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Watson Wins Second Masters Title
McIlroy Still to Master Augusta National
Speith Must Wait for Major Win
Oldies Closing in on Major Milestone
Watson Wins Second Masters Title
AUGUSTA, April 14, 2014 (AFP) - Big-driving Bubba Watson captured his second Masters title in three years on Sunday, pulling away from Jordan Spieth on the back nine for a three-stroke victory at Augusta National.
The 35-year-old American fired a three-under par 69 Sunday to finish 72 holes on eight-under 280 and take his second major title, the top prize of $1.62 million from a record $9 million purse and another green jacket.
"I never loved green so much," Watson said. "After giving away that jacket last year, I wanted it back."
Spieth and Sweden's Jonas Blixt, each in his first Masters, shared second on 283 with 50-year-old Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez fourth on 284, Americans Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar sharing fifth on 286 and England's Lee Westwood seventh on 287.
Until a PGA triumph two months ago at Riviera, Watson had not won any title since defeating Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff to win the 2012 Masters, a slump he blamed this week on a hangover effect from his first major crown.
But Watson bounced back in style this week in the year's first major championship, becoming the 17th multiple winner of the Masters with his sixth career title.
"The first one for me, it's almost like I lucked into it," Watson said in comparing his Masters triumphs. "This one was a lot of hard work.
"A small-town guy named Bubba now has two green jackets. That's pretty wild."
Spieth, a 20-year-old Texan, was trying to become the youngest champion in Masters history.
He also could have become the first golfer to win the Masters on his first try since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 and the youngest major winner since Tom Creavy took the 1931 PGA Championship.
"It hurts right now," Spieth said. "Even though it sits a little hard right now it was great and I'll be back.
"Didn't come out on top but I can take a lot of positives out there."
Spieth owned a two-stroke lead on the eighth tee but fell behind after Watson closed the front nine birdie-birdie while Spieth made bogeys at both holes.
"Eight and nine were really the turning point where momentum went my way," said Watson. "Nobody caught fire. There weren't too many birdies after 13."
Spieth missed a five-foot par putt at the par-5 eighth while Watson tapped in for birdie to put them both on seven under. Watson curled in a tricky 12-foot birdie putt at the ninth while Spieth lipped out a five-foot par putt.
"Two two-stroke swings in a row, on this golf course, is very difficult to come back from," Spieth said. "Hats off to Bubba. When he's playing like that it's hard to catch him."
Watson fell to seven under with a bogey to begin the back nine, his lead trimmed to a single shot, but Amen Corner -- the course's famed 11th, 12th and 13th holes -- dampened Spieth's bid to rewrite the Masters record book.
Spieth found a slope at the par-3 12th and his ball rolled into Rae's Creek on the way to a bogey.
Watson drove the ball 360 yards at the par-5 13th on his way to a birdie that left him exiting Amen Corner on eight under, three ahead of Spieth and Blixt.
"His drive on 13, I'll never forget," Spieth said. "I thought it was out-of-bounds 70 yards left and it was perfect."
From there, Watson parred his way to the clubhouse, risking an approach through trees at the par-5 15th and a draw around tree limbs at 17 that paid off to help produce pars.
Ted Scott, Watson's caddie, still marvels at some shots.
"Every single day I just go, 'How do you do that?' Scott said, adding that as they walked up the 18th hole he asked, "Are you from Mars or something because I don't believe that you can hit these shots that you hit."
'I just remember hanging on'
"I don't remember the last few holes," Watson said. "I just remember hanging on. I was just thinking, 'Make pars. Make pars.'"
After Watson sank his final putt, he tearfully hugged caddie Ted Scott, picked up his two-year-old son Caleb and exchanged high-five hand slaps in a lap around the green.
"Seeing him, what a blessing that is," Watson said of his adopted child. "What an amazing feeling as a parent.
"Having my son means more to me than a green jacket."
Watson became only the third multiple winner over the past 22 majors, joining Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson with two wins in that span.
Spieth fired a 72 while Blixt shot 71.
Blixt could have been the first Swedish man to claim a major crown and Europe's first Masters winner since Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999.
Tiger Woods, absent after surgery to ease a pinched nerve, remained atop the rankings as those able to overtake him -- 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, fellow Australian Jason Day and Swede Henrik Stenson -- finished well back.
