7:35 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Like cherry bombs in July, the roars went off sporadically and without any warning, causing a series of aural jolts and shockwaves that registered all over the Augusta National grounds.
Charl Schwartzel holed out for eagle from the fairway and Tiger Woods made up seven shots in eight holes, capped by an ear-popping eagle on the eighth hole. Adam Scott holed lengthy, rousing, par-saving putts late Sunday to stay in the hunt.
You name it, from Argentine to South African, Korean to Californian, somebody did it.
The 75th Masters was the major-championship equivalent of five-wide through the final turn in auto racing, a herd of thoroughbreds seemingly headed for a photo finish or an old-fashioned, head-butting rugby scrum, when somebody had to emerge with the ball eventually.
Which brings us to our weekly Pond Scrum itself, a post-Masters postmortem of the most memorable, en masse final round at Augusta National in quite a while.
That is, if it were easy to remember in vivid detail.
Eight different players had at least a share of the lead Sunday, and the cacophony of noise was unpredictably erupting all over the game's most famous expanse. Who, what, where, when and how?
Hope you recorded it.
Fittingly, on the 50th anniversary of Gary Player's first Masters victory, the inaugural win at Augusta by an international player, countryman Schwartzel, 26, became the latest foreign-born player to win a major.
That's four internationals in succession at the Grand Slam tournaments, by the way. And yes, many Americans are counting. That said, the global inclusiveness of the Sunday leaderboard was so comprehensive that it was noted in the U.S. broadcast that every continent not covered by sheets of ice was represented.
Not to mention that Woods was in the mix for his 15th major title. Off the air, during a commercial break, CBS analyst Ian Baker-Finch laughed into the headsets of his cohorts, "How do you think the TV ratings are doing?"
Like the incredible number of guys who had a chance to win Sunday, it's going to be a large figure. With that as the backdrop, European Tour correspondent John Huggan and CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling take the lay of the most famous land in the game and try to put the indescribable day into some semblance of context.
Good luck, boys. With all that happened, that's nigh on impossible.
Well, gents, it might not have been the prettiest Masters ever, but it surely had to rank as one of the most memorable, no? Go ahead, try to describe it.
Elling: Twenty-five years after Jack Nicklaus won the most memorable Masters of them all, we had an almost hilarious run to the wire featuring at least as many cast members. I mean, it was nearly impossible to track. Three different Aussies held a piece of the lead at some point. I pity the folks who had to write lucid play-by-play and reconstruct the timeline. It was complete chaos, utter entropy, out there. At one point, while walking with Rory McIlroy on the second hole, I turned as Charl Schwartzel holed his approach for an eagle on No. 3. A moment later, Tiger Woods made a birdie. There have been days with louder cheers, but never has there been a day with more of them. My head was on a swivel all day. I imagine the global TV ratings will be stratospheric, because every world outpost had somebody in the mix.
Huggan: It was certainly an iconic event. For about two hours there, you couldn't take your eyes off the thing. Everywhere you looked, something extraordinary was happening. And yes, one of the best aspects of the day -- much overlooked, I think -- was the diverse nature of the participants. The future of golf all over the world looks to be in safe hands.
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Charl Schwartzel became the third golfer from South Africa to win the Masters. (Getty Images) |
Huggan: A lot of credit must also go to the green jackets in charge of course set up. Gone are the dark days earlier this century when plodding became the norm. This was a proper Masters, one filled with birdies, eagles and extraordinary shots. Now, if we could just get rid of those silly trees between 15 and 17. Saddest pictures of the last day, of course, were those of young Rory McIlroy. For a while there around Amen Corner, he was all but unwatchable. I can't imagine any true golfer took any pleasure from what the Irishman went through. I only hope he isn't scarred for life by the experience.
