Rewriting history

     South African Charl Schwartzel became the first golfer to birdie the final four holes to win a major championship today, shooting a final round 66 for a two stroke Masters win over Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day.  Schwartzel's closing charge capped one of the wildest Sundays in Masters history, a day that witnessed furious charges by Scott, Day, Tiger Woods, Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald. Ten players held at least a share of the lead after third round leader Rory Mcilroy suffered an epic collapse, throwing the doors open and bringing half of the field into contention.

     The roars started early as Tiger Woods scorched for front nine in five under 31 to get into a tie for the lead.  Woods had the look of the Tiger of old as he combined great ball striking with clutch putting, notably holing an 18 foot, momentum saving putt for par after a poor drive on the ninth.  That save followed an eagle on the par five eighth after a striped fairway wood left a putt of just eight feet. Woods had put himself in position for a back nine run at the title only to stall unexpectedly after a three-putt bogey on twelve, an awful par on thirteen after a seven-iron second shot rolled over the green and missing a four foot eagle putt on fifteen.  Woods finished with a lackluster even par 36 on the back to briefly hold the clubhouse lead.  Ogilvy, at one point birdieing five straight and Donald, recovering from a watery double bogey on 12, matched Woods' at -10  before Scott and Day, who birdied the last two holes, finished their own charges at twelve under.  By that time, Schwartzel had birdied fifteen, sixteen and seventeen to take a one stroke lead and watched Scott and Day finish from his drive in the middle of the eighteenth fairway.  A nine iron to twelve feet sealed the deal and a canned putt provided the exclamation point to a historic finish on the most chaotic Sunday in Masters history.

     There were so many players in contention, so many rounds under par in progress that it was impossible to follow every story line.  You didn't even realize that some of the leaders were in contention until their scores were posted.  Ogilvy birdied five straight and got about 30 seconds of television time.  Bo Van Pelt poured in eagle putts on thirteen and fifteen to get within a stroke of the lead and all you saw was tape delay of both putts going in. Schwartzel chipped in from off the planet for birdie on one, jars his second shot on three for eagle and disappeared from sight until his birdie on fifteen. Every time another golfer appeared on the screen, another spectacular shot was being struck, a long putt was being holed and patrons were screaming themselves hoarse.  Donald, who had rinsed his ball on 12, clawed back to nine under and looked to have run out of luck at 18, with his drive coming to rest right up against the fairway bunker.  He played his second shot with his back to the hole, hit a miraculous shot that bounced off of the pin and took a horrible bounce off of the front of the green.  Fittingly, he then chipped in to post ten under.  It seemed like the only players not lighting it up were the two in the last group. Angel Cabrera turned in a serviceable but futile 71 to post an irrelevant nine under while McIlroy suffered through a nightmarish round of 80.

     What can you say about McIlroy?  His struggles were painful to watch and must have been infinitely more painful to live through.  An erratic front nine of one over par 37 still saw him walking to the tenth tee tied for the lead at 11 under.  He then turned the tenth in to a giant sized putt-putt hole, ricocheting his drive dead left off of a tree and playing his second from between two cabins about a hundred yards from the fairway.  A wedge out left a long third which bounced off of the scoreboard to the left of the green, followed by a fourth shot that hit a tree branch and bounced straight back.  From there a chip and two putts added up to a triple-bogey seven and started a spiral that would see him surrender an additional four strokes to par before he managed to find the clown's mouth and head for the locker room.  The picture of Rory reacting to yet another pull hooked drive on thirteen told the story of the day, his brow resting on his arm, hiding his anguish and frustration and searching for a way to compose himself.  He handled himself with grace and class, talking to the media, signing autographs and praising the winner.  You really have to hope that there are more lessons learned than scars created from today's searing rite of passage.  Golf can indeed be a cruel mistress but on the balance, she gave us a beautiful, soaring experience to remember today.

     Perhaps the most interesting events to come from today's rugby scrum of a final round both come from Woods' blistering front nine charge.  The first is that he was able to mount it at all.  It bodes well for Woods, his fans and the game that he seems to be so very close to his old form.  The second is that nearly none of the young guns on the leaderboard wilted as he was making his run.    Almost to a man, they were inspired to new heights rather than intimidated in to making mistakes.  That, ladies and gents, makes for many more interesting experiences to come.  How many weeks to the U.S. Open at Congressional?