Atlanta, GA 4/11/2011 9:09:46 PM
Sunday at the Masters has a Tiger Charge, Leader Collapse and a Winner out of Nowhere
Sunday at Augusta National was a historical final round at the Master's. Not because the leader started to feel the pressure and collapsed. That has happened before to names bigger than Rory McIlroy and it will happen again. Not because Tiger Woods couldn't come from behind to claim victory. Though he played very well and had a chance Tiger has never come from behind on Sunday to win a major. It is certainly not historical because the winner was someone that nobody expected, that happens regularly. It was a first because there were seven different players who had a share of the lead and a chance to win one of golf's most prestigious tournaments.
The day started with Tiger Woods moving up the leaderboard and into contention after starting the day 6 strokes back at -5. He shot a 31 on the front nine and even notched an eagle on the eight hole. On the back he continued his strong play just missing another eagle but and making his birdie to tie for the lead. He went into the clubhouse at -10 and waited to see if his score would hold up.
He watched as the leader coming into the day, 21 year old McIlroy, lost his composure and gave back strokes on multiple holes. Then Angel Cabrera, who won the tournament in 2009, had a chance but couldn't hold on until the end. Adam Scott and Jason Day both pushed towards the top of the leaderboard finishing tied at -12 and waiting for South African Charl Schwartzel to finish his round in the second to last group.
Schwartzel finished Sunday with four straight birdies to charge forward and win the tournament by two strokes. After a strong start on holes 1 and 3 his finish won him the tournament and a seat at the Champions Dinner for years to come.