McIlroy Still to Master Augusta National
AUGUSTA, April 13, 2014 (AFP) - Another Masters and another flop for Rory McIlroy, for whom Augusta National and how to play it remain something of a mystery.
The 24-year-old Irishman came into the year's first major as the tournament favorite once Tiger Woods had pulled out though injury.
But a second round of 77, marked by two double-bogey sixes, sealed his fate and even though he finished well with a 69 on Sunday, giving him a career-best Master finish of tied for eighth, it was scant consolation for what had been otherwise a disappointing week.
McIlroy said that his failure to take advantage of the four par-fives the course offers up for birdies was crucial to his hopes.
"I played the par-fives in even par this week, which you just can't do out here. I'm even par for the tournament and even par for the par-fives.
"So you're looking to play the par-fives somewhere around 10- to 12-under par. And obviously if I had done that it would have been a different story."
Sadly for McIlroy, the story so far in six appearances at Augusta National has always been the same -- one of frustration and at times despair.
Three years ago, he took a four-stroke lead into the Masters final round and endured a horrible meltdown down the back nine encapsulated by the image of him slumped over his club head, resting on his hands in reaction to hitting a wild tee-shot on the 13th.
He did quickly rebound from that to win his first major two months later, taking the US Open at Congressional in Washington by eight strokes, and added the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
But Augusta National remains a work in progress.
"It has been a frustrating week because I felt like from tee-to-green I played as good as the leaders," he said.
"I don't think I've ever played as good tee-to-green around this course as I have this week.
"I feel more comfortable here. I feel like I can go out and play my game and hit the shots. I'm definitely not as tentative around this place as I used to be.
"I'm becoming a lot more aggressive and hitting iron shots closer and I think that's a good thing because I just feel more comfortable on the golf course.
"I'm not as scared with some of the trouble, runoffs. Because you know what to expect."
Next up for McIlroy is Quail Hollow at Charlotte, which he has won before, and the Players Championship before turning his attention to June's second major of the year - the US Open at Pinehurst.
"It felt really good in Houston. Last weekend, I shot 65. And today was a little better," he said.
"But at least that gives me something to work on the next couple of weeks heading to Charlotte and obviously building up towards the US Open."
Speith Must Wait for Major Win
AUGUSTA, April 14, 2014 (AFP) - Jordan Spieth missed his chance to make history as the youngest Masters winner but learned he has the patience to deal with contending at a major championship.
The 20-year-old American settled for a level-par 72 Sunday and a share of second place with Swede Jonas Blixt at Augusta National, his five-under 283 three shots behind winner Bubba Watson.
Spieth, vying to be the first Masters debutante to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, led by two strokes with 11 holes remaining, but made bogeys at eight and nine while Watson birdied both to take the lead for good.
"I've worked my whole life to lead Augusta on Sunday and although I feel like it's very early in my career and I'll have more chances, it's a stinger," Spieth said.
"I had it in my hands and I could have gone forward with it and just didn't quite make the putts and that's what it came down to. But ultimately, I'm very happy with the week, happy with the way my game is at going forward.
"The standing ovation coming down the back nine of Augusta is a feeling I won't forget."
One of the big lessons Spieth learned is that he has the discipline to wait for the right chances to attack, a key asset when seeking major golf titles.
"I learned that I actually can have patience," Spieth said. "That's something I've been struggling with when in these kind of positions. That's why I don't think I've won more when I've had a chance.
"This week I proved to myself that if I can go in with that kind of attitude that I'll be successful more often than not.
"I feel like I'm ready to win. It's just a matter of time and maybe a little bit of course knowledge."
Still, the tension of the final-group in the last day of a major and a late afternoon start when he was too excited to sleep very late all taxed his patience when he needed it most.
"Not quite as patient as I was the first three rounds on holding emotions. I was very close," Spieth said. "It was still the best I've ever done on a Sunday and I know that it can only improve from there and that's what's driving me to get back out."
Spieth's frustration bubbled over on the back nine when he slammed a club into the 10th fairway after putting an approach into a bunker, later flipping another club in disappointment.
Ready to win on big stage
That was part of lessons Augusta National teaches even the best of players at times.
"To know I was that close and really performed mentally better than I could have anticipated, that's very reassuring going forward," Spieth said.
"I feel I'm ready to win on this kind of stage and that's really cool. I can see why, even when you're playing your A game, it's difficult for a first time winner to pop up here, because it's just so hard with the subtleties of the greens.