Elling: It was so unbelievably topsy-turvy, I had intended to make my way around with McIlroy as part of his coronation walk. That lasted about 30 minutes when he blew a four-shot lead in two holes. Tiger Woods made up his seven-shot overnight deficit in eight holes. Incredible. It defied description. But we scribes gave it a go. It might not have produced Nicklaus as a winner, but it produced a litany of plot twists and a deserving champion. Charl Schwartzel was the best player Sunday. Just as his mate Louis Oosthuizen was the best player at St. Andrews last year. The best man won, period.
Huggan: Yes, the course did a great job of identifying the best. You can't really argue when a guy makes birdies at each of the last four holes to win by two. Schwartzel is the real deal. He has a wonderful swing and suddenly it seems like he can putt too. My only doubt is whether he is interesting enough to satisfy the increased press interest in him that will inevitably follow this win. Hell of a player, though.
Elling: I have no idea how fans on the course were able to put what was happening into context. A bazillion TV viewers had trouble doing it, and they watched almost every meaningful shot from every group. Players themselves had no idea what was happening given the mass logjam on the board, really. Eight different players held a share of the lead Sunday? That's just inexplicably good.
Huggan: And you are being a bit harsh to say that Rory "blew" his lead inside two holes. He started bogey-par, hardly disastrous at that point. It all started going wrong a bit later though.
Elling: And I mean inexplicably good, sort of like a Krispy Kreme donut.
Nobody played better in the late fray than did winner Charl Schwartzel. Why did he win when so many others failed?
Huggan: As per usual at this level, the guy with the hot putter at the right time came through. As well as Schwartzel played, he wasn't any better tee-to-green than the two Aussie runners-up, but he made the putts that counted when they really mattered. It's nearly always that simple.
Contrast Schwartzel's work on the greens with that of Tiger Woods and you'll see what I mean.
Contrast Schwartzel's work on the greens with that of Tiger Woods and you'll see what I mean.
Elling: Geoff Ogilvy might have outplayed him there for a few holes, reeling off those incredible five birdies in a row, but he was too far back to make it stand up. Schwartzel dropped the hammer at the right moment. Just in time, thankfully, or they might still be there, playing. Charl has all the shots. For 26, he is incredibly poised. But we both knew that. He's not a secret for anybody who has been paying attention. Thankfully, for the peace of mind of the PGA Tour, he joined the tour this year. So endeth that European PGA Tour streak, sort of (he is a dual member) at the Grand Slam events. The putting observation is spot-on. Charl used the second-fewest putts for the week. He can roll it and never looked intimidated on the greens.
Huggan: I had to smile when I heard people saying that this proves the young guys "aren't afraid" of Tiger. Well, they're not afraid of this Tiger, the one who can't make a putt on the back nine. The old Tiger, the one with some putting teeth, was a bit scarier. If he comes back -- and I still have doubts about that -- watch out. Elling: Every day that passes, more and more players are saying what Rory said on Saturday night -- "I have beaten every guy on that leaderboard before." Be it Tiger or Phil or the other stars who have carried the weight for so long, we are full-bore into a sea change. The next wave is taking over. That's three straight major wins by players in their mid-20s.
Huggan: I think Ogilvy will still look back on this as an opportunity wasted. He was playing great all week and just couldn't get it done for some reason. His 73 on Saturday is actually where he lost it. But I'm confident he will win a Masters -- you heard it here first.
Elling: How about fellow Aussie Jason Day? That was his first trip to the Masters and he finished second. That kid relishes a fight. He never backed down. He even gave mild-mannered playing partner Adam Scott a staredown on the back nine. He might be the one to break the "Ozzie Duck."
Huggan: While it is never wise to overreact to one week, perhaps the biggest concern must be for the immediate future of American golf. While young Rickie Fowler is clearly a player, right now, right this minute, the game in the U.S. looks a little bereft of real stars outside of the aging Woods and Phil.
Huggan: Sad to say, while I was obviously impressed by the play of Scott and Day, they both came with large caveats. I simply cannot root for anyone using a long putter. Not in a major anyway. That thing Adam uses should be for poking fires not holing putts. And Day? My goodness, he is slow.
