? South African victorious on anniversary of Gary Player's win
? Rory McIlroy suffers huge disappointment in final-round 80
The 2011 Masters was won by the South African Charl Schwartzel but it will always be remembered for the sight of young Rory McIlroy, head in hands and near to tears as his major championship dreams were swept away in the compelling theatre of an Augusta afternoon.
The South African winner shot final round 66, six under par, to beat the field by two shots. The loser, a 21-year-old golfing protege for Holywood, Northern Ireland, was destined for an 80 ? a humiliating outcome for the man who began the final round with a four-shot advantage after staging an exhibition of golf over the previous 54 holes.
Such is the capriciousness of this crazy game, and such is the lesson to be learned by those who forget the ceremony only comes when the last shot is played.
If the sporting world did not know that before it knew it precisely 27 minutes into McIlroy's final round. That was how long it took for his lead to evaporate and his confidence to disappear. A bogie at the 1st, and a couple of lose shots at the 2nd opened a door for his pursuers. Amazingly, they included Tiger Woods. Remember him, the one-time colossus brought down by his personal flaws and a golf swing deemed by popular consent to be a work-in-progress?
Even his peers, who should have known better, doubted the former world No1's ability to come back from the depths. They need doubt no more after he rediscovered the magic and regenerated the excitement that had accompanied his four previous victories here.
In the end his final-round 67, five under par, fell just short of what was needed to secure a famous victory but he knows and, more significantly, his rivals now know, the era of Tiger Woods is not over by a long way.
As for the others, Luke Donald briefly flirted with the lead before bogeying the penultimate hole. On an ordinary day that would have been the end of his hopes but this was no ordinary day.
From the middle of the 18th fairway he hit the flagstick with his approach and saw his ball bounce off the green ? an injustice he quickly corrected by chipping in for an outrageous birdie.
The hugely under-rated Australian Geoff Ogilvy, winner of the 2006 US Open, was another who just came up short, despite a wonderful back nine of 31.
Ogilvy's friend and countryman Adam Scott was no less impressive as he ploughed a steady progress up the leaderboard, making a steady stream of birdies and precious few mistakes. The purists will raise an eyebrow at his use of the long putter ? no player has ever won a major championship using such a club ? but they cannot deny the Australian's ability.
Schwartzel is another whose abilities are unquestioned, even if they were largely unnoticed until now. Likewise Jason Day, who finished on 12-under par alongside Scott.
As for McIlroy, one nightmare round does not change the fact he is the most talented member of the coming generation, though it might cause some to wonder how he comes back from such depths.
He began the final round as an anointed man. Four shots ahead overnight, playing the finest golf of his life and seemingly on course to collect his first major. This was a fine assumption but it faded over his front nine of 37 shots, one over par, and disappeared on a disastrous 10th hole, where his drive clattered off the trees to the left of the fairway and ended up in the gardens of the Butler Cabin, the tradition venue for the Masters prize-giving.
Needless to say, that was the closest he came to that hallowed place. The outcome was a triple-bogey seven and with that his chance was lost.
There was worse to follow as he four-putted the par-three 12th hole and sent his drive at the 13th into the trees, but who had the stomach to look? Not many.
In that short space of time, the youngster was betrayed by his nerves, hitting a series of shots that were nowhere to be seen over the previous 54 holes. At the par-five second, he escaped with a par ? though only just ? after hitting into two separate bunkers.
What a contrast he made with Scott and with Schwartzel, who began the day by chipping in at the first hole for birdie and then holing out for eagle from the third fairway.
Woods was almost as quick out of the blocks. He birdied the par-five 2nd, where he holed from six feet, and then the 3rd, where he hit his approach to 4ft. So far, so good, and there was more to come, with birdies at the 6th and 7th holes.
But he saved his best for 570-yard 8th ? reduced to three blows, the last of which was a 10ft putt that never deviated from its target. With that eagle, he joined McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard on 10 under par and sent the golfing world in paroxysms of excitement.
There was the merest flutter of a problem on the9th, where he hit his drive into the trees and his second into the greenside bunker, but the momentum, and par, was saved by a 20ft put.
The sport has been waiting a long time for this moment, where the best player of the last generation would face McIlroy, the best player of the next generation on the ultimate stage.
"I'm one back. We'll see what happens. I'm going to eat, I'm starving," Woods said after his round.
The play-off he hoped for never happened but there is no doubt the Tiger is prowling again and the next contest should be another dramatic event.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/11/masters-2011-charl-schwartzel
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