"It may have made a difference by about three shots during the week."
Spieth met a season goal and a life's dream by contending at the Masters on Sunday, even though he did not win.
"Got off to kind of a dream start. I was 3-under through the first seven," Spieth said. "If you told me that when I woke up this morning, I would have thought it would be difficult for me to not win."
Spieth said he never doubted himself, although he found the water at the par-3 12th for bogey and saw Watson smash a 360-yard drive at 13 to set up a birdie that stretched the margin wide for good.
"I didn't feel any rush or any kind of extra tension. I still felt confident going into the back nine," Spieth said. "I still believed I could win."
Blixt Dreaming of Ryder Cup
AUGUSTA, April 14, 2014 (AFP) - Sweden's Jonas Blixt, pushing to play for Europe's Ryder Cup team, took his second top-four finish in three career major starts on Sunday at the Masters yet still feels cursed.
Blixt fired a one-under par 71 Sunday to share second with Jordan Spieth at the 78th Masters, each of them on five-under 283, three shots behind winner Bubba Watson.
Blixt, who finished fourth last August at the PGA Championship, hopes his efforts will be enough to convince European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, whose name he struggled to recall, to select him for the squad to defend the trophy in Scotland next September.
"That would be a lifelong dream to appear on one of those teams. I'm going to do everything I can, absolutely everything, to be on that team," Blixt said.
"It's up to Paul McGinley to make the decisions on that. I'm going to try to play as good as I can in order so he doesn't have a choice but to pick me. I would love to be on that team."
No Swedish man has ever won a major and Blixt never came within three shots of the lead on the back nine, adding to his notion of a jinx.
"I hope that curse kind of ends soon," he said. "I'm going to do as much as I can and work hard at it to end it. It almost feels a little bit of a curse because we have so many good players coming through.
"I would love to win a major. That's one of my lifelong dreams."
Blixt was the unlikely leader of the European charge, but never got the birdie chances that might have made him a green jacket threat.
"I played decently, just didn't get my approaches as close as I wanted and didn't give myself enough opportunities to make birdies," Blixt said.
"But I learned a lot and have a lot more new experiences and can't wait to come back."
Blixt could have been the first Masters debutante to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 and had hoped to be the first European winner of a green jacket since Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999.
"It's really tough. You beat your head in a little bit but you can't beat yourself up too bad," he said. "I love majors. I love when it's tough. It's not a shootout. So the harder the better."
Miguel Angel Jimenez, a 50-year-old Spaniard, was fourth on 284 with England's Lee Westwood settling for his 17th top-10 finish in a major without having yet won a title. A bogey at three and double bogey at four blunted his title bid.
"Didn't get off to the start I wanted, 3-over after four, that's just awful," Westwood said. "I was hitting some good shots and getting a few unlucky breaks, so it was just not my day. The greens are difficult to just hit a putt on."
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Dane Thomas Bjorn and Germany's Bernhard Langer were in a pack sharing eighth on level par 288.
Reigning US Open champion Justin Rose of England, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Sweden's Henrik Stenson were in a group on 289.
Rose had the worst day of the lot with a 74.
"The course was definitely playing tricky," Rose said. "I just didn't really get a lot out of today. I'm disappointed with that."
Rose will be defending champion at the next major when the US Open is contested in June at Pinehurst, North Carolina.
"I don't know Pinehurst at all so definitely I'll get some prep going and spend a week there before the tournament and really get to know the golf course," Rose said.
"I'm looking forward to that, I'm going to really work hard from now until then so I keep my hand on the job."
Oldies Closing in on Major Milestone
AUGUSTA, April 14, 2014 (AFP) - A few years back, the idea of a major champion being won by a player in his 50s would have been laughed at. That is no longer the case.
It did not come to pass at the 78th Masters this week at Augusta National, but it was not that far off.
A record six "golden oldies" made the cut and three of them -- 50-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez, 56-year-old Bernhard Langer and 54-year-old Freddie Couples -- were in contention until midway through the round.
Jimenez eventually finished fourth, Langer tied for eighth and Couples shared 20th.
As for their peers, 51-year-old Vijay Singh was tied for 37th, 56-year-old Sandy Lyle tied for 44th and 55-year-old Larry Mize was 51st and last.
