Written by Mitch Cyrus

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Another major, another unknown international player garnering the win.  26 year old South African Charl Schwartzel put together a closing string of four consecutive birdies on the last four holes to win the 2011 Masters by two strokes over Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day in one of the most exciting finishes seen in Augusta.

The old adage is that the Masters doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday.  That saying was never more true than for the 2011 version, as the start of the back nine was the end of the day for 56 hole leader Rory McIlroy as he butchered the tenth hole for a triple bogey, leaving a four way tie for the lead between Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera, K.J. Choi, and Charl Schwartzel with Tiger Woods one stroke back and McIlroy, Jason Day, and Geoff Ogilvy two behind and Luke Donald and Bo Van Pelt coming on strong on the back nine to get back into contention.  The race was on, with ten men having a shot at winning it all, including McIlroy, who was still only two strokes back.

That hope ended for Rory on 12, as the kid who did not have a three putt in the first three rounds carded a four putt double bogey to end his day.  He ended up shooting 80 for the final round, a collapse never before seen from a 56 hole leader.  On the positive side, he is only 21, and with the talent he has, expect a bounce back.  McIlroy is destined to win multiple majors, and he has a chance to start that run in June at the U.S. Open.

The third largest shock, after Schwartzel’s win and McIlroy’s collapse, was the run that Tiger Woods put together on the front nine in Sunday.  Woods was wildly erratic all week; shooting an OK 71 on Thursday, charging back into contention on Friday with a personal Masters best 66, and then giving it all back on Saturday with a 74.  Tiger had never come from behind to win a major in the final round, so no one was expecting much as he started the day seven shots out of the lead.  But with the leaders either stumbling or just treading water, Woods made his move on the front nine.  Four birdies and an eagle, offset by a single bogey, and suddenly Tiger’s name was on the top of the board as the advertising executives went wild.

But Tiger is not back yet, despite what some will tell you.  His putting was awful all week, and it totally betrayed him on the back nine as he missed two putts inside of four feet, and couldn’t get anything else to drop.  You knew he was done on the picturesque par 5 13^th when his drive left him with only a seven-iron approach shot to the green, and he pulled it far left.  What would normally had been an easy eagle turned into a devastating par.  Walking off 18 at ten under, Woods knew that there were just too many people out there on the course, and at least one of them would post a better score.

For a while, it looked like that person would be Adam Scott.  When the 30 year old Aussie came within inches of a hole-in-one on the 16^th, I personally thought the tournament was over, and that 12 under would be good enough.  As it ended up; it was only good enough for a tie for second as his playing partner and countryman Jason Day, who played in the final group on Saturday, birdied the last two holes to tie Scott.  It was close-but-no-cigar for Australia, a country of great golfers still waiting desperately for one of their own to win a Masters.

It seemed that most people were waiting for the inevitable collapse of Schwartzel over the last three holes, even after he birdied 15…but the reed thin South African did what a champion is expected to do; make the big shots at the end of the round with the world watching.  15 foot birdie on 16; an approach shot out of the second cut of rough to within six feet on 17; and then banging home a 20 foot exclamation point on 18.

So now, for the first time ever, there is no American holding any of the four major titles, nor the Ryder Cup.  Only four of the top fourteen finishers were from the U.S., none of them under the age of 35 (Woods, Bo Van Pelt, Ryan Palmer and Steve Stricker).  While there are some potential stars in the making in under-30 crowd, none made their presence felt at Augusta.

They’ll have their next chance in June at Congressional Country Club in Maryland for the U.S. Open.