The 2009 Masters is in the record books, and we got further proof how
important Tiger Woods is to the game and how the game desperately needs
him and needs him in contention.
The headlines say that Angel Cabrera
won the Green Jacket, and that is obviously true since he outlasted
Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell in a playoff. Yes, Cabrera won the
tournament, but I saw this as he survived some choking by Perry and
Campbell and choked less.
But let's go back to Woods for a minute. The
best in the world was paired with the second-best in the world, Phil
Mickelson, in the true dream pairing one hour behind the leaders.
Mickelson got off to a phenomenal start by posting a record-tying 30 on
the front nine and was just one shot off the lead. Woods kind of limped
through the front and was four off the pace. But then the flood gates
opened and Tiger became Tiger with an eagle at No. 8, moving to
within three shots of the lead. The game was on.
Mickelson faltered at the par-3 12th when he dumped his tee shot into the water and took a double-bogey 5. Tiger birdied 15 and 16 to get within one shot. A bogey at 17
basically took Woods out of the tournament, but for two hours we were
treated to good old-fashioned theater from the two best on the planet.
Meanwhile, it was Perry's Masters to win, not find a way to lose,
and he found it. A two-shot lead coming to 17 went away as he bogeyed
17 and 18 to fall into a three-way playoff with Cabrera and Campbell.
Three top pros took their opportunities as each hit amateur shots to
the green at the first playoff hole, No. 18, and Campbell became the
first to leave by blowing a four-foot putt.
Perry and Cabrera then went
to the second playoff hole and both were in the fairway off the tee.
Perry pulled his second shot left of the green and Cabrera found the
putting surface. Cabrera eventually won the Green Jacket in the dullest
playoff I've ever witnessed when you consider how much better it would
have been if it were Woods and Mickelson in a playoff. And you can make
book it would have been about one or the other hitting a great shot to
win. Instead, we got an uninspiring finish at Augusta National and a
memory of a couple of guys losing the event rather than one player
surviving for the win.
I love the game of golf, but I want the winner to
hit great shots down the stretch, not watching three guys hitting shots
that I can hit. We need Tiger to play the game that makes us tune
in, not watching the Masters decided by an episode of “Survivor”.
If you would like to comment on this blog, please email Howard David at howarddavidh3@yahoo.com.
This blog is written exclusively for ussportspages.com
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