Asked how it was that so many older players had made it through to Masters weekend and played so well during the week, Jimenez, best known for his portly belly and his love of cigars and red wine replied: "Well, the people, they take care of themselves. They are being more healthy.
"If you don't want to be here at 50, you shouldn't be here. I love the game, I love competing, and probably that is the reason."
Those sentiments were echoed by Langer, known throughout his career as being a fitness fiend who never smoked, never consumed alcohol and who "looked after himself."
"I think the guys stay in better shape and they know that there's a great Tour with the Champions (Over-50) Tour waiting for them," he said.
"In their late 40s they don't kind of quit and say I'm kind of done. They're actually maybe working harder at it knowing they're going to have five or 10 years, maybe more, on the Champions Tour, so they focus on that and they pace themselves."
Couples, who has been a regular contender in the Masters since turning 50, has another take on it, pointing out that former Masters winners like himself, Langer, Lyle, Mize and Singh are all invited back each year to Augusta National by dint of their wins.
"We play here so many times. I know Bernhard (Langer) just had a great week. I think he shot 69 today which was a great score.
"I think that he has probably played this 30 years also or more. So you get to know the course, you know the wind, you know how to play it.
"Is it surprising? I don't think he's going to tell you it's surprising, but when you look at a 55-year-old and he's going to finish in the top 10, that's something."
It's not all sweetness and light, however.
Scotsman Lyle, the winner in 1988, says Father Time is nagging away at him.
"For me it doesn't get any easier physically," he said.
"Around here (pointing to his head) I still feel about 56, but down there I'm about 80 at the moment.
"My legs are sort of hanging in there, that's when it gets to you is your physical, mental side that can fade away, if you're not careful. You got to have lots of liquids out there."
With the US Open in June generally considered to be too grueling a test for a 50-plus player to win, the next big opportunity for a veteran victory will come in July when the British Open returns to the links at Hoylake.
After all, it was only five years ago that Tom Watson came within a whisker of capturing the Auld Claret Jug at 59 years old when the tournament was held at Turnberry.
Collated fourth round scores and totals in the 78th Masters at Augusta National on Sunday:-
(USA unless stated, par 72, x denotes amateur):
280 - Bubba Watson 69 68 74 69
283 - Jordan Spieth 71 70 70 72, Jonas Blixt (SWE) 70 71 71 71
284 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 71 76 66 71
286 - Matt Kuchar 73 71 68 74, Rickie Fowler 71 75 67 73 287 Lee Westwood (ENG) 73 71 70 73
288 - Bernhard Langer (GER) 72 74 73 69, Kevin Stadler 70 73 72 73, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 77 71 69, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 73 68 73 74, John Senden (AUS) 72 68 75 73, Jimmy Walker 70 72 76 70
289 - Jim Furyk 74 68 72 75, Justin Rose (ENG) 76 70 69 74, Adam Scott (AUS) 69 72 76 72, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 73 70 76 70, Stewart Cink 73 72 76 68, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 73 72 74 70
290 - Chris Kirk 75 72 71 72, Bill Haas 68 78 74 70, Ian Poulter (ENG) 76 70 70 74, Fred Couples 71 71 73 75, Jason Day (AUS) 75 73 70 72
291 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 69 75 75 72
292 - Hunter Mahan 74 72 74 72, Joost Luiten (NED) 75 73 77 67, Gary Woodland 70 77 69 76, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 74 72 74 72, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 75 69 74 74
293 - Steve Stricker 72 73 73 75, Russell Henley 73 70 75 75, Martin Kaymer (GER) 75 72 73 73
294 - Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP) 74 74 73 73, Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 71 72 81 70, KJ Choi (KOR) 70 75 78 71
295 - Brendon De Jonge 74 72 76 73, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 75 71 74 75, Billy Horschel 75 72 75 73, Brandt Snedeker 70 74 80 71, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 73 74 75 73
296 - Lucas Glover 75 69 77 75, Kevin Streelman 72 71 74 79
297 - Nick Watney 72 75 76 74, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 74 72 76 75, Mike Weir (CAN) 73 72 79 73, Darren Clarke (NIR) 74 74 73 76, Sandy Lyle (SCO) 76 72 76 73
298 - (x) Oliver Goss (AUS) 76 71 76 75
299 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 71 76 76 76
304 - Larry Mize 74 72 79 79