Schwartzel earns first major

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 US Masters | Final Round | 11 Apr 2011

Charl Schwartzel has won the 2011 Masters Tournament by two shots over Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott.

That is the shortened version of the final results on Masters Sunday but while it provides us with the outcome it barely scrapes the surface in terms of describing what happened on one of the most dramatic and tightly contested final days in the history of this great event.

Schwartzel birdied the final four holes of his round although for the 26 year old South African the drama and perhaps the road to victory had started much earlier in the day.

Schwartzel, playing in only his second Masters tournament, began his final round in a four way tie for second but put the writing on the wall with a start he could only have dreamed of.

Schwartzel holed from ten yards off the green at the first and then holed his pitch from the fairway at the third for eagle to move to 11 under and at that point had a share of the lead with McIlroy who had bogeyed his opening hole. They then had a two shot gap on Angel Cabrera but Schwartzel then three putted the 4th for his first and what would be his only bogey of the day.

He was unable to make any further progress through the middle of the round but importantly Schwartzel was not doing anything to lose ground. A series of ten consecutive pars would follow before his amazing finishing burst kicked in.

There were plenty of others however who were staking a claim for the title. When Woods birdied the second and third then eagled the 8th after a magnificent second to 12 feet it was on for young and old. The four time champion had grabbed a share of the lead with Schwartzel and McIlroy after the 54 hole leader missed another short putt at the 5th to slip to 10 under.

McIlroy was clearly battling the demons but at the turn things were not as bad as they might have appeared. He still led by one over Cabrera Schwartzel and Choi as the final group headed for the 10th tee. It would be there that McIlory’s chances and world (for the next few days at least) would fall apart. His tee shot was left but went even further left when it hit a tree. He could only hit it sideways back into the fairway but from there he missed the green and eventually took a triple bogey.

At 8 under he was still only two behind but the momentum had swung so much he would not be seen again. He eventually finished with 80 and in a share of 15th. It became agonising even to watch let alone be in his situation.

The tournament then developed into a battle where any one of eight players could conceivably grab the ascendency over the final eight holes. As McIlroy and Cabrera walked to the 11th tee four players were tied in the lead at 10 under. Schwartzel, Choi, Cabrera and Adam Scott were those four players but just one behind were Jason Day and Tiger Woods with one or two others close enough if good enough.

Day birdied the 12th and 13th and he was at ten under and joined those in the lead but his playing partner and fellow countryman Scott hit a great shot to the 14th and converted to take the lead on his own at 11 under.

Scott then stood in the middle of the 15th fairway with just a mid iron in his hand. The par five and perhaps the title looked at his mercy but perhaps taking on too much he blocked his second and was left with too much to do. In the end he made a great par save but the missed opportunity would prove costly.

Scott hit a great tee shot at the 16th to two feet however and the birdie retained his lead although Schwartzel had just birdied the 15th behind him to move within one. With a one shot lead with two to play Scott hit a horror tee shot at the 17th which actually finished in one of the fairway bunkers on the 7th hole. He did remarkably well to salvage par but when Jason Day holed from 25 feet for birdie at the same hole he too had moved within one.

Schwartzel though kept coming and birdied the 16th to move to 12 under and join Scott in the lead. He then hit a simply stunning shot under the circumstances from the right hand rough on the 17th to 12 feet and when he had made that he led by one over Scott with Day about to birdie the 18th to join Scott in a share of second. Scott missed one last birdie opportunity from 20 feet.

The hopes of the two Australians and Australian golf relied on a mistake by Schwartzel at the 72nd hole but he was not about to blink. A great tee shot was followed by a solid second to 20 feet. The only thing that stood between him and victory was a three putt bogey but instead he holed it and the title was his by two.

Schwartzel is only 26 years of age but has been around professional golf for many years. He had won six European Tour titles up until this week, four of them in his homeland and two in Spain.

Schwartzel gained his European Tour card at the age of 18 and has played the European Tour ever since but now has the golfing world at his feet. This victory gains him full time access to the PGA Tour should he so choose but like Westwood, McIlroy and fellow countryman Louis Oosthuizen he may choose to be ‘a golfer of the world.’

Afterwards he was still trying to get his head around what had just happened. “It’s such a special feeling. I don’t even know where to start. This morning, obviously I’ve never been in sort of a situation like that in a major, and I felt surprisingly very calm. You know, I think Rory must have had lots of pressure on him, to be leading by that far.

“I don’t remember who told me — but someone said — oh, it was Justin Rose that said, “You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” Just sort of calmed myself as much as I could and from the word go on the first hole, things started going for me. You know, it’s always nice when things start in the right direction.

“I mean, it’s been such a short time to think about what can happen. Like I said, it’s a dream for me. It’s obviously the highlight in my golfing career by a long way. You know, I always thought if there was one that I would win, it would be this one. This is the sort of golf course that suits my eye. These are the sort of courses that I grew up on playing with the tree lines, and I just feel really comfortable around it.

“Last year I had problems with the putting. I found the greens were just so quick that, yeah, it was — I’ve never hit the putts so soft from 40 feet and I struggled with that. This year, Nick Price gave me a really good tip, so did David Frost. Nick said when he came over, he used to find the fastest putt on every green and practice that and that’s what I did for the last three weeks. Every tournament I went to, I just practiced the fastest putt I could find, even though they were only five feet, to learn to hit the putts that softly. It really paid off. I felt so good on these greens this week.”

While there will be disappointment amongst the Australians there need not be. Scott provided evidence that the long putter which has been only recently introduced to the bag may well provide the difference between the long awaited major or otherwise. He looked very solid on the fast and treacherous greens of Augusta and that improvement on the greens to go with his outstanding tee to green game hold him in great stead for what lies ahead.

“It was my first time in that atmosphere, that late on a Sunday here and it was fantastic," said Scott. “I enjoyed the day immensely. And playing with Jason was great and we really kind of spurred each other one with our good play. And it was nice that Jason was playing well. I could feed off it and maybe he fed off me. But it was a lot of fun playing the back nine in that position.”

Day defied logic to a large extent with his performance. While those of us who have seen his development over a long period appreciate the potential of the 23 year old, that he played so brilliantly well on debut at Augusta National was a great thrill and perhaps surprise. Even when the momentum swung against him a little early in his round with bogeys at the 1st and 7th he steadied the ship with five birdies from there to keep his hopes alive.

This writer has for a long time believed that Jason Day could develop into Australia’s greatest ever player and what we have seen this week further confirms that opinion.

Geoff Ogilvy clawed his way into contention late in his round with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. He was unable to go on with the great momentum he had built but for Ogilvy it was his best ever Masters tournament by some margin.