Was this the greatest Masters ever?

The 75th Masters tournament champion is Rory Mc.....Wait, there was a fourth day to this tournament. After watching most of the coverage on ESPN and surrounding sports networks Rory had to win, it was his destiny, he was going to win at 21 just like tiger won his first masters at 21, and we were going to have our new golf hero. A young kid who came up from nothing to dominate the Masters field and take the world by storm. Oops. Someone forgot to tell him that Sunday at the Masters is more challenging than any other golf outing hes ever been apart of in his life. The pressure, the crowds, the field chasing him, the Tiger Woods effect, and the course itself changing as the weekend went along. On a side note in case you were in a coma over the weekend Mcilroy lead through the first 54 holes of the Masters and then went on to shoot an 80 on the final day. Yes, an 80, tying him for the worst ever Sunday performance by a leader.

So with Mcilroy hitting the proverbial wall it was clearly Tiger Woods' tournament, no one else could possibly beat Tiger Woods especially after he tied his own record by shooting a 31 on the front 9. As Tiger made the turn he was a shot back and still had nine holes to play. The nine holes that he seemingly dominated on Friday when he had two birdies and an eagle on the return to the clubhouse. Well someone forgot to tell him that he has never comeback and won a major tournament let alone the Masters'. He didn't necessarily fall apart, but a bogey on a very easy par 3 12th hole followed up by missing a 4 foot eagle putt on 15 just put the dagger in his chances of winning as he played even golf on the back nine.

So next in line was about 4 or 5 different people. At one point during this tournament you had the aforementioned Tiger Woods, KJ Choi, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel, Bo Van Pelt, and Angel Cabrera all either with a share of the lead or up a shot. There was even talk at one point about how a six way playoff was inevitable and that this tournament could not end without a playoff it was almost impossible. Well it did end without a playoff and I will tell you why. Choi bogeyed 12, 17, and 18 on the back nine and the latter two really put his foot in the grave. Van Pelt fell apart on 16 and 17 when followed two birdies with two bogeys and he was quietly erased from the competition. Cabrera was just plagued by inconsistency all day, it seemed as though every birdie he made was followed up by a bogey, and a 1 under 71 was not going to cut it on this day. Donald just started to far back when the day began, and especially with a double bogey on 12 and a bogey on 17 it would have been hard for him to pull this one out. Ogilvy was another guy who seemingly started to far back as he shot a wonderful 5 under on Sunday but a 1 over on Saturday which killed him and his chances. Scott was another guy who had a great Sunday but could not put together the whole package as going into the weekend he was only 2 under par and despite shooting a 67 on Saturday he bogeyed two of his last three holes. Jason Day was one of the most exciting players to watch in this tournament. He was young, very humbled by the experience and if it wasn't for a Saturday 72 round he would be your Masters champion. He played flawless golf for most of the tournament and could be a guy to look at in the future as a great player. Ah, now on to Schwartzel. The Masters Champion. Yes, Charl Schwartzel a Masters champion. Schwartzel shot under par every round this year at the Masters and that includes a 6 under 66 on the final day to clinch his victory. What was even more impressive than that was the fact that he birdied the last four holes in order to secure the win. He basically looked history, fear, glamor, and the green jacket in the eye and decided that he would be the winner of the 75th Masters Championship. He was literally flawless in every shot he took from 15-18. He all of a sudden had the swagger of a champion. I mean he went to the best golf course in golf history and shot a 14 under par over four rounds. That is simply not supposed to happen at Augusta. Augusta chews up and spits out these unknown players with little background. This was his first tournament win and he did it on the biggest stage there is.

As far as answering the question Was this the greatest Masters ever? It certainly has my vote. An epic collapse, a struggle for the top, the resurgence of the greatest golfer in current memory, and a kid that wins his first ever pro tournament on the biggest stage in golf. If it wasn't the greatest it was pretty close.