Masters Shout-out

I know it is difficult for many to get excited about Golf on television (including many followers of this blog), but the Masters wrapped up this afternoon in true Masters fashion.  Only one of the few times when the eventual Masters Champ did not come from the final pairing, the Masters remained an open race to almost ten players on the last day.  At one point in time during the final round six players had a share of the lead, and seven different players lead the masters at some point during the final round, including Tiger Woods, who seemingly found his “Masters Touch” on the front nine when he birdied four holes, eagled another, and only had one bogey to claim a share of the lead heading into the back nine.  Of course Tiger (who remained at ten under for the tournament) and others slowed on the back nine, and eventually fell short to the 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel.  Charl, who is from South Africa, a seemingly unknown to most of the common Golf watchers, has apparently underachieved for many years and has been touted as a talent to watch by professional golfers in the past.  Congratulations to Charl who birdie the last four holes in the tournament to walk away with the Championship, that just so happen to fall on the 50^th Anniversary (to the day) that Gary Player (also from South Africa) became the first international player to win a Green Jacket.

Notable Shout-out to the young Rory McIlroy from Norther Ireland, only 21 years of age, who lead the Masters through the first three rounds, and entered Sunday's final round with a four stroke lead.  Rory continued to lead or Co-lead the Masters through his 63rd hole, before he had an epic collapse, finishing with a final round score of 80.  Rory, who seemed to make no mistakes in the first three rounds, must have saved all of his miscues for the final day, and finished ten strokes behind the eventual Champion.  Watching Rory’s collapse was at time difficult to watch and heart breaking, but everything and everyone seemed to indicate that this young man has a good head on his shoulders, and in his post round interview he mentioned learning from this experience and evaluating what he can take away to become a better player in the future.

If you missed it, there is always next years Masters

Jake