Our dwindling press core summoned their finest insights and bold reactions to Sunday's Masters play. So sit back, prepare to click (remember, right to open in a new tab!) and enjoy a strong media performance. Of course it didn't hurt that there were great stories to tell.
We have all week for the traditional golf course and overall tournament post op, but if you followed the live blog you know we'll be talking about CBS, the extraordinary Masters.com, the golf course setup twist (soft greens save the day!?), the architectural issues remaining (the list is getting shorter!) and the cruelty of ending the Masters in a sudden death playoff.
Alrighty, position those mouse pads and click away.
Ledes
Larry Dorman in the New York Times:
When it comes to sudden changes, head-spinning and gut-wrenching ones, there is once again no place like Augusta National on a Sunday. The first three-man sudden-death playoff in 22 years at the Masters followed a daylong rush of adrenaline-charged roars that cascaded like Niagara Falls across the greensward.
Doug Ferguson for AP:
The Masters delivered the show everyone wanted and a champion no one expected.
From La Nacion:
Angel Cabrera volvió a hacer historia. Escribió otra página llena de gloria para el golf argentino. El cordobés se coronó campeón del Masters de Augusta, y puede sentir ese orgullo de saberse el primer argentino que se prueba el saco verde, un logro que el mismísimo Roberto De Vicenzo no pudo conseguir pese a haber estado a un paso hacerlo.
Comprende?
Lawrence Donegan filing for The Guardian:
Dreams can come true and they did yesterday at Augusta National: for the Masters, for those seeking an ultimate expression of golf's greatest rivalry and, finally, for Angel Cabrera who took the prized Green Jacket to add to the US Open trophy he won two years ago.
Mark Lamport-Stokes writing for Reuters:
Argentina's Angel Cabrera won his second major after a nerve-jangling playoff victory at the U.S. Masters on Sunday, becoming the first South American to claim the prized Green Jacket.
And because he's just that talented, Lamport-Stokes again:
El golfista argentino Angel Cabrera se adjudicó su segundo título en torneos "major" al ganar el domingo el Masters de Augusta en un vibrante desempate.
Back to the King's English, Mark Reason for the Telegraph:
Angel Cabrera of Argentina won the Masters but Kenny Perry lost it on one of the most dramatic afternoons in Augusta history.
Steve Elling for CBSSports.com:
It was Easter Sunday. His name is Angel.
Sappy, yes, but when otherworldly and inexplicable things happen, rational and linear-thinking folks tend to scratch their heads and question the deities about how good fortune sometimes leads to fame.
And Kevin Eason for The Times:
All eyes had been on the two top names in golf and a man bidding to become the oldest winner of a major title, but Ángel Cabrera emerged from one of the most thrilling climaxes in the history of Augusta to become the Masters champion last night.
Angel
Since there weren't too many stories on the champ, let's thank reader Tim for saving us the time looking for Alan Shipnuck and Luis Fernando Llosa's outstanding 2007 SI profile of Cabrera.
And while we're at it, Jaime Diaz's August 2007 profile for Golf Digest, too. Here's Angel's official website.
Kenny
I don't know if it's a language barrier deal but the Kenny Perry stories were in greater abundance and passionately portrayed.
Kevin Mitchell in The Guardian:
At the protracted end of the most extraordinary Masters since Tiger Woods gate-crashed Augusta 12 years ago, and very nearly echoing Jack Nicklaus's win aged 46 here in 1986, Kenny Perry dragged his stiff old bones around the famous course in pursuit of a victory to defy the odds, the years, the lengthening shadows and all reasonable aesthetics.
Gary Van Sickle for golf.com:
It wasn't just the Masters on the line this week for Perry. It was validation for a long and productive career, the realization of a dream. Because the American dream is Kenny Perry. Small-town kid makes good, rags to riches, Horatio Alger — all in one. It's the dream that promises anything is possible if you work hard, try hard, and are tough enough. Or as late NCAA basketball coach Jim Valvano commanded, "Don't give up, don't ever give up."
Thomas Bonk at GolfDigest.com:
Perry said his mother has cancer. He said there is more to his life than losing a major, in a playoff, no matter how it happens. He refused to second-guess himself about not holding on to a lead.
"I'm not going there. I'm not going pity-person on me. All I know is all the big stars make it happen. They are where they are and we're down here.
"I just hope somewhere I can get back there again."
AP's Jim Litke writes:
A golfer doesn't scuffle when he's young just to make the tour, struggle to hold his place throughout the middle of his career and then, at an age when most pros begin mapping out plans for the senior circuit, suddenly discover there's magic in those thick, calloused hands. Perry did.
Bob Harig writing for ESPN.com:
A golfer doesn't scuffle when he's young just to make the tour, struggle to hold his place throughout the middle of his career and then, at an age when most pros begin mapping out plans for the senior circuit, suddenly discover there's magic in those thick, calloused hands. Perry did.
Perry then stopped himself, realizing there are worse things than losing a golf tournament. His mom, Mildred, has cancer. His dad, Ken, is 85 years old, Kenny's biggest fan and supporter, and trying to look after his wife.
