Reflections on the Masters

The 2007 Masters is in the books and it will be remembered as a great tournament for a variety of reasons, including the high scores, the frigid, windy conditions, the victory by little-known Zach Johnson and the inability of Tiger Woods to claim victory after holding the lead during the final round.

I guarantee you that none of the experts picked Johnson, who won with the highest total score in 40-plus years, to win the green jacket. The 31-year-old Iowan has only one PGA Tour victory to his credit but he tore up the Buy.com tour and earned a spot on the last Ryder Cup team. Give him credit for a gutsy performance.

As for Woods, he is kicking himself for making bogeys on No. 17 and No. 18 in the first and third rounds. But as my old uncle said, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a very merry Christmas.” In other words, every player out there left shots on the golf course over the four days of play. Retief Goosen looked like he was going to win until he failed to make birdies on the two par fives on the back side. He might be kicking himself for not going for the greens in two. Rory Sabbatini made a phenomenal eagle at No. 8 and then faded down the stretch. Jerry Kelly missed a very makeable eagle putt and Justin Rose could not sustain his brief charge. Stuart Appleby, playing with Woods, hung tough until he rinsed his tee shot on the short par three and took a five. Finally, defending champion Phil Mickelson made triple bogey on the first hole and then blew an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 6 at least six feet past the hole to eliminate any chance he had.

Now it will be interesting to see how Zach Johnson responds to his victory. Will the win at Augusta propel him to greater heights or will he become the next Orville Moody, the unknown who won a major and then disappeared.

Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Doug Ford.