Great Scott! Aussie Adam Scott Wins the 2013 Masters

Photo by @pga_tour

Adam Scott walked off the course at a rainy Augusta after his 72^nd hole to sign his scorecard and watch his fate on the TV screen.  15 minutes later, a tremendous roar from the crowd made Scott look up at the screen to see what had just unfolded.

Scott had to have felt pretty good about his chances of winning the title when he sunk a 20-foot birdie putt on 18 – the kind of putt that should put the exclamation point on winning the Masters.  However, it was with that roar of the crowd that Scott noticed Angel Cabrera had stuck a brilliant 7-iron 3 feet from the pin on 18.  Cabrera went on to make the putt and force another Masters playoff.

Could this really be happening again to the young Australian?  Greg Norman, famous for his chokes at Augusta, nervously uttered that “the golf gods can’t be this cruel to Australia.”

Scott stepped back into the rain as he and Cabrera returned to the 18^th tee again to start the playoff.  Leading off with identical tee and approach shots and both parred the hole.  The pair then moved over to hole 10, where Scott drilled a 12-foot birdie putt to win that Green Jacket, ending a half-century of Australian misery at the Masters

The win also brings personal redemption for Adam Scott’s failure to win the British Open last summer, where he collapsed with bogies on each of his last four holes to lose by one shot to Els. He handled that defeat with dignity and promised to finish stronger if given another chance. “Next time — I’m sure there will be a next time — I can do a better job of it,” he said that day.

Not only does the 32 year old take home his first Green Jacket and $1.44 million, the win also moves him up to fourth in the FedExCup rankings and third in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“We like to think we’re the best at everything. Golf is a big sport at home, and this is the one thing in golf we hadn’t been able to achieve,” Scott said. “It’s amazing that it’s my destiny to be the first Australian to win. It’s incredible.”

Scott had to play perfect Sunday, especially with the brilliance that Angel Cabrera was delivering.  After the round he admitted that he could barely read the winning putt, calling over caddie Steve Williams to give it a professional read.  Williams was on the bag for 13 of Tiger Woods’ majors, and read the putt that helped Woods win the 1999 PGA Championship.

“I said, ‘Do you think it’s just more than a cup?’ He said, ‘It’s at least two cups. It’s going to break more than you think,'” Scott said. “He was my eyes on that putt.”

Williams said, “The winning putt might be the highlight putt of my career…Because he asked me to read it.”

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Speaking of Tiger, Woods finished in a T4 (-5) after a controversial ball drop penalty knocked him back two strokes. Tiger went on to finish strong after beginning his fourth round without the much-needed birdies to lift him up the leaderboard. Tiger still remains on top of the FedExCup leaderboard and holds onto World No. 1 ranking.

Other Aussie Jason Day almost walked away with victory after leading through much of the final rounds.  Day ended with a solo 3^rd, giving the Australians 1^st and 3^rd place at the 2013 Masters.

(Cover Photo Credit)