To wit, what happened to the American contingent? Can you fellas confirm that there were some Yanks entered?
Elling: I saw one on Saturday. It was Ryan Palmer, who finished 10th. He showed up wearing pink pants, so I know for a fact that there were Americans in the field. In some parts of Texas, where Ryan lives, wearing pink pants will get a guy's butt kicked, sort of like the Yanks got booted around all week. Brutally disappointing as a group. Fans won't care -- for now -- because Lord Eldrick was in the mix. So they will forgive the otherwise weak group effort.
Huggan: You know you're in trouble when someone called Bo is your most serious challenger. Pink pants? See Luke Donald on Saturday -- with a green shirt! Or was it the other way round? Doesn't matter. Very dodgy.
Huggan: Yes, Tiger's presence will do much to deflect attention from the absence of his compatriots. It's been that way for a while, of course. Elling: Bo Van Pelt? He has one career win. That tournament is now defunct and is what the PGA Tour calls an opposite event. That's because it was staged opposite the British Open, where all the varsity players were teeing it up. Yeah, Bo played great, and he led the charge, such as it was. A Charge of a Very Light Brigade.
Huggan: But come on, don't get bogged down on where people come from. Does it really matter? We should be rooting for great golf and that's what we got at the 75th Masters. It was hugely enjoyable.
Elling: Is Tiger Woods a Yank? I heard David Feherty noting that, at one point, every continent was represented on the board but Antarctica. I thought he was counting Woods as a representative of Cablinasia. I believe that's located a short yacht ride from Florida.
Huggan: Exactly. We should be reveling in the international nature of the game at the highest level. With one addition: We need a stronger America.
Elling: I am entirely with you on the hyper-nationalism thing. Luke Donald is about as English as we are. He lives in the States, attended college here, married a Yank and has a baby born in the States. As the years roll past, I forget the nationalities of most of these guys and evaluate based on merit. And, of course, whether they can help me fill up my reporter's notebook.
Huggan: I must admit I was watching most of the action on the BBC feed in the media center. Anything but Sky Sports, where my old mate Monty had people turning off in droves in his analyst role, apparently.
Elling: I saw Monty in the media center Saturday. I was chiding him about whether having the customary lobotomy before joining the media ranks had left a scar. Made him laugh. He was in good-Monty mode. I was told he kept gloating on the air about his Ryder Cup players and calling them "my team." If it fell flat in the U.K., it would have gone over like a lead Titleist here.
Huggan: Monty is still bogged down in Ryder Cup land. When Rory emerged on day one, all Monty could say was how pleased he was that a member of "my team" was atop the leaderboard! Me, me, me ... always the Monty way.
Elling: As for the diminishing Yank factor as the game grows elsewhere, perhaps Schwartzel said it best Saturday: "America is big, but the world is bigger."
How did Augusta National fare as a layout? Did they dial it up properly?
Huggan: Augusta National is gradually edging back to where it should be. The awful Hootie Johnson years will soon be just a bad dream at this rate. But the strategic masterpiece we all love will not be fully restored until those silly trees right of No. 11 and between Nos. 15 and 17 are gone. Every time I look at them, I just shake my head that anyone who supposedly knows anything about golf could be so stupid.
Elling: There seems to be a conceptual setup mindset developing: Fairly benign on Thursday, harder on two middle days, which then sets the stage for Sunday's fireworks. Because if it's easy all four days, Sunday isn't as special, is it? And Sunday was indescribably good. And by indescribable, I mean, impossible to recap in written word, in any semblance of coherence. Like many of your preceding sentences. I bet Tiger would personally pay (and we all know he never pays for anything) to have those trees on 11 yanked out. He seems to hit two or three balls per year in there. If they ever have a Tiger plaque at ANGC, it will be placed on one of the pines trees situated down the right side of the 11th.
