Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed every second of all four majors last year and there is nothing I love more than sitting down on a Sunday and watching the final round of a golf major to crown a major champion. However, there was something missing last year that kept me from being overly excited looking in retrospect about the 2011 majors.
Maybe it was the fact that at the U.S. Open, a tournament that prides itself in its difficult setup and the inability of players to put up low scores, Rory McIlroy finished at -16 and practically had the tournament wrapped up after the second round when he led by 6 strokes over Y.E. Yang.
Even when the 2011 PGA Championship went into a three hole play-off, it was a battle of two mainly unknown commodities with Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner.
It was also a great story when Darren Clarke won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George's Golf Club nearly five years after his wife died of breast cancer but the Open left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
I, like many others, was hoping for a Phil Mickelson comeback run on the final day after he shot a 30 on the front nine, his lowest nine hole score in a major. However, Phil faltered down the stretch as he bogeyed 11, 13, 15, and 16, which put him out of contention of the title and left many, including myself, disappointed.
Finally, whether you like him or dislike him, Tiger Woods is a story every time he walks on the golf course. If Woods is in contention at a major, everybody is going to be watching and he brings a tremendous amount of buzz to the golf game. The pressure and intensity of a major is only amplified when Tiger Woods is lurking at the top of the leaderboard.
However, last year Tiger made very little noise at any of the majors. Although he finished tied for 4th at the Masters, his third round 74 shot him in the foot and put him too far back of the leaders. Tiger was forced to miss two of the majors, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, due to knee and achillies injuries. When he returned to the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, Tiger looked like a shell of himself. He shot a 77 in the first round and then followed that up by a 73 in the second to finish at 10-over par and he missed the cut. It was just the 3rd time in 56 major appearances since 1997 that Tiger failed to make the cut at a major and he wasn't around for the last two days of the final major or the year.
However, there is a certain vibe around the Masters that has everybody excited for this years first major. The lure of Augusta National and its historic tradition leaves people craving to see golfers attack Amen Corner and play the course they have become so accustomed to seeing.
After the first round at Augusta National, there is a wide array of interesting stories to keep on an eye on as this year Masters rolls along.
Before Phil Mickelson finally broke through in that memorable 2004 Masters, he was often tabbed as the greatest player to never have won a major. Lefty had a ridiculous 17 top ten appearances from 1993 to 2003 without ever cracking the winners circle including 8 finishes in the top 3 in that time span.
Since Mickelson has gotten rid of the that title, Lee Westwood has assumed it. Westwood's close but no cigar results at majors have looked much like Mickelson's when he was a younger golfer. Westwood has had 12 top 10 appearances in majors since 1997 and he has finished in the top 3 in 6 of the last 14 majors he has played in. Despite being near the top of the leaderboard so often, Wetwood has been unable to break through.
However, Westwood, who finished 2nd in the Masters two years ago in 2010, is at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of golf at Augusta. Lee birdied 5, 6, 7, and 8 to put up a front nine 32 before he finished out the round by shooting a 35 on the back to complete his first round 5-under par 67.
Westwood sits in a perfect position after day 1 to capture his first ever major championship. He said, "I've come close [to winning a major]. I've won all there is to win other than a major championship. That's my primary focus and it's been a long time coming around since the PGA last year... I have been in this position a lot recently, in contention. I've had a lot of top-3's, so I've obviously been there. If I sit down at the end of my career and there's no major championship wins, I'll be disappointed. If there's five or six, I'll be delighted." With an early lead at the Masters, Westwood has an edge to get that first major championship that has been alluding him for such a long time.
Since his 2008 U.S. Open victory at Torrey Pines, Tiger Woods has been stuck at 14 major championships. He remains 4 major victories shy of Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major wins. A record that most people assumed Tiger would break and the question was not would he surpass Nicklaus, but when would he do it and how many would he end up with, is a record that looks like it may stand now. Due to his infidelity scandal and numerous injuries including the 2008 ACL surgery he received on his left knee and the knee and achillies injuries last year, it looks suspect if Tiger can regain his championship level form and win a major.
Don't get me wrong, he is still Tiger Woods, one of the greatest golfers to have ever played the game, but winning four majors to tie Nicklaus and winning five to surpass him is no easy task. Winning 4 or 5 majors is a Hall of Fame career for most other golfers. Byron Nelson and Seve Ballesteros won 5 majors in both of their careers, while Phil Mickelson has won 4 majors in his carrer. Tiger is trying to accomplish what these guys did in their entire career towards the end of his own career, which is a difficult task.
Tiger, who hasn't won a Masters since 2005, looked like he was going to put up a very solid and impressive first round score. However, he bogeyed both 17 and 18 and squandered an opportunity to finish under par. Although those final two holes put a damper on a relatively well played round of golf for Woods, he is by no means out of the picture after a finish round even-par 72.
Woods, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational before the Masters, which was his first win on the PGA Tour since he won the BMW Championship in September of 2009, is still in contention in this tournament. Although he had some horrible swings in the first round, especially off the tee, Tiger didn't shot himself in the foot and needs a solid score in round 2 to put himself right in the thick of things and spice things up at Augusta National. Anytime Tiger is looking to make a run to rise near the top of the leaderboard, it quites a tremendous amount of interest.
We all remember Rory's McIlroy's final round collapse at Augusta National last year. After having a comfortable four stroke lead after 54 holes, he faltered in the final round, as he felt the pressure of leading the Masters with just 18 holes remaining. Rory was 7 over par on the back 9, as he had a three hole stretch from hole 10 to 12 where he triple bogeyed 10 (on that infamous tee shot), bogeyed 11, and double bogeyed 12. McIlroy's final round 80 was the worst round by a third round leader at the Masters since Ken Venturi in 1956. The four stroke lead that McIlroy squandered was the biggest of a third round leader at a major that didn't end up winning the tournament since Jean Van de Velde lead by 5 strokes after three rounds of the 1999 Open Championship.
After destroying the field at last year's U.S. Open at Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland and taking home his first major victory, McIlroy was ready to move past his 2011 Masters meltdown.
A double bogey on his first hole back at Augusta since his debacle on the back nine the previous year, did little to help Rory move totally past his downfall in 2011. However, he regrouped to shot a solid first round 1-under par 71, as he was able to birdie both 17 and 18 to close out a solid opening round of golf.
McIlroy says he has moved on from that unfortunate day, especially from that memorably awful tee shot on the 10th hole that went way left of the fairway. In the first round of this year's tournament, when Rory was approaching the 10th tee he said, "I wasn't going left that's for sure. I tried to play it differently, playing a 3-wood off the tee and tuning it. It didn't quite turn enough but I made a good solid four and moved on."
We will see if Rory has really forgotten all about that 10th hole if he gets an opportunity to step up to the 10th tee with the lead once again on the final day of the Masters.
Finally, we will see if Phil Mickelson can use some of his magic to climb up the leaderboard on day two of the Masters. Phil, was is a three-time Masters winner and the winner of the green jacket two years ago in 2010 and a fan favorite, will need to shot a low round in round 2 to get back into contention.
Phil, like Rory McIlroy last year, unraveled on the 10th hole. Lefty needed 3 birdies on the back nine to rebound from his triple bogey on the 10th hole just to bring his round back to a 2-over par 74.
With difficult weather conditions expected for the second round, it should be very interesting to see the storylines that unfold heading into the weekend.
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