AUGUSTA, Ga. — Charl Schwartzel gave this Masters a finish it deserved.
On a Sunday when the roars at Augusta National came from everywhere and for everyone and didn’t stop until it was over, Schwartzel emerged from the madness by becoming the first Masters champion to close with four consecutive birdies.
His final putt from 20 feet curled into the side of the cup for a 6-under 66, the best closing round at the Masters in 22 years. It gave the 26-year-old South African a two-shot victory over Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day.
“Just an exciting day,” Schwartzel said. “So many roars, and that atmosphere out there was just incredible. A phenomenal day.”
This final round had it all.
First came a fist-pumping charge by Tiger Woods, who erased a seven-shot deficit in nine holes only to go flat on the back nine. Then came the stunning collapse of 21-year-old Rory McIlroy, who put his name in Masters lore for all the wrong reasons.
Still leading by one shot as he headed to the back nine, McIlroy hit a tee shot next to the cabins left of the 10th fairway and twice hit a tree to make triple bogey. He three putted from 7 feet for bogey on the 11th, four-putted from about 12 feet on the next hole and buried his head into his forearm as the shock began to settle in.
McIlroy shot 80, the highest final round by the 54-hole leader since Ken Venturi in 1956. Not since Jean Van de Velde in the 1999 British Openat Carnoustie had someone blown at least a four-shot lead going into the last round of the major.
So wild was this steamy afternoon that eight players had at least a share of the lead on some point during the back nine. The steady hand came from Schwartzel, whose only bogey came on the fourth hole as this Masters was just getting warmed up.
He got up-and-down from behind the 15th green for birdie to briefly tie for the lead, only for Scott to stuff his tee shot into 2 feet up ahead on the par-3 16th. Schwartzel answered with a 15-foot birdie to catch Scott atop the leaderboard again.
Then came the pivotal 17th, where Schwartzel made a 10-foot birdie. It was the first time all day he had the lead to himself, and he finished it off in style.
In so many respects, this looked more like 1986 when Jack Nicklaus charged on the back nine to win a sixth green jacket over a Hall of Fame cast of contenders. There were twice as many possibilities at this Masters, though, from Woods and former Masters champion Angel Cabrera, from Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald, from K.J. Choi and Bo Van Pelt, who made two eagles on the back nine.
Schwartzel set the tone early when he chipped in from about 75 feet across the green for birdie on the opening hole, then holed out from the fairway on No. 3 for eagle. Just like that, McIlroy’s four shot lead was gone.
The cheers were impossible for McIlroy to ignore.
From the second green, where he was scrambling to make par, McIlroy could hear the noise ahead of him for Schwartzel’s eagles. Moments later came another roar to his right on the seventh green, where Woods stuffed one close for another birdie.
Woods’ red shirt looked a little brighter. He walked a little taller. And the cheers kept coming.
The biggest boom from the gallery came on the par-5 eighth, when Woods knocked in an eagle putt to reach 10 under and tie for the lead. There was no mistaking that sound, or who it was for.
Over the next few minutes, more cheers could be heard from all corners of Augusta each time Woods’ score was posted on a leaderboard. He still had the back nine to play, and momentum was on his side.
Not for long, though.
He missed a 3-foot par putt on the 12th, failed to birdie the par-5 13th with a 7-iron for his second shot. Then, after twirling his 7-iron with a shot so pure it settled 4 feet away on the par-5 15th, he missed the 4-foot eagle putt.
Woods closed with a 67, his best final round ever here. But he shot a 36 on the back nine, and that wasn’t enough to win this Masters.
“I got off to a nice start there and posted 31,” Woods said. “And then on the back nine, could have capitalized some more.”
Which shot would he like to have back?
“Oh, we can’t do that,”Woods said. “We do that every week and we would go crazy, wouldn’t we?”
Schwartzel finished at 13-under 274 and moves to No. 11 in the world, making him the No. 1 player in South Africa. He becomes the sixth South African to win a major.
“It’s been such a short time to think about what can happen. It’s a dream for me,” Schwartzel said. “It’s obviously the highlight of my golf career, by a long way. I always thought if there was one I would win, it would be this one.”
Scott, who switched to a long putter in February, took the lead for the first time with a short birdie on the 14th, got his tee shot to tap-in range on the 16th, and a clutch par save from the bunker on the 17th.
He missed his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole that he ran 4 feet by and settled for a 67.
Sports, Pages 13 on 04/11/2011