Huggan: The sight of Jason Day chipping out -- chipping out at Augusta! -- from behind a particularly mindless example of a Hootie tree right of No. 15 made me shudder. Elling: Absolutely agreed. The whole idea is to be able to go for the green -- at your own peril. Chop-outs are for the U.S. Open.
Huggan: I don't have a problem with ANGC being longer, I might add. Something has to be done if the ball is not to be fixed by the USGA and the R&A. In fact, we have come full circle in that respect: 14 years ago the so-called "Tiger-proofing" began when Woods was hitting short irons to par-5s. Well, that's what we had again this week from the likes of Woodland and Quiros. If only the blazers on both ends of the Atlantic would knock 50 yards off the ball for these guys. Think of the money that would be saved.
The biggest train wreck in recent Masters lore befell Rory McIlroy, who became the third player to blow a 54-hole lead of four or more strokes at Augusta National. What happened?
Elling: You chided me for saying that Rory "blew" his four-shot lead after two holes. We both thoroughly like the kid. He's got charisma, he's got talent, he's the total package. But he three-jacked the first green from 20 feet and butchered the second hole, nearly leaving a ball in a fairway bunker and scrambling to save par on a hole where almost everybody else made a birdie.
Huggan: Yes, that was perhaps the worst aspect of Rory's blowup. He is such an appealing personality and character, which was underlined by the way he handled himself in the immediate aftermath of what had to have been a total nightmare. Did you see him throw his ball to the little kid as he walked off the 18th green? Now contrast that with the boorish Woods.
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Rory McIlroy, who held the lead for three rounds, finished with an 8-over 80. (Getty Images) |
Huggan: When you say Rory "butchered' the second hole, do you mean the par-5 where he made a par? ... It just underlines how hard it is to win one of these things. Which is as it should be, and only underlines just how great Tiger was in his pomp. It is sad that we may never see that level of play from him again.
Elling: Yeah, the homely second hole where he drove in the sand, hit his second shot into the lip of a fairway bunker, hit his third into a bunker, and made one really good shot -- a sand save to temporarily stop the early bleeding. It was as ugly as Luke Donald's wardrobe color scheme on Saturday and you know it. Just being honest here. Rory winning a major would be the best thing to happen to the global game in many ways. He's deadly with 13 clubs in the bag, average with the putter. By the end, I had to avert my eyes when he was on the green.
Huggan: Ugly? When did they start painting pictures on scorecards? Only one thing matters -- the number in the box. If you want to talk ugly, see Rory's putting on 11 and 12. That was painful to watch. I thought he was never going to hole out on the 12th green.
Elling: Another point about winning a major: The three most recent major winners missed the cut last week. I am not at all sure we will have a dominant player for a while. We have many good ones. Any great ones? We shall see.
Huggan: There have never before been so many good players. But great ones? I'm not so sure. Of course, the modern equipment makes it harder for the truly talented to separate himself from the less gifted. That's the biggest reason why there is so much apparent parity at the top.
Speaking of dominant personalities, what was your impression of the play of former No. 1 Tiger Woods, who blitzed the front nine in 31, then putted like an aching geriatric on the back nine and fell out of the mix?
Huggan: Tiger played like the Tiger of old on the front nine. Then he putted like an old Tiger on the back. It was a strange performance overall. But the worst aspect -- from his point of view -- is that, as he stood over putts he used to make every time, he looked unsure of himself. See Nos. 12 and 15 for perfect examples of that.
Elling: If not imperfect examples. We have both been watching this guy for close to 20 years now. We have heard it all, seen it all and written it all. Until Sunday, when I heard a word never before associated with Woods: Yips. And when you think about it, you have to wonder if the putting will ever get better. I honestly lost track of how many inside five feet that he missed. He had six three-jacks for the week, at last count, which is six more than he had when he was winning these things with regularity. He used to go an entire week without one. He had two on the back nine Sunday.
