Was he smiling?

The Masters Tournament is over for this year. I thought the first week in April would be a good time to take a week of the blogging. Typing ‘Masters’ and ‘blog’ into Google at 10.45 on Monday throws back about 19,500,000 results so I am fairly confident that whatever you wanted to read about the Masters you could find without my help.

As so many others I followed the finish from Augusta late last night and I really wanted Kenny Perry to hole that putt on the 18th. It just was not a good way to not win the tournament. What I can’t help wondering though is – was Perry smiling? He hit it in the fairway bunker on 18 and as he walked into the bunker – there was that grin on his face! 7 iron, a pull draw and when he walked up to that more or less impossible third shot from left of the green – there it was again! Perhaps it was not a smile though. Maybe it was just his face trying to cope with the kind of pressure and thought process that he was going through.

It was an interesting afternoon in Georgia as in a way the tournament was lost by a number of players rather than won by the man who in the end stood there in the green jacket. Woods and Mickelson both gave it a good go and came very close to getting themselves really involved. A couple of missed putts took Mickelson out of it and I am not sure if Woods has ever finished a major where he had a distant chance to finish on top with two bogeys. Perry’s bogeys on 17 and 18 put him in a play off he could have done without. In the end Cabrera had won the tournament by holing a great putt on the first play off hole and then keeping his cool to make the winning four down 10 when Perry had left himself another impossible shot from left of the green. Cabrera has now won two majors and it will be interesting to follow what his progress will do the golf in Argentina in years to come.

On the more domestic scene amateur golf was played over the weekend at Southerndown Golf Club where the Duncan Putter took place. Like in the Masters there was a three way tie, only this time without a play off; Ben Westgate, Sam Matton and Matt Haines all now have their share in the Putter. For full results click here.