Anybody who is a fan of the game of golf got a treat today. The final round of this year's Masters was pretty awesome. That might be hard to understand for somebody who doesn't like golf, but it was amazing. To have that many people in the running on the last day is one thing. To have that many in the running over the last few holes is just crazy. To have a 21 year old start the day with a 4 stroke lead then have Tiger come charging up on him, and then McIlroy blows it anyway. It was just a lot of fun to watch. The entire weekend Rory McIlroy looked solid. His swing was great, but I think the pressure got to him today. It was sad to see him crumble, but he will have plenty more chances. He surely is a better golfer for what he went through today, and he will be back.
There were a lot of big names vying for the win at the end. Just when it looked like somebody was going to pull away, they made a mistake tpull put them back with the field. Tiger had a great front nine and had the chance to post a low score early, but didn't make enough putts on the back nine to put real pressure on the field. Still, he finished just a couple strokes back and if things had gone differently could have found himself in a playoff. Last year he made a run at the green jacket and, like this year, came up short. He had a pretty horrible 2010 season, but from this weekend you got the feeling that 2011 was going to be different. Who knows what we are going to get out of Tiger. He seemed to be playing well, he just couldn't quite put it together. I already can't wait for the US Open.
Going down the stretch today I wasn't sure who was going to come out on top. For sure, I didn't expect Charl Schwarzel to birdie the last 4 holes to rip the title out of the hands of the field. It is impressive golf to string 4 birdies together in any tournament. It is amazing to do it in a major... on the last 4 holes on the final round with so many competitors bunched at the top. Schwarzel made a couple crazy shots early in the day, but I never expected him to be there at the end. He was over-shadowed by KJ Choi, Adam Scott, and Jason Day making their pushes at the end. Not to mention Tiger. But Schwarzel made it happen when it counted most, and it is hard to argue that he didn't deserve to get the win.
I love The Masters. The golf season is fresh. It is great to see the familiar names and the new faces come out and welcome us to springtime. My one complaint would be that the golf season peaks too early. The Masters is my favorite major. The other ones don't have quite the same feel. It will be tough to match the finish we had today in any other tournament this year. Man! That was fun to watch.
