This year's Masters had everything, including a stacked leaderboard on the back nine on Sunday, Tiger Woods in the mix, and a first-time winner of the green jacket in South African Charl Schwartzel. The tournament also saw a 21-year old Irishman, Rory McIlroy, cough up the lead on the tenth hole and never recover. McIlroy drove his tee shot way left on the tenth, leading to a triple bogey. He double bogeyed the twelfth hole, as well. What had been a four stroke lead heading into Sunday wound up being a ten shot deficit to the eventual winner Schwartzel. McIlroy's final round score was an 80. He said he would use the loss at Augusta as a learning experience.
A lot of sports journalists and golf insiders have pummeled McIlroy in the press for his "collapse." I think that some of what has been said is overkill and overstatement. McIlroy is only 21 and that needs to be taken into account. He is one of the most talented young players in the game today and many, including Tiger, say Rory will be the #1 ranked player in the world later in his career. However, Sunday at the Masters was the first time he had ever held the lead in the final round of a major championship. That's a lot of pressure for anyone to handle, even a professional golfer who just happens to be 21.
There's an old saying in sports that you have to lose one to win one. Well, I guess you can chalk up McIlroy's final round performance on Sunday to just that statement. It's only natural to feel the heat, especially if Tiger Woods is vaulting up the leaderboard in front of you and the cheers of thousands of fans are echoing through the Georgia pines. To me, McIlroy's fall from grace on Sunday is nothing compared to Greg Norman's famous Sunday meltdown at the Masters in 1996. He had a six-shot lead on Nick Faldo going into Sunday and completely fell apart, losing the tournament to Faldo. He was a seasoned veteran at that point in his career and had found a way to lose the Masters several times before that. By the way, Norman never won the green jacket, a fate that I do not foresee for McIlroy.
Stuff (I'm avoiding a four letter word here) happens. It happened to Rory McIlroy on Sunday. Tiger didn't collapse, but he surely did shoot himself in the foot on the back nine. He missed a par putt from just a few feet away on the par three 12th, missed a short eagle putt on the par five 15th, and barely missed a birdie putt on the 16th hole. I will say that it was good to see Tiger relevant again. That score of 31 on the front nine that rocketed him to the lead left me on the edge of my seat. Still, he couldn't make anything happen after that. That has been the case at Augusta National since he last won the green jacket in 2005. Woods has been in contention at Augusta pretty much every year since 2005, but his putter has failed him more often than not. If he wants to win again at the Masters, or at any major championship, he has to find a way to make putts when they count.
Mark my words: McIlroy will be back, and when he does break through in a major, it will be with a vengeance. He has a beautiful golf swing that just deserted him on Sunday afternoon. I only wish I had that kind of solid and powerful golf swing. We'll see what he does in the final three majors this season. I hope that the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship are as captivating and exciting as the Masters was. It will be hard to top the peaks and valleys that we saw at Augusta.