Huggan: He won't be the first great player to be haunted into middle age by increasing ineptitude on the greens. Hogan and Snead did the same. Elling: Same with Palmer. For the folks still rooting for the guy, and judging by the cheers, that's a sizeable number, they can take heart in the fact that he was in the lead on the back nine of a legit tournament for the first time in 19 months of PGA Tour play.
Huggan: He's not yipping. He's just putting poorly. Which can often be the first staging post on the road to yipperdom. But he has a ways to go before we can even hint at that.
Elling: A new word has been minted. We just conjugated "yip." There was actually an unconfirmed story making the rounds that Tiger broke his putter after the third round. It was unconfirmed because his publicist declined to respond to an email from a major media outlet asking for confirmation, clarification or denial. Not saying that means anything, but sometimes, silence says plenty. Frankly, I believe putters deserve to be punished at times. Like a bratty kid.
Huggan: His ball-striking was generally better, though. But it was still clear that he is a work in progress. The poor quality of his bad shots was the tip-off. When he hit a bad one, it was really bad. He seems to be getting there though. Maybe coach Foley isn't a phoney after all. I wouldn't blame Tiger for snapping a shaft or two. In private.
Elling: I guess the tell for Tiger will be how he follows this up. He was fourth at Augusta last year, then didn't top that result over the rest of the season.
Huggan: Yes, this course is ideally suited to his game. A bigger test will come within the narrower confines of Congressional in June.
Lastly, with so many guys throwing elbows at the end, was there a storyline you wanted to see materialize that didn't?
Elling: Is that a nice way of asking, "Will Charl Schwartzel be a popular champion?" He's a sweet kid with a sweet swing, but I get the sense that fans wanted a bigger name to win. They almost always do. Golf is the only sport where most people root against the underdog. As for where this goes from here, Schwartzel's victory will grow and grow in Masters lore only if he continues to win. This one could get better with age. Although, without four hours of final-round video to review, I defy anybody to explain how he did it. The Nicklaus win in 1986 was easy to recap in comparison.
Huggan: Just the obvious one. I think a Rory win would have been hugely beneficial for the game worldwide, such is his broad appeal. Plus, the anarchist in me was disappointed to see that Mr. Finchem won't have to go begging to get the Masters champion in the field at next month's Players Championship.
Elling: Personally, and this is no knock on anybody else, but I was pulling just a bit for Adam Scott down the stretch. An Aussie winning would have been a terrific development, and Scotty employs Greg Norman's battle-scarred caddie, Tony Navarro, who saw his old boss blow a few majors over the years. It would have been a terrific victory for the Aussies, and the game down there can sorely use the lift. Scott is such a nice kid and one of my favorites. Huggan: Schwartzel is a good lad and a nice guy. But he is also a little bit dull. You cannot root for Adam until he gets rid of that putter. I forbid it.
Elling: As it relates to personal color, apparently, Charl is quite the big-game hunter. That's a hobby that won't put him in good stead with many who believe that shooting Tigers should be confined to the golf course.
Huggan: Your point re: Aussie golf is well made. They have some terrific players and wonderful courses -- but no tour to speak of. Yes, can't say killing defenseless animals for sport is appealing to me in any way.
Elling: That broom putter has turned Scott's career around. Yet, as we both know (sing it loud, all together now): No player has ever won a major championship with a long putter. But Tim Clark and Adam Scott have both finished second at the Masters with one. It's going to happen someday. That said, I would love to see it abolished. A major win by a broom putter might do the trick. By the way, Lee Westwood used a belly putter Sunday. He joined the long-stick club. I say let's make the long sticks go long gone.
Huggan: Yes, but I remain confident that the great golfing god in the sky simply won't allow one of those things to win a major.
Elling: After Sunday, more than ever, I believe there actually is a golfing god in the sky (he doesn't carry a 2-iron, either). Annoying watching his children of all makes and models fight it out on Sunday. Somewhere in Antarctica, a child is hitting balls in the snow and saying, "maybe it'll be me, someday." So let it someday come to pass.
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