2009 Masters Final Round Live Blog

Join us later today as we live blog the final round of the 2009 Masters.

The day begins with 18 people at -4 or better (and only five major winners among them in bold, three of which are one-time winners):

T1    -11    Angel Cabrera
             Kenny Perry
 3     -9    Chad Campbell
 4     -8    Jim Furyk
 5     -7    Steve Stricker
T6     -6    Rory Sabbatini
             Shingo Katayama
             Todd Hamilton
 9     -5    Tim Clark
T10    -4    Sean O'Hair
             Ian Poulter
             Lee Westwood
             Tiger Woods
             Phil Mickelson
             Nick Watney
             Stephen Ames
             Hunter Mahan
             Anthony Kim

Can Tiger Woods overcome 17 others to win his fifth green jacket, or will he – like last year – simply succeed at clawing away at Jack’s record for second-place finishes in majors? Can Phil Mickelson – paired with Tiger today – overcome the same number of people? Will Kenny Perry win his major after giving a few away in the past (cough, PGA, Valhalla, cough)? Or will the lamest (fan interest-wise) major winner of recent years – Angel Cabrera – grab another one?

The first person to post the winner and the correct winning score in the comments prior to the start of TV coverage (2:00pm EST) will win a free copy of Scorecard 2.0.

13:35:43: Tiger yanks his drive on the first hole way left – roughly the same place as where he hit it yesterday to hit six. Phil follows with a horrible drive of his own way right.

13:40:02: We see Tiger’s drive: left of the ninth fairway. Phil’s ball found the green with a reasonable birdie putt.

13:45:49: Tiger gets up and down for par. Phil two-putts for a par, though he made it interesting. Steve Flesch goes to -6 with a birdie after an eagle at the second.

13:47:57: As usual, the online coverage cuts out over ten minutes before network TV coverage. Lovely. On one hand, you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth. On another, we don’t need announcers and know they have to get ready for the “real” coverage – so just show golfers hitting shots.

14:01:59: Coverage opens with Tiger and Phil both making birdies after getting up and down from near the second green. They’re six back and, I figure, have a 10% chance (perhaps combined) at best of winning.

14:05:44: Tiger drives off the tee at the third into the left rough. Phil also goes with a driver. Maybe we’ll get to see the other players sometime soon? Phil’s ball is further left of Tiger’s.

14:07:29: Phil and Tiger at the third. Guess we’ll wait longer to see someone else. Phil plays a half wedge shot to five feet which pulls back. The grooves! The grooves! Tiger preps for a similar shot but doesn’t pull it off – he’s 30 feet away and nearly in danger of rolling off the front of the green. Neither has won a major coming from behind – and we’re reminded of this for the third time already.

14:11:42: Tiger leaves his birdie putt well short. Phil taps his home to go to -6, five back and one ahead of Tiger.

14:15:01: Stephen Ames putts and misses. He’s at -5. It gives me a chance to comment on how much I dislike the Nike shirts with those geometric shapes on the back. Then Vijay nearly aces the sixth.

14:16:56: Phil finds the putting surface at the fourth, 15 feet away for birdie but on a higher level. Feherty talks about their relationship. Tiger backs off, having played this hole in three pars so far, to look at treetops again with Stevie. Tiger appears to have a 4I. He hits a cut to 30 feet short of the pin (arguably an easier putt).

14:18:48: We get to see someone not named Tiger or Phil at the first as Shingo “Cowboy” Katayama holes a long par putt.

14:21:16: Steve Stricker hits to tap-in range at the first. Rory Sabbatini “looking like an Easter Egg” (Faldo) in a purple mess of a shirt and solid purple pants. Steve Flesch, -6, makes a long par put at the sixth.

14:22:46: Tiger, from about 30 feet up the hill, rolls it seven feet past the cup. Phil with a putt that “if you sneeze it might get down there.” Phil misses the putt and it rolls six feet beyond.

14:25:20: Tiger’s par putt at the fourth is holed. He remains -1 for -5. Phil, with the straighter putt, also holes it to stay at -2 for -6. Five players ahead of Phil, ten ahead of Tiger.

14:26:31: Steve Stricker misses his near tap-in birdie at the first!

14:27:32: Phil finds the fairway at the fifth, a hole we rarely see outside of Sunday coverage. Tiger, with a fairway metal, blocks his stinger hook out to the right a little into the rough.

14:28:24: Vijay Singh, at the seventh for birdie, to go to -4. He ain’t winnin’.

14:30:12: Chad Campbell is in the pine straw at the first and leaves his ball short of the green. Cabrera and Perry wait on the tee.

14:31:19: One of golf’s most over-rated players (dude only has 13 PGA Tour victories), Jim Furyk hits to 30 feet or so on the first. Tiger hits a stinger onto the very front of the fifth green but the pin is well back. A firmer hop would have been quite beneficial. FIGJAM and Bones talk as they normally do before Phil nearly holes out on the fly before the ball settles 10 feet behind the cup.

14:33:56: Tiger’s scoring average when paired together is 69 to Phil’s 70.26. Tiger’s had the lower round 11 times, Phil 8. In majors, their scoring averages are 70.28 and 72.0. 23 rounds, 7 in majors (two were at last year’s U.S. Open, of course).

14:36:03: Cabrera and Perry drive well off the first – Cabrera exceptionally well (and long).

14:37:26: Tiger’s lengthy birdie putt comes up ten feet short. He may still be outside of Phil. Shingo nearly holes a long eagle putt through the fringe at the second.

14:38:18: Phil birdies the fifth to go to -7! He’s clearly and vastly outplaying Tiger at this point. Tiger guts up and holes his par putt to hang onto his -5 standing.

