Phil Mickelson shot a sparkling 5-under par 67 to finish at 16-under par for the tournament, 3 shots ahead of Lee Westwood (13-under par). It was Mickelson’s 3rd Masters Championship. It was a special win for Mickelson and his family, who have been dealing with breast cancer diagnoses for both his wife and his mom within the last year. Cancer treatment prevented his wife from walking the course with him this week/weekend, but she was there to great him with a hug and embrace at the end of the round. Mickelson overcame some recent demons at Augusta and played a near-perfect round while others – including Tiger Woods – faltered around him. Mickelson had this to say about being able to wear his 3rd Green Jacket — “I wasn’t sure if she was going to be there. We’ve been through a lot this year. It means a lot to share some joy together. It’s been such an incredible week, an emotional week. And to cap it off with a victory is something I can’t put into words… It’s something we’ll share for the rest of our lives.”
Anthony Kim shot a day-best 7-under par to finish in sole possession of 3rd place at 12-under par. Nick Watney also matched that 7-under score for the day, but he finished at 8-under for the tournament. Tiger Woods finished in a tie for 4th place with his week-long playing partner K.J. Choi who also finished at 11-under par. Woods shot 3-under for the day, but his 5 bogeys cost him a chance to stay closer to Mickelson and Westwood throughout the day.
The folks at the Masters and CBS couldn’t have asked for anything more for this year’s championship. Unbelievable storylines and an unbelievable finish.
Tiger Woods is sitting pretty in his return to golf at the Masters in Augusta this weekend. Not only did Tiger make the cut, he is right in the thick of things, just 2 shots off the lead. Woods shot his best opening round score ever on Thursday – a 4-under par 68 – and he followed that up with a consistent 2-under par 70 on Friday.
Woods trails two British players – Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter – who share the lead at 8-under par. Woods is also tied with Phil Mickelson, Ricky Barnes, Anthony Kim and K.J. Choi.
Woods loves his position, as he is very familiar with coming from behind on Saturday to make a move at the Masters — “I felt I could put myself in contention. I didn’t have the luxury of playing tournaments coming in here, so I had to be more focused on my practice sessions coming into it and then take more out of them than most people would.”
Look out guys – we could see Tiger in a Green Jacket on Sunday — what a story that would make…
