Surprise win on Easter Sunday

GOLF: As the greats tumbled at Augusta, the suspense built up till a newbie and dark horse at the Masters claimed the green jacket.

Easter Sunday also saw the final round at the Masters. At the churches, it is said, you could tell the golfers among the faithful "" they genuflected and prayed with interlocking grips!

Anyhow, the players and the spectators all prayed for warmer weather and "" lo! "" the weather turned warmer at 60 plus degrees fahrenheit, although the wind was gusting a bit. Ergo, surely, there is a god.

This resulted in some early scores looking pretty good, despite some bogeys and occasional double bogies; our own Jeev committed harakiri on the very first hole with a quadruple bogey.

Thereafter, it was impossible for him to recover; even though he had four birdies, in trying too hard, he had a couple more doubles and a few more bogies to finish at 79, fourteen over for the tournament. He has made a mark here for sure. He was more particularly noticed because his playing partner was Vijay Singh who, despite making the turn at 2 under for the day, just faded out.

One overheard some people remarking that the "Singhs on song" had turned to "song sung blue". Jeev really had a creditable performance at his first outing. One wonders whether his sponsor, advising him continuously on the practice tee and green, should not keep a little distance. I mean, sheer enthusiasm and obvious concern should only go so far, at least in these conditions. Jeev does humour him along and, possibly, is able to manage this pressure well.

It was wonderful to see Woods, Harrington, Rose, Appleby and others practicing from just metres away; they tried different shots, experimented for the conditions facing them later (low running shots from under trees, high pitch shots to try to make them bite on impossibly hard greens, punch shots to avoid the vagaries of the wind etc), and then, on the practice green, developing that surgeon's touch that can make or break a good score.

A little extra firmness can find a break to the right while a little less might cause the ball to roll back to you. Just right can win the thing for you. Tiger placed two tees the width of his putter apart and practiced to build the integrity of his short putting stroke.

Thereafter, he practiced on the severe slopes, trying to ensure that his ball remained above the hole. The others were also great to watch. It was, indeed, a good lesson on how to practice.

The most tragic result was for Luke Donald on the ninth (Carolina Cherry). Coming off an eagle on the 8th (Yellow Jasmine), he hit a spectacular second to the elevated green only to see his ball spin back sharply and roll 20 yards off the green. The next shot was a virtual replay of the previous one. He finally got on but two putted for a triple. Forcing the pace thereafter, he had to settle for a 73.

Even though he cannot win the tournament now, the most spectacular shot of the tournament was surely Woods's second on the long 11th (White Dogwood) from behind a tree. He did not really have shot; most would have simply chipped out. Not he.

He swung back powerfully and, just as the club made contact with the ball, he tried to let go of the club. It was almost impossible to succeed in that, yet the ball shot off to settle a few feet from the green while the impact of the club with tree bent and damaged the club beyond recognition and also stung his hand sharply, fortunately without damage. He made his par.

He eagled the 13th (Azalea), narrowly missed his birdie putt on 14 (Chinese Fir), tried to eagle the 15th (Firethorn) but ended up swimming. Even though he salvaged a par, he narrowly missed a short putt for birdie on 16 (Redbud) and, having hit a green side bunker on Nandina (17...the terror of yesterday), could only make par with a great sandy.

The championship was over for Tiger. He now had a crushed look about him as he often does when a winnable tournament, particularly the Masters, has gotten away from him. Now the maximum Tiger can do is birdie 18 (Holly) and be at sole second place, or, make par and be joint third with Goosen and Sabbatini, with Rose just having gone to four over. He made par.

As the last pair, Tiger and Appleby, finished the 9th, as you can imagine, the entire first half gallery poured into the final half. With each succeeding hole the gallery swelled, the sweet smell of pine needles mixed with dust raised by that huge crowd, and sometimes caused a beatific dispersion of light "" fitting, as the day and the tournament ended.

Zach(ariah) Johnson is the new champion. He is being hugged again and again by an incredulous wife, and he embraces his little child. His fame (and also his fortune) is made. He is only 31, won the Bell South Classic in his rookie year (2004). He is on the US Ryder Cup team, was third in the recently held WGC-Accenture Match Play championship and is showing all the promise of a truly great player.

This tournament has been outstanding for another reason; all my predictions have gone completely wrong. Maybe, like that other sport, golf is a game of glorious uncertainties!

However, this one is completely clean, anybody can play and compete with a wonderful system of handicapping which works only for this sport (it does not work effectively on the Delhi courses, however), and can be played even when one is old(er).

Phil Mickelson places the jacket on the new champion; wonderful speeches, touching references to the expected winners, joy and hope radiating, the day ends.

Till next year then...?