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Trevor immelman may have won the green jacket, but the real victor last week was big, bad Augusta National, which solidified its standing as the nastiest course in the land.
Last year's carnage-filled Masters, at which no one finished under par, could be blamed in part on the freakish wintry conditions, just as the soaring scores this year on Sunday had something to do with the 20-mph winds. But there was more to 2008's Masters disasters than the conditions during the final round.
Augusta National is less a golf course than an 18-hole fun house, replete with booby traps. It is a course with zero margin for error, and it asks questions that, apparently, few players can answer on Masters Sunday.
The wind provided a cop-out that many players were happy to reach for, but the course could have been had. To soften the effects of the breezes, the lords of Augusta had watered the greens for the final round, meaning that, as Phil Mickelson put it, "almost every pin was the easiest one we have."
Geoff Ogilvy, one of the most astute observers of course setups among the players, said on Sunday, "There's birdies out there. If somebody shoots four or five under today, I wouldn't be surprised, but they're going to have to play well."
Yet among the leaders no one could get it done. (Miguel Angel Jimenez's four-under 68 took him from 35th place to a tie for eighth.) No one in the final 11 twosomes broke par. Paul Casey had a 13-hole stretch during which he was nine over.
Brandt Snedeker started in second place, made a mind-boggling nine bogeys and still tied for third.
Steve Flesch was only two strokes back at the turn but shot a messy 42 on the back.
Tiger Woods muddled through a sloppy round, during which he didn't birdie any of the par-5s and yipped his way to 30 putts, yet he still moved up to second by shooting an even-par 72, leaving him three shots behind Immelman.
What, exactly, was going on here?
Immelman's steady play on Sunday was certainly a factor. The 54-hole leader was even through the first seven holes and one over for 15, forcing everyone else to try to go get him.
"You can't chase around this course," Ian Poulter said, "and that's what guys are having to do, because he's playing par golf. If you do, you'll make mistakes, and that's what everybody is doing."
Poulter may have been correct, but there was another explanation: Three of Immelman's primary pursuers — Casey, Flesch and Snedeker — simply seemed overwhelmed by being in contention.
Casey's miseries began with a double bogey on the 4th hole, where he left a straightforward bunker shot in the sand. After another bogey on 5 he was standing over a short par putt on the 6th hole when a gust of wind moved his ball slightly, resulting in a one-stroke penalty.
"That's out of your control and difficult to handle," Casey said, and he accordingly moped his way to bogeys on the next two holes.
