods IS NOT BACK (yet) - Look, I am a Tiger Woods fan.  I was explaining to someone the other day that we should all be happy to be alive at a time when one of the best golfers to walk the earth is playing the game.  I wrote about Tiger in this very blog here.  And, I have never, and will never, doubt the ability of Tiger.  He got to where he is for a reason, and once he stops being so mechanical, he will dominate again.  During the final round yesterday, I heard a lot of people (experts?) talk about how Tiger, after a front nine 31 (-5), was back.  Wrong.  The old Tiger wouldn't have celebrated so demonstratively after an eagle on hole 8.  Yeah, hole 8.  Still got a few holes to play there, buddy.  The old Tiger would have expected to shoot 31 on the front, and would have brought Augusta to its knees on the back nine.  But, Tiger parred 10 and 11, then missed a 3-footer for par on 12.  I figured it was over right then, but, he still had 13 and 15 to play.  After a huge drive on 13 (with a 3-wood no less), Tiger had a 7-iron into the par 5.  He hit it over the green, misplayed his chip, missed his birdie, and made par.  They say par is never a bad score, but I beg to differ at that point in the tournament.  Tiger hit it close on 14 and missed his birdie.  Then, on 15, from 215 yards, Tiger stuck it to 4 feet.  He then missed his eagle putt.  A birdie put him back to -10 and into a tie for the lead, but he was 4 holes ahead of the final group, and only 16 is a birdie opportunity on Sunday at Augusta (unless your last name is Schwartzel).  Tiger finished par, par, par and everyone watching had to know his chances were gone.  After a front nine 31, Tiger shot 36 (even par) on a back nine where Schwartzel shot 32, Day shot 32, Scott shot 33, Ogilvy shot 31, Ryan Palmer shot 32, and Justin Rose shot 33.  The opportunity was there for Tiger to win the Masters, and, he did not take it.  The old Tiger would have.

All that being said, I still don't doubt Tiger Woods.  He is not back, yet.  But, he will be.  I can almost guarantee it.  As long as he stays away from Perkins' waitresses and keeps his car on the road.