His kids, Lesslye, 24, Justin, 23 and Lindsey, 20, were all here, devastated, speechless.
"I got a lot of people hurting right now," Perry said.
No doubt.
And finally, Steve Elling writes:
Time stands still for no man, major winner or runner-up. And the most painful part of the equation is this: What if Perry never again contends on such a grand stage?
Ask anybody over age 50. After a certain point, the memories are all you have. This one's going to sting forever.
Chad
Nancy Armour on Chad Campbell, runner up:
He came out of the scorer’s shed with a determined look on his face, nodding yes when someone asked if he was ready to go. While Perry and Cabrera signed their cards, he and his caddie headed to the 18th tee for the first playoff hole.
Cabrera’s tee shot sailed into the trees on the right side, landing squarely behind a tree. Perry and Campbell’s drives, meanwhile, sat in the middle of the fairway.
“I was pretty excited to hit the fairway,” Campbell said. “I haven’t hit the fairway there all week, I think.”
Tiger And Phil
A vast and entertaining spectrum of takes on Phil and Tiger, Tiger and Phil.
Tim Dahlberg writing for AP:
The record will reflect that Angel Cabrera won this Masters and the coveted green jacket that goes along with it. But anyone watching will tell you that Tiger and Phil stole the show.
The fans who streamed out of Augusta National by the hundreds even as the leaders played the back nine certainly thought so. They could have stuck around for what eventually became the first three-way playoff in 22 years, but there didn’t seem much point after the thrills Woods and Mickelson provided.
Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com:
The early evening and the Masters championship belongs to Cabrera -- no small thing -- but the day, the 75-deep galleries, the loudest roars belonged to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. And for a moment there, when the two of them were just a single stroke out of the lead heading into the 17th hole, this 2009 Masters was almost theirs, too.
"I would say it was the most fun I've ever had on a golf course caddying," said Jim Mackay, who has carried Mickelson's bag for years.
"A couple of shots could have changed the whole world," said Steve Loy, Mickelson's agent.
Cabrera, who won a U.S. Open in 2007 at Oakmont, gets the big paycheck and the sterling replica Masters trophy. But Woods and Mickelson are the two guys who gave this tournament and this Sunday an adrenaline rush. My ears still hurt.
Cameron Morfit on the first tee scene for Tiger and Phil.
You would have thought it was 1997, to judge by the scene as players, caddies, coaches and hangers-on arrived for the final round. Kultida Woods, dressed entirely in red, including a visor the size of a lampshade, strode up in the middle of a red-shirted, Nike-swooshed Tiger posse.
"Hi, Fluff," she said to caddie Mike Cowan, Tiger's former bag man whose marshmallow mustache matched his white coveralls. "Good luck, today."
"Hi, Ma Woods," Cowan said back as he rubbed a towel over Jim Furyk's grips.
Bill Pennington with this on the first tee handshake:
The handshake that followed was frosty and perfunctory, like something two unfriendly neighbors might exchange at church with the pastor watching.
Bill Elliott in The Guardian:
Phil spends hours signing autographs, Tiger avoids as many as he can. Phil talks to everyone and then retreats to his den to watch his bank of TVs and bet on several sports at the same time while Tiger says he loves scuba diving "because no one tries to talk to me down there". Different? If they were any more different these blokes would be playing tours on separate planets.
Melanie Hauser looks at what could have been for Mickelson and talks to wife Amy:
Augusta seems to feed Mickelson’s soul the way it always has with Ben Crenshaw. There’s a spiritual component, a deep-down-in-his-heart reverence for the course that Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie built. For the clubhouse. For the first major of the year.
“He comes here and it’s almost like a religious experience," she said. “He’ll go putt alone. Even in the dark sometimes."
David Dusek on trying to follow Tiger and Phil:
No one had the clout to simply walk up and get a good look at the action from up close. Not even Tida Woods, Tiger's mother, who was walking with Nike's Phil Knight, could get close.
As she crossed a fairway, a fan carrying two empty beer cups said to his friends, "Hey, there's Tiger's mom! She's like Mary Magdalene or something."
T.J. Auclair files an excellent blow-by-blow account of the Tiger-Phil day.
Lorne Rubenstein says even "the game's best players aren't immune to errors at the most critical times."
Jay Busbee isn't so kind, asking if Tiger and Phil choked while Matthew DeBord at Huffington Post wants everyone to get along:
One of these days, Woods and Mickelson are going to need to recognize that, like Palmer and Nicklaus, they are forever joined, even if Tiger will have the grander career. They are both very, very good, and they gave us a fantastic show. It would have been nice to witness them acknowledge it, to each other. No, more than nice. Historic. Competition is all well and good, but sportsmanship lasts longer.
It's so much better when they can't stand each other. We wouldn't have it any other way.
Then again, wouldn't it be fun if they designed a course some day like The King and The Bear? That'd probably get held up in the negotiations. Loy: Phil wants to land his plane first. Steiny: Nope, Tiger always lands first, sorry.
Young Guns
Melanie Hauser on how far John Merrick has come.
