Masterful Finish

Augusta National set up nicely for CBS on Sunday afternoon. Tiger and Phil were seven shots off the pace going into the final round on Easter Sunday, but both rose from the dead and into contention.

Paired together, things must have gotten particularly pleasant for Eldrick as his good buddy Mickelson tore up the front nine in a Masters-record 30 strokes. Later, Tiger got in the hunt, knocking in three birdies in four holes, before fading with bogeys on 17 and 18, including a clanger off a tree.

Phil could have actually jumped into the lead. But after hitting into one Rae’s Creek, he doubled to drench his front-side momentum. He then settled for a birdie after missing a four-footer for eagle, and then tubed another five-footer for bird, before giv ing one back at 18 to finish fifth at 9 under.

With Phil and Tiger retiring their warm-up act, matters returned to the top, where the leading three finishers after three rounds, Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera at 11 under and Chad Campbell at -9,  renewed their competition. (Shinto Katayama who finished fourth at 10 under barely got any Black Rock face time under his cowboy hat.)

Cabrera struggled early and Perry, with a brilliant shot to within inches of an ace, led by two with a pair to play. But Perry, after not bogeying for 22 holes and seeking to become the oldest Majors champion, dropped a stroke apiece on 17 and 18, while Cabrera and Campbell notched short putts to send it to a three-way playoff.

After Perry and Cabrera scrambled to save par, Campbell bowed out with a bogey as the trio replayed 18. At the tenth there were two and Perry’s putrid finish petered out, leaving the Argentine with a two-putt for a Green Jacket to complement his 2007 U.S. Open win at Oakmont.

Now the question is did America cotton to the Phil-Tiger theatrics or were they too far off the pace coming in to the final round to incite any Nielsen momentum.

In 2007, Woods, after briefly taking the lead in the final round, finished in a three-way tie for second, two shots behind Zack Johnson. Last year, Trevor Immelman went wire to wire at Augusta National. Woods again was the runner-up, three shots off the pace, but was never really in contention.

Taking into account the Tiger factor, CBS averaged 11.9 million and 11 million viewers over the weekend for those tourneys.