AUGUSTA, Ga. — The rarest shot in golf can happen any time Bubba Watson has a golf club in hands.
Watson was so deep in the woods late Sunday afternoon that he couldn't even see where he was going. With his golf ball nestled on a bed of pine needles, he hit a gap wedge that shot out toward the fairway and hooked some 40 yards and onto the elevated green.
Nothing less than the Masters was riding on the outcome. Nothing else would do except for a page right out of "Bubba golf."
And on a thrill-a-minute Sunday at Augusta National, where Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa made only the fourth double eagle in the 76-year history of this major, it made Watson a Masters champion.
"I've never had a dream go this far, so I can't really say it's a dream come true," Watson said. "I don't even know what happened on the back nine. ... Nervous on every shot, every putt. Went into a playoff. I got in these trees and hit a crazy shot that I saw in my head, and somehow I'm here talking to you with a green jacket on."
His amazing shot in the playoff settled 10 feet from the hole, setting up a simple par for the win.
Lost in all the commotion was Oosthuizen making what is commonly called the rarest shot in golf – an albatross – when his 4-iron from 253 yards on the par-5 second hole landed on the front of the green, took the slope and rolled some 90 feet into the cup for a 2.
This, from a guy who only two weeks ago won by five shots at Bay Hill, presumably signaling a return.
"It was an off week at the wrong time," Woods said.
He tied for 40th with U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, also favored to contend. McIlroy was one shot out of the lead after two rounds, then had a 77-76 weekend.
Woods and McIlroy were expected to be a big part of the show. This being Augusta, the show managed to go on. There simply is no greater theater in golf than the Masters, and it lasted all day.
An ace for Bo Van Pelt on the 16th – the second straight year he has made two eagles on the back nine – for a tournament-best 64. An ace for Adam Scott on the same hole, sending him to a 66.
The loudest cheer was for Oosthuizen's albatross.
Hanson was sizing up a difficult chip from right of the first green when Augusta erupted in cheers from down below. No one was sure what it meant until Hanson and Mickelson hit their tee shots on the par-5 second, glanced over at the white leaderboard behind the eighth green and saw that Oosthuizen had gone from 7 under to 10 under ahead of them.
Hanson made two quick bogeys and never caught back up. Mickelson's tournament might have ended on the fourth hole with one swing, one bad bounce off the bleachers, and two straight right-handed shots that led to triple bogey.
"Oh, no," Mickelson said as his tee shot struck the grandstand and caromed into the woods. He could have gone back to the tee and played his third shot. Instead, he tried to chop out of the trees from the right side and barely moved it a yard. He tried the same shot again and slapped it to a muddy patch of grass. From there he went into the bunker, and triple bogey was the best he could do.
Kuchar made a late run, but this back nine – plus two extra holes – ultimately belonged to Watson and Oosthuizen. And when it was over, austere Augusta National had a guy named "Bubba" in a green jacket.
No comments:
Post a Comment