I have always thought that the sugary-sweet praise of Augusta National, along with its uppity Jim Nantzi-ness and its perfect azaleas, and its "Men's Only" policies were a bit dramatic. At the end of the day, it is still a golf course. It's just varying levels of grass, with some trees and flowers. It's a huge backyard. Wrigley Field is a structure. It is small enough and intimate enough that you can take a tour of the stadium. You can't really take a full tour of the square-miles of Augusta. It isn't a ballpark. There might be history, but it really is no greater than any other swath of grass and bunkers. Hell, it might not even be the most historic Golf Course in the world, with St. Andrews' having just as much history. Because of all of this, the Masters is generally a huge collective ball-washing of Golf and its elitist roots. However, at its heart, the damn thing is still a sporting competition, and that is what made the last couple hours of the Masters such good theatre. The Masters was, for once, a Golf Competition.
Golf isn't a sport I normally watch, or even pay much attention too. There are just too many names, too many courses, too many random tournaments sponsored by odd financial companies that no one would ever juxtapose with an athletic competition. I do make a point to check in every now and then during majors, but only if Tiger is in contention. So, I was not really planning to enter into Masters 2011 on Sunday, with McIllroy leading by four and Tiger seven back. Much to my amazement, when I casually checked the leaderboard on ESPN, Tiger was just three back at -8. The Masters then became a must-see for my Sunday afternoon., and I was treated with everything that the March Madness was not. It had drama, it had great play, it had a glut of players in position to possibly win. It was just a great day of Golf, and I can't believe I loved it.
When I started watching, Tiger Woods was tied for the lead with mini-Tiger Rory McIllroy and Jason Day there. Over the next two hours, the list of names expanded, and the competition just got better. Of course, there was Rory McIllroy's epic crash. He hit shots that would make me proud. However, more than just his erratic drives (into cabins, and tree trunks, and slivers of creek) was his amazing inability to putt anything. He really looked like what a 21-year old kid who was nervous as hell should look. Tiger won the Masters at 21 by 12 strokes. Tiger's also won more majors than Phil Mickelson (4), Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington (all 3) combined. Tiger at 21 was not normal. What McIllroy did was, and it was almost as fun to watch as anything else on Sunday. Not that I was enjoying seeing him play horrible, but I enjoyed watching a kid take the lumps that all champions do. Rafa Nadal lost his first set in a Wimbledon final 6-0. Peyton Manning needed seven years to win a Super Bowl. Seeing a youngster struggle when the moment calls for the opposite is a right of sports. It was exhilarating too see McIllroy man up and deal with the fact that the moment got to him, and that he was only human, and not Tiger version 1.0 (1997-2008). That said, after he quickly erased himself from contention, dropping from -11 to -6 in about the time it took Jim Nantz to explain to us the awesomeness of Butler Cabin, it allowed beautiful Golf to take over.
There was Geoff Ogivly, who was once known as the guy who made the most of Mickelson's breakdown in the 2006 US Open, making five straight birdies and tyeing Tiger in the clubhouse at -5. There was Angel Cabrera, the man who quietly has won two majors since 2007, making a run. There was Adam Scott and KJ Choi, two veterans making Sunday charges. There was Jason Day, who unlike his kid playing partner in the first three rounds (McIllroy) played amazing. There was Tiger entertaining the masses with a brief stretch of Golf that only he is capable of. There was Luke Donald, who chipped in on 18 to finish at -11 and officially end Tiger's chances. Finally, there was Mr. Schwartzel who upped everyone with four straight birdies to shut it down in a closing performance worthy of Mariano Rivera. It was just one player playing great after each other, and Tiger really started it.
Tiger's performance on the front 9, which coincidentally I did not actually watch live (but saw highlights) was the first act in a great production. His performance over those 9 holes in shooting an unimaginable 31 was the first sign that the finale of Masters 2011 would be special. We all that it would be in that Tiger would continue his run and do what he has never done, and come back and win a major. Instead, it just inspired everyone not named Rory McIllroy that was playing behind him to gear up and raise their games as well. When Tiger first got to -10 and tied for the lead, Schwartzel was at -10 as well, but Jason Day was at -9 and Adam Scott was at -7. Even KJ Choi was behind him at -8, along with Angel. All those men would match Tiger, pulled up by his performance. Tiger was the catalyst, and the reaction was just simply put, great golf.
As Tiger finished the rest of his day at even par, Schwartzel went -4, Day went -3 and Scott went -5. KJ Choi, Angel Cabrera, Geoff Ogivly (who basically did what Tiger did in the front nine on the back nine) and Luke Donald all made nice runs, but it was the two Australians and the South African that made the day memorable. Jason Day was the unkown kid who played along the more-known kid in McIllroy for three days, but like a caged dog set free, when the cage of McIllroy's presence left Day, he flew, with a great 68 on Sunday. His put on 17, which he stared over for what seemed like two hours, was drilled to perfection, nailing it from what looked like at least 30 feet. That was the highest pressure moment there could be, playing along a player at -12, Day, who was at -10, absolutely needed a birdie. I'm always astounded how pro's get birdies like that. I mean, you have to hit the ball perfectly. Day had to do all that with the knowledge that his dream depended on it. He did it, and did it with style.
Meanwhile, one hole behind Schwartzel was at -11, and was on the famous 16th hole. The hole immortalized with Tiger's amazing chip in 2005. His second straight birdie brought him to a tie for the lead at -12. It was obvious that Tiger, who shot a -5 on Sunday would come up short. Sure he started the day seven shots off the lead, but that guy who he trailed shot 80. The guys who were beating him were shooting days better than Tiger. That is what was truly impressive. There were four more amazing putts to come. First was Day's on the 18th hole, needing a birdie to tie Scott and pressure him in his upcoming par putt and putting the pressure on Schwartzel. Again, he needed to hit a perfect shot. And again, he nailed it. Scott then had to hit a putt to save par and tie Day from further away. For a guy who supposedly hat putter problems over his career, it was definitely not an easy putt, but on Sunday at the 2011 Masters, many putts became a whole lot easier than normal.
It was at this moment, that Schwartzel birdied 17, and was at -13, needing just a par to win. Of course, on a day that was defined by amazing birdies, from Tiger's first nine, to Ogilvy's four straight, to Choi's run to -10, to Day on hole 17 and 18, and Scott on 17, Schwartzel had one more in him. It was really incredible. The whole event was. Those dueling birdies on Sunday were just an astounding watch. For once, Golf was great becuase everyone involved was just on fire, and all at the same time. It is amazing these types of days in Golf Majors don't happen more often. This is a game where there are scores of talented players who can win any tournament. It makes no sense that players often win by 5 or 6 strokes uncontested. Days like this should happen, where everyone is bunched together, and strings of birdies are connected many times, where the leaderboard is more volatile than the NYSE. This is what Golf could be, and what Golf should be, and for one glorious day, it was just this way. For once, despite the relative anonymity of the winner, the Masters was the greatest Golf show on earth, if only for year.
