Masters 2012 Review

Feature post from Matt Dodd. Follow Matt online via Twitter @mattdodd11 or visit his blog at www.mattdodd.com

Masters – Final Day

An emotional Bubba Watson clinched his first ever major by beating Louis Oosthuizen in a play-off at the 76th Masters.

The American’s 68 was enough to earn a play-off with the South African, and then had the luxury of two putts on the second extra hole to claim the Green Jacket.

In an eventful last day, the title looked to be staying in South Africa when Oosthuizen made only the fourth albatross in the history of the Masters on the second.

But Watson hit four birdies in a row on the back nine to claw back and eventually win the tournament.

The favourite going into the final round, Phil Mickelson, played well throughout but hit a triple bogey on the fourth which severely dented his title hopes.

‘Blubba’ Watson

The left-handed 33-year-old was almost unable to speak after winning the Masters. Watson secured his first major title, becoming the eighth consecutive first-time major winner.

Emotionally, he said: "I've never had a dream go this far, so I can't really say it's a dream come true. As a golfer, this is Mecca."

"This is what we strive for, to put on the Green Jacket, to win golf tournaments.

"I don't even know what happened on the back nine. I know I made bogey on 12 and then I birdied four holes in a row. Nervous on every shot, every putt.”

The Curse of the Leaders

It was virtually a theme for the tournament. Once again, the top two leaders couldn’t quite carry their form into the next round. Peter Hanson and Phil Mickelson both had unremarkable last rounds and both finished tied third.

Hanson, who had a one-shot lead going into Sunday, couldn’t rekindle his form from Saturday – despite a couple of late birdies.

But Mickelson was more unlucky than anything. He looked solid over the 18 holes, but his triple-bogey six on the fourth cost him dearly.

He admitted: "That's where it went away [on the fourth] and I don't know what else I would have done differently.

"There was no place to go other than back to the tee. So I took the risk of trying to hit it a few times."

"Tactically I hit that [tee] shot where I had to hit it, which is at the bunker," the 41-year-old insisted. "Anything left of the pin is fine but the right side is almost a sure bogey.

"If it goes into people and stops right there, no problem. If it goes into the grandstand, no problem [but] it hit the metal railing and shot in the trees.

"I didn't mean for it to hit the stand but then I didn't have a chance for an unplayable lie."

Best of the Rest

Adam Scott shot an impressive six-under-par which included a hole-in-one and a chip-in to finish his tournament on a high.

The Australian said: "It was just one of those days. I was playing nicely but there was not a lot going on. I couldn't see it going in.

"And that [chip in on 17] was just complete luck. I was in an awful position. Everything was going my way and it was a fun way to finish this week."

USA’s Bo van Pelt also hit a hole-in-one at the 16^th, to set up a brilliant 64 – the joint lowest final round score.

"Well, it's just golf," said Van Pelt. "We'd all like to pick and choose when we have a good round, but we don't get to do that.

"So, you've just got to keep trying to do the same things week in and week out, trying to get better, and then some days you shoot 64 on the first day and you don't end up winning the golf tournament."