John Merrick remembers laying down beside the 18th green here in 2004.
The UCLA senior was exhausted -- from a college event the weekend before and, well, a long night. So he plopped down.
The next thing he knew, someone in a green jacket was standing over him. “Son,’’ he said, “you can’t be laying down.’’
Merrick chuckled. He’s come a long way.
Paul Newberry on Shingo Katayama's fourth place showing.
Still, he equaled Toshi Izawa’s fourth-place finish at the 2001 Masters. No Japanese golfer has ever finished higher than Isao Aoki, runner-up to Jack Nicklaus at the U.S. Open in 1980.
With Katayama and 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa, who failed to make the cut in his first Masters but gained valuable experience, the future certainly looks bright.
“I’m hoping that Japanese golf,” Katayama said, “will be coming forward in the world.”
An unbylined Scottish Herald piece on Rory McIlroy's final round 70 and his joke: "Not to dance in the bunker."
I'm not sure I'd call this dancing, but I sure would call it a penalty.
Old Geezers
Sandy Lyle, quoted in the Scottish Herald:
"It was disappointing not to make par up the last but at least I finished ahead of the current Open champion."
I guess when you aren't the Ryder Cup Captain, you can say things like that.
Larry Mize in his online diary for Masters.com:
This was a great day and a great week for me, but the most exciting thing, I think, for the course and the Tournament was that the roars were back, kind of like the old days.
Augusta Is Back
Dave Kindred for GolfDigest.com:
Before the choke part, the wonder of this Masters was pretty much what Bobby Jones had in mind. This was the Augusta National we love. We've had enough of those forced marches over broken glass, everyone bleeding. Boring bogeys are for the sadists who run the U.S. Open. At the Masters, the idea is that great shots can transform a golf tournament into a thrill ride. And even better, there comes the time, with immortality there for the taking, when a man's right hand suddenly gets a mind of its own. Poor Kenny Perry testifies to that.
Rich Lerner with his Hooks and Cuts, includes several great observations.
Billy Payne’s greatest achievement previously was bringing the Olympic Games to Atlanta. It may now well be bringing the Masters back in all its glory. With help from Mother Nature. And from Tiger, Phil, Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell and Cabrera.
Leonard Shapiro writing for CBSSports:
Augusta National prides itself on giving its "patrons" the best possible experience, but if you watched this heavyweight battle at home, you had the best seat in any house. And yet, just the sonic-boom sound of those roars when Mickelson and Woods began making birdies in bunches had to be worth the price of admission for anyone in those teeming crowds struggling to see a putt here, a drive there.
Michael Bamberger, partaking in this week's SI Golf group serial novel, is right to compliment Fred Ridley and his team for a masterful week setting up the course.
It was a great Masters, but you have to give a big nod to Fred Ridley, the former USGA president and Augusta National member who sets up the course. A course like Augusta National is an artwork, and if you're just a little heavy with blue — the wrong tee positions, the wrong hole locations, the wrong Thursday-Friday pairings — the whole thing can sink. They got everything right this year, and the weather helped, but it was not anything like the greatest Masters. To rise to that level you have to have players doing triumphant things down the stretch, not missing fairways and greens and flubbing chips.
That last part Michael is referring to would be Hootie and Tom Fazio's gift to the game, by no means Ridley and his team's fault. They merely tailored the setup to the pallet and did it beautifully.
Da Medja
Dick Friedman thought CBS had a great day and while I thought the presentation by the camera and sound teams was in fine form (love those owl shots!) and Nick Faldo really shined with top notch insights, other announcers talked over essential conversations. The incredible Masters.com video streams are easily the golf viewing highlight of the year now and totally outshined the network coverage by exposing just how many shots were on tape. Amen Corner Live's Ian Eagle and Matt Gogel had a great week and were silent at just the right times.
Damon Hack hopes to improve on his 112 last time he was drawn in the media lottery.
The reporter in John Garrity got the best of him as a shootout broke out Sunday, and he teases about an interesting story he's working on.
Odds and Ends
PGATour.com's excellent daily summary notes that the 15th played easiest Sunday, but only gave up 2 eagles.
Here's a Masters Playoff summary. Hopefully they are listing the last ever Sudden Death playoff.
ESPN posts the Green Jacket ceremony here where you can see man pink faced guys try to follow Angel Cabrera's acceptance speech. Good stuff!
The final scores and purse breakdown.
Round 4 course stats.
Cumulative course stats. The scoring average this week: 72.6062
Greens in Regulation
Driving Distance
Putting Leaders
Press Room Interviews: Chad Campbell Kenny Perry Angel Cabrera
Imagery
And finally, there's only one place to go for images. The Augusta Chronicle's Angel Cabrera gallery, their Kenny Perry images, their Tiger-Phil shots, their round four collection and their photos from the playoff.
Thanks to everyone who chimed in for the Live Blogs. We had our most spirited group yet on Sunday and I learned a lot.
Another memorable Masters is in the can.
In reading reviews of the CBS coverage, most focus seems to be on the announcing and how they followed the Tiger-Phil drama. Bradley Klein charted these numbers:
