Australians have made such a habit of losing the Masters that it is only fair they should win one. In the specific case of the new holder of the Green Jacket, Adam Scott, there is even more reason to look upon the victory with endearment.
Australia had provided nine Masters runners-up but not a single winner before Scott’s play-off success over Angel Cabrera. Amid a thrilling Augusta National finale, Scott holed for birdie on the 10th – and second play-off hole – to offset the demons caused by his collapse in the closing holes of the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes last summer.
In a wider context, Scott has gone where his hero and mentor, Greg Norman, could not. Few would begrudge the 32-year-old his glory, including Cabrera going by the gracious exchanges between the pair when Scott brilliantly holed out for the Green Jacket.
This was an uninspiring Augusta Sunday rather than one which produced iconic moments of brilliance, right until the denouement. The onset of prolonged rain may well have played a part in that, but polite cheering rather than vociferous roars echoed around the course.
Scott had missed birdie chance after birdie chance all afternoon. He could be depicted as the first player in with a genuine opportunity of winning the Masters without holing a putt.
That changed on the 18th green, where Scott holed out for a birdie from 20ft. As he hugged and high-fived his caddie, Steve Williams, there would be an inevitable glance towards history; and back to Cabrera’s position in the middle of the fairway.
Cabrera’s response? Brilliance under pressure. An approach shot to 4ft, tap in, and walk to join Scott in a sudden death situation at eight under par.
Through Cabrera, Argentina were seeking a claim on the Green Jacket as well as The Vatican in the early months of 2013. The fitting element to a Cabrera victory would have been thus: the final round of the 77th Masters fell on the 90th birthday of Roberto De Vicenzo, the great Argentine golfer who missed out on an Augusta play-off by virtue of signing for the wrong score. That incident occurred exactly 45 years before Cabrera’s attempt to don a second Green Jacket. Alas, it was not to be.
For the second day in succession, Cabrera had elevated himself to a commanding position at the turn but that was partly by virtue of good breaks from wild tee shots on the opening nine. There was to be no such fortune thereafter; Cabrera let shots slip away on the 10th and 13th in handing fresh initiative to the Australian duo, Scott and Jason Day.
Cabrera was to battle back thanks to a 20ft birdie putt on the 16th that left a three-way tie for the lead. Day’s bogey on 17 meant the battle reverted to a duel although the 25-year-old, who finished second in the Masters of 2011, let a chance to rejoin Cabrera and Scott slip past the 18th hole by the narrowest of margins. Over the closing two rounds, Day played the last three holes in a damaging aggregate of four over par.
Day’s return to the top level after a period in which he lost his way is welcome; he may have cut a forlorn figure walking off the final green but it is impossible to deviate from the sense that his major time will come. And soon.
As all this was unfolding, Brandt Snedeker had already flown off the rails. The man from Nashville has an enjoyable, rapid approach but in high pressure situations – the 2008 Masters and Open Championship of last year – that style can prove counter-productive.
Snedeker, who had tied for the lead by close of play on Saturday, was twitchy. He frittered away shots with successive three-putts on 10 and 11 before failing to take advantage, unlike Scott, on the two par fives that followed. An all-too familiar end of the road beckoned for Snedeker from then on.
Although it is never wise to delve into the territory of ifs and buts, had Tiger Woods’s ball not spun back off the 15th flagstick on Friday afternoon his Masters could have turned out altogether different. That quirk of fate, and that is all it was, cost Woods four shots and triggered all manner of controversy regarding the legitimacy of him remaining in the field.
“We lose more tournaments than we win out here on tour, so that’s just part of the process and I’ll go back to it,” Woods shrugged.
Bernhard Langer, the champion here in 1985 and 1993, had threatened to gatecrash the leaders’ party by birdieing each of the first three holes to reach five under par. The German’s unlikely challenge, though, was to falter around the turn and formally end with a double bogey on the par three 12th. Langer uncharacteristically fell apart from there, finishing two over.
Memories of that 12th hole, in fact, could have triggered some cold sweats by Sunday evening. Kevin Na and Bubba Watson, last year’s winner, both took 10 there while Justin Rose carded a seven. The 12th measures just 155 yards, is one of the most picturesque in world golf, yet thereby highlights the perils of Augusta National despite its stunning beauty.
The most notable, belated push was to arrive from the young Dane Thorbjorn Olesen, in offering further evidence that he is emerging as European golf’s next great hope. Olesen should have legitimate aspirations of a place in the next European Ryder Cup team, for starters.
Olesen outshone more seasoned European campaigners who look no closer now than at any point to ending the run dating back to 1999 without a Masters winner arriving from that continent. Lee Westwood is a case in point, with the Englishman’s flirtation – and it was only that – with glory here undermined by failing to convert some sublime Sunday iron play.
Scott used to know the feeling. No longer. Australia’s curse has been broken.
