Former caddy steals show at Augusta

The last day of The Masters was filled with intrigue and much theater. Entering Sunday, it appeared that perennial favorites, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had too much ground to cover, each beginning the day at –4 for the tournament, seven strokes behind both Angel Cabrera and Kenny Perry. As the afternoon moved along, Mickelson played splendidly and at one point birdied 6 of 7 holes. Despite miscues such as the double-bogie at 12 and missing several very make-able putts, he shot a 67 on Sunday but failed to seal the deal. Woods, who was paired with Mickelson, fought also fought his way back into contention and was one stroke off the lead after his birdie at 16 however a bad tee shot at 17 pretty much ended any chance for victory.

Kenny Perry, who was leading throughout, seemed to have nerves of steel as the field hunted him down. He had chances to advance his lead but played just well enough to maintain it with pars through his first 11 holes. At 12, with above mentioned super-duo giving chase, Perry birdied to move to –12 and eventually birdied at 15 and 16. Chad Campbell, who began the day 2 strokes off the lead, rebounded from bogies at 9 and 11 and Cabrera played well enough down the stretch to pressure Perry. Perry, who hadn’t made any serious mistakes all day, faltered at the wrong time with bogies at 17 and 18 to end up in a 3-way tie with Cabrera and Campbell. In the playoff, Cabrera’s first drive looked to put an end to his chances yet he fought back to par the hole as did Perry. Campbell’s bogie ended his afternoon. In the second playoff hole, it was Cabrera, the former caddy, that outlasted Perry to earn his first green jacket. He is the first golfer from Argentina to earn that honor.