14:40:08: Steve Flesch holes a long par putt to stay at -6. Kenny Perry “gets a swinger with the mud on it” and finds the fringe in the same hollow of the green as the pin. El Pato (the Duck) finds the first cut in the same hollow. No real birdie chances, but should be easy up and downs for par.

14:42:39: Mahan birdies the seventh to get to -6. The Ryder Cup seems to have done many players – like Mahan, Kim, Campbell, Stricker, Furyk, and of course Kenny Perry – quite a world of good in the first major following the U.S. victory.

14:43:45: Stricker fails to convert his birdie. Phil, at the par-three sixth, gets the approval of the crowd as he sticks his 8-iron to four feet or less. He’s not waiting until the back nine on Sunday!

14:44:32: Tiger hits 7-iron to about twenty feet. Fail to make and Phil will have built a three-shot lead on Woods in the first six holes!

14:45:52: Perry, earlier at the first, misses his birdie putt but will make par. El Pato holes his par putt from three feet.

14:48:33: First Tiger Woods highlight package (is it still a “highlight package” if all they show is par putts?) of the day. Yawn. Phil’s the one that’s -3 on the day (soon -4). Tiger adds to his par package by missing his birdie at the sixth. Phil moves to -8 with his tap-in birdie, four under through six.

14:52:13: OK, a Phil highlight package that actually includes highlights. Simply put, Phil is making the shots and putts Tiger usually makes in his rounds. Phil’s chances of winning are still low, but Tiger’s are approaching zero.

14:53:52: Phil over-cooks his draw at the seventh. Kenny from the pine straw way left at the second, punches out. Tiger stripes the ball up the seventh fairway. Peter Kostis diagnoses Tiger’s problem as “his right arm is too far away at address with his clubs and his putter.”

14:54:56: Furyk pushes his birdie putt at the second. He stays at -8. Chad Campbell, earlier, missed a longer birdie putt to stay at -9.

14:55:44: Cabrera, from 260 in the left rough with an iron, hits a snap hook just short and left of the green at the second.

14:56:36: Flesch misses a birdie putt at the eighth for a par. Several mentions have been made of how tricky the hole location is on this hole today – we’ve only seen one birdie, and that was in the eighth group through.

14:57:29: Kenny Perry’s shot from 118 skips hard and bounds ten feet beyond the pin at the second. Tiger, from a side slope, debates the wind with Stevie from 167. He’s playing it as a 155 shot. Tiger blames the wind “off the right, aww, look at that gust” for an incredibly long and difficult putt. Whining doesn’t suit Tiger.

14:59:20: Phil hooks one around the trees and nearly holes out! It’s a kick-in birdie. He’s going to be -5 through seven! He’ll be at -9, two back of the leaders. His odds of winning just doubled.

15:01:02: Cabrera, as the Mickelson roar erupts next door, pulls his chip shot long and it fails to catch the ridge. He’s outside of Kenny Perry. Give ’em both a disappointing par at the second.

15:02:11: Tiger’s putt, which “might break as much as 20 feet” according to Kostis, slams into the back of the cup but lips out to four feet. The putt broke about a foot and Kostis explains this as “he took a straighter but faster route to the hole.” Uh huh, Peter. Phil’s still inside of Tiger. Kostis continues to defend his statement. 🙂

15:04:41: Phil taps in. -5 on the day, -9 total, and T3 – two back of the two leaders and even with Chad Campbell.

15:05:28: Kostis: “The roars are back at Augusta on Sunday.”

15:08:34: Tiger smacks a driver off the eighth and finds the fairway. We don’t get to see Phil’s shot. WTF?

15:08:56: Chad Campbell birdies the third with a chip-in from the back to take third place alone at -10! Furyk nearly makes birdie also but taps in for par.

15:10:20: Cabrera to eight feet at the third, a bit more below the hole than from where Phil made birdie. Kenny Perry to 30 feet right of the flag.

15:13:55: Tiger with an almost must-eagle approach at the eigthth, finds the green, pin-high, 40 feet from the cup. Phil, from the center 313 yards from the tee and 257 from the pin, gets robbed just a little by the mound right of the pin as it holds the ball up from bobbling onto the green.

15:15:23: The Duck makes a birdie at the third, going to -12. I’d rather have Phil win than Angel Cabrera again – and remember that if Phil wins, he will take over the #1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.

15:18:47: Phil chips to four feet – not great, but servicable – and should move to -10, -6 on the first eight holes. Furyk misses a long par putt at the fourth to fall back to -7.

15:20:00: Faldo: “This could be Tiger’s moment… of this ’09 Masters.” BACK OF THE CUP and in! Tiger eagles the eighth to move to -7 – which is still three back of where Phil Mickelson will be in moments and five back of Angel Cabrera. Tiger has four players ahead of him now (T5); Phil has only two (T3).

15:23:07: Tiger off the tee at the ninth… flares one out to the right that doesn’t quite draw back enough. Faldo: “he almost hurt himself with that swing.” The ball nestles against the pine straw and grass on the right side of the hole.

15:24:08: Bones says “easy” immediately as the ball leaves the clubface and Phil is miles right of the fairway. Phil needs a miracle par to tie the front-nine record of 30.

15:24:58: El Pato, from the bunker at the fourth, comes up well short as the ball catches the ridge. He faces Tiger’s birdie putt – the one Tiger ran seven feet by the hole.

15:25:48: Trevor Immelman finishes his round with a par. He’ll finish -2 in his title defense with a 69. Currently he’s T24. Nantz asks Faldo about the Champions Dinner he served on Tuesday. Some sort of South African meat plate.

15:26:55: Perry’s speedy birdie putt catches lip on the right and slides by