Phil Mickelson helps Johnson with his green jacket
|
So how will the
2007 US Masters be remembered? Will it live long in the memory as the event which produced the equal highest winning score (289, one over par), where the hard
Augusta National greens became almost unplayable or where half a dozen Europeans had their chances and blew it?
Maybe
Tiger Woods' failure to crank up a notch down the stretch sticks in your mind (breaking his 4-iron at the 11th in the process), the apparent cold wind reacting poorly on the latest ball technology or Padraig Harrington's comedy of errors at the 15th which cost him an appropriate green jacket?
For me it was the anti-climax of Zach Johnson's victory and the apparent failure of
Justin Rose to produce a tee shot at the 17th after making two successive birdies to get him back in contention.
Johnson was a 200-1 pre-tournament outsider - even Monty had a better chance at 150-1 according to the bookies - who'd shown no form in the build-up. But he hung around the leaderboard with rounds of 71, 73 and 76 as Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini and Stuart Appleby tilted for the title under Tiger's inevitable shadow.
Then crucially Johnson, who describes himself as ' a normal guy with a christian faith from Cedar Rapids, Iowa' chipped in for birdie at the 8th and then holed birdie putts at 13, 14 and 16 to create daylight between himself and his pursuers.
Even so, I was a little irked to hear Johnson ' thank the Lord for being blessed' with the title BEFORE Woods had played his approach to the 17th and still with an outside chance forcing a play-off. Perhaps just the kind of over optimistic talk you'd expect from a golfer with a degree in business management and marketing!
Incidentally, Tiger's approach to the 17th - a 9-iron which ballooned 40 feet short, into the front bunker - sounded painfully familiar.
His cry: 'what the hell was that?' (remember Monty at the 18th at the 2006 US Open?) was hardly rhetorical, more a criticism of the club suggestion of caddie Steve Williams. I fear this long-running relationship may soon have reached its crossroads with the World No.1 looking for a fresh start and a new caddie before the Open at Carnoustie.
So what about the British and Irish challenge? Where did it all go wrong?
Great credit must go to Justin Rose, confirming his leadership midway through the 2004 Masters was no fluke. Despite double bogeys at the first and third holes on Sunday he battled bravely to get within a shot of the lead until his tee shot at 17 (he always seemed to look a tad unbalanced in his follow through) ricochetted 80 yards off line on to the 15th fairway resulting in a third double bogey.
As for Harrington his triple, double and single bogeys at 15 during the week cost him dearly. Unbelievable for a player of his quality to make such basic errors. For Luke Donald, the 9th hole on Sunday proved his nemesis. He admitted he tried to be too cute with his uphill approach as the wind died and sent it trickling back down the hill and only on his third attempt at a chipped recovery did he finally have to settle for triple bogey seven.
So will the US Masters 2007 be remembered as another gripping, epic battle that lived up to its name or merely a series of nearlies, maybes and if only's won by a nobody? We wait with anticipation
your views on the forum.
