Wow! What a great Masters! There were so many great story lines this year. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus with the ceremonial first drives. Tom Watson near the top of the leaderboard after round 1. Fred Couples, at 50 years old, trying to become the oldest Masters champion and hitting it longer than the young guns. Phil Mickelson playing his heart out for his wife who was too weak from her breast cancer treatment to attend the event until Sunday afternoon. Lee Westwood trying to win his first major after falling out of the top 100 golfers in the world a few years ago. Anthony Kim, the possible future of American golf. And, of course, Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf after an eventful 5 month hiatus.
And what spectacular golf! Phil Mickelson's stretch of eagle, eagle, birdie (missing an eagle by inches) on holes 13, 14 and 15 on Saturday was unbelievable. His bogey-free 67 on Sunday splitting the trees from the pine needles on No. 14, carrying Ray's Creek and stopping 5 feet from the flagstick ranks up there with some of the great shots in Master's lore. Lee Westwood's steady nerves and clutch shot-making and putting in the midst of Mickelson's barrage on Saturday and Sunday showed everyone that it is only a matter of time until he wins his first major. And Tiger Woods shooting 11 under par at the Masters without playing competitive golf for 5 months.
Tiger's round on Sunday was both bizarre and beautiful, although not at the same time. Tiger started out +3 through five holes and did not hit one good shot. He then holes a shot from the fairway on No. 7 for an eagle and birdies No. 8 and No. 9 to finish the front 9 at -1. On the back nine, Tiger either cannot find the fairway with his driver or pops up his drive like a mid-iron, and when he hits a great iron into No. 14 he misses the birdie putt and then misses the par putt! Somehow, Tiger grinds and makes some spectacular shots and finishes the back nine at -2 for a 69 (some of my "World Of" friends thought that the 69 score was apropos for Tiger). If Tiger plays the first five holes at even par and makes the short birdie putt on No. 14, Phil needs to make the birdie on No. 18 to force a playoff.
Now that the Masters is over, I need to get back to the important business of breaking 85 and reducing my handicap to single digits.
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