Snedeker falls short, sheds no tears this time

Snedeker falls short, sheds no tears this time











PGA.COM April 14, 2013 9:31 PM

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Brandt Snedeker said his Masters finish Sunday hurt, but he handled this one better than in 2008.(Getty …


By Nancy Armour, Associated Press


AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The last time Brandt Snedeker came this close to winning the Masters, he wept uncontrollably, distraught that the tournament he's dreamed of winning since he was a child slipped through his fingers.

On Sunday, the only tears after the final round were from his 2-year-old daughter.

"I'm not as crushed as I was in 2008 because I know I'm going to be there again," Snedeker said. "I know this golf course so well and I putted about as poorly as I could today, and I still had a chance on the back nine. I'm very disappointed that I didn't win, but I realize that I'm not that far off from winning this thing.

"I'm going to do it soon."

The co-leader after the third round, Snedeker couldn't make a putt Sunday on his way to a 3-over 75. After scratching his way through the front, he opened the back nine with two straight bogeys, including a miss from 3 feet on 10, to fall three strokes off the lead. With the two par-5s still to play, however, he wasn't out of it.

Then he put his approach shot on 13 in Rae's Creek.

As the ball splashed into the water, Snedeker grimaced and bent both ends of his hybrid club, looking as if he wanted to snap it.

"I didn't, I needed that club on 15," he said. "I was in-between clubs and I took the longer club and tried to cut a ball off that fairway, which is really difficult to do. But it was the only way I had a chance of getting it close. My 4-iron wouldn't have made it and the hybrid, if I hit it normal is too much. So I tried to cut it and came out of it and hit it where you can't hit it."

Snedeker managed to save par, only to make bogey on the 14th. The closest he would come to the green jacket this year was watching playing partner Angel Cabrera force a playoff with eventual winner Adam Scott.

"Any time you have a chance to win the Masters and you don't come through -- my lifelong dream -- you're going to be upset, you're going to cry, you know, but I'll get through it," Snedeker said. "I'm playing great, I look forward to what the next weeks are going to hold. And I'm going to come back here next year and I'm going to do my best to get in that last group again."

Five years ago, Snedeker was thrilled to find himself in the final group on Sunday in his first Masters as a professional. He was 27, just two years removed from the Nationwide Tour.

The moment proved to be too much, and he managed only six pars in the entire round as he blew up with a 77. Afterward, his voice shook as he tried to control his emotions. He finally gave up, burying his face in his towel as he sobbed.

But Snedeker, despite his youthful looks, is no longer that wide-eyed kid.

He won the Tour Championship last year, beating Rory McIlroy. There was a three-week stretch earlier this season when he was the hottest player in golf, finishing second to Tiger Woods at the Farmers, second to Phil Mickelson in Phoenix and capping the run with a win at Pebble Beach.

Snedeker was unflappable as he climbed into a share of the lead Saturday, opening with 12 pars and making three birdies over his final six holes to take a one-stroke lead with Cabrera. Being in the final group was no longer enough, he said Saturday night, he wanted to win it and was ready to do so.

"I'm not here to get a good finish," he said. "I'm not here to finish top five. I'm here to win, and that's all I'm going to be focused on tomorrow. I realize what I have to do to do that, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that happens."

Nerves weren't an issue, Snedeker said. His putter was.

"I did not putt the way you're supposed to putt around Augusta, I just never had the speed," Snedeker said. "If I putt the way I normally putt and don't make those two loose swings, I'm right there with a chance to win the golf tournament.

"But I'm pretty excited with the way I played," he said. "I know that if I do that again, play the exact same way again and I putt the way I normally do, I got a chance."

That's why there were no tears.

Make no mistake, though, this finish was every bit as gutting as that one in 2008, even if it didn't look it.

"It's going to be more difficult tonight because I had a really good chance at the end of the day if I do what I normally do," he said. "It will be tough to sit there and watch the playoff and actually hear what happens. It's going to be a tough night. A tough couple days."

Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera save the Masters

Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera save the Masters











Dan Wetzel April 14, 2013 9:57 PMYahoo Sports






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Adam Scott (L) hugs Angel Cabrera after winning 77th Masters. (Getty Images)AUGUSTA, Ga. – Drenched by rain, drained of emotion, Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera found themselves in a prolonged bear hug on the 10th green of Augusta National, the two golfers patting each other on the back, shouting into each other's ear over the roaring crowd.



Scott had just bested Cabrera on the second playoff hole of these Masters, draining a clutch 12-footer in fast approaching darkness just moments after Cabrera's 15-footer somehow stayed out.

This was more than who won or who lost, however, because someone was going to win and someone was always going to lose. This was the culmination of an epic finale to an otherwise ho-hum (by its high standards) and controversy-filled Masters; two great golfers draining long putts, making daring chips and restoring not just the roar to the Georgia Pines here, but reminding everyone of the camaraderie of competition.[Related video: Controversial putter a game-changer for Adam Scott]

When their mesmerizing duel ended Sunday, there was no storming off in over-competitive anger, no woe-is-me heartbreak and no exaggerated celebration. The winner was gracious, the loser classy and for that they just kept patting each other on the back, side by side walking off the green.

"[I told him] I was happy for him," Cabrera said of their conversation. "That I know he deserved it."

Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera saved the 77th Masters.





View gallery.Scott became the first Australian to win a green jacket by overcoming what seemed like a national plague of nerves that have doomed generations of his countrymen, most notably Greg Norman.



Rather than wilt with the steady-driving Cabrera coming on strong, Scott stood up and fought back. He drilled a 30-foot putt on 18 to move to 9-under, a shot that will be replayed for years. Scott stood and screamed, "Come on Aussie," as the gallery burst into pandemonium.

It was the kind of putt, Scott said, that he'd seen so many champions hit here that when it happened to him, he just assumed it was over.

"For a split second there, I thought I'd won," he admitted.

[Related: Tiger Woods may not have deserved penalty]

The wave of noise washed down the hill to the middle of the fairway, where Cabrera understood the stakes, and Scott wanted him to feel the magnitude of the moment.

"The chance to put all the pressure on the guy back down the fairway," Scott said.

El Pato cares little for pressure, though. He knew he needed to get up and down from 163 yards out. So he did just that, hitting a brilliant 7-iron to within about 6 feet.

By that point Scott was in the scorer's room, his joy of believing he was on the verge of winning the Masters replaced by the realization he had more work to do.

They replayed 18 and up by the green, same place that moments before Scott thought his dream victory was sealed with a historic shot, he watched Cabrera nearly chip in from the fringe, a shot that would have been even more historic. It buzzed the cup, only to stay out.

"My heart was about to stop there standing on the side of the green thinking, 'Is this is it, really?' " Scott said.

[Related video: Cabrera, Scott talk about dramatic Masters playoff]

Then it was onto a second playoff hole on 10, where Cabrera's potential tournament winning putt again just stayed out. "I think it almost hit the edge of the hole," Cabrera said. Then Scott, squinting through the darkness brought on by dusk and clouds, had to trust the read of his caddie and promise himself to be bold, to try to win this.

His putt hit the bottom of the cup.

"Amazing feeling," Scott said.







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Adam Scott poses with his green jacket after winning the Masters. (AP)



The final hour of this tournament, with the stakes at their highest, was amazing golf. Not just the stunning shots, but the feel-good moments, such as Cabrera giving Scott a thumbs up after a strong approach on the second playoff hole.

"Angel is a great man," Scott said.

The entire thing stood in contrast to nearly four full days of fitful play, scoring controversies, sportsmanship debates, penalty strokes, brutal Saturday conditions that rendered moving day moot and even a rain-soaked, mistake-prone final day, at least until the bitter end came along.

There is never such a thing as a bad Masters – this remains golf's best weekend each year. There are varying degrees of great, however, and this tradition like no other was headed toward the more forgettable part of the scale.

Then the golf took off, the sportsmanship shined through and two very different players – a tall, muscular, 32-year-old Aussie and a rumpled, 43-year-old Argentine – reminded everyone what makes this such a great stage for drama.

"It's an incredible camaraderie," Scott said. "He's a great guy."

Not long after their repeated hugs on the 10th green, Scott retired to Butler Cabin for a television interview, then a quick jacket ceremony on a wet, dark practice green. Australian fans were shouting and screaming and making a proud racket for their guy, turning this proper country club into a rowdy mess.

About the same time Cabrera was walked out of the Augusta National clubhouse and toward his car. He had a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other. His quest for a second green jacket fell short, his role in saving the week did not.

"Golf gives and takes," Cabrera said.

Especially here, especially at the Masters.

Woods unable to recover from ricochet shot

Woods unable to recover from ricochet shot











PGA.COM April 14, 2013 10:08 PM

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Tiger Woods, at the Masters, said "Well, we could do a what-if on every tournament we lose," about whether …


By Jim Litke, Associated Press


AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A Masters that began with such promise for Tiger Woods effectively ended late in the second round, when his near-perfect wedge struck the flagstick at No. 15 and ricocheted into the water.

He left the grounds late Sunday afternoon in a steady drizzle, empty-handed once again.

His 2-under 70 left him at 283, four strokes behind the number that sent Adam Scott and Miguel Cabrera to a playoff. Scott, whose caddie, Stevie Williams, formerly worked for Woods, won it on the second extra hole.

After slipping into a share of fourth place, Woods put much of the blame on a familiar nemesis -- his putting.

"It's one of those things where this golf course was playing a little bit tricky," he said. "We had four different green speeds out there and I couldn't believe how slow they were the first two days. Yesterday, I couldn't believe how fast they were. And then today, it was another different speed again."

But his driving wasn't all that strong, either.

While Woods ranked comfortably among the top one-third in both greens in regulation and putting, he finished near the bottom in hitting fairways. What might have been the biggest obstacle, however, was the odd turn of events at No. 15 on Friday.

Woods was tied for the lead at 5-under and had a wedge in his hands with 87 yards left to the pin at the 530-year, par-5 hole. His first attempt hit the stick and caromed about 45 degrees left, rolling into the pond. He took a penalty drop and recovered with another beautiful wedge for a tap-in bogey 6.

But a viewer called into the club and advised Masters officials that he believed Woods had taken an illegal drop. Officials reviewed a videotape of the shot and initially decided no penalty was warranted. But after Woods said in a post-match interview that he'd dropped the ball 2 yards from the original spot, club officials conducted another review, met with him Saturday morning, and added the two-stroke penalty. That made his score at the hole an 8 and bumped his round to 73.

But it was considerably better than the second option -- disqualification.

Asked Sunday whether that blunted his momentum, Woods replied, "Well, we could do a what-if on every tournament we lose.

"We lose more tournaments than we win. But I certainly had my opportunities to post some good rounds this week," he added. "I thought I really played well. ... So overall it was a pretty good week."

Yet it began even better than that.

Woods arrived at Augusta National early last week off consecutive PGA Tour wins and with a new girlfriend, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn. Soon after, he picked up another endorsement from Jack Nicklaus, who repeated that he still expected Woods would one day eclipse his record 18 career majors.

And when Woods opened Thursday with a 70 -- the same score he posted in the opening round of three of his four Masters wins -- the stars appeared to be aligning for yet another green jacket.

"I thought 65 would win it outright" Sunday, Woods said. "I thought that was going to be the number ... maybe 8- or 9-under.

"If I would have shot my number," he added, "it might have been a different story."

Just before he left the clubhouse, Woods was asked whether hitting the flag was as bad a break as he's had in his career. He reflected for a moment.

"I've had a few," he said finally, "but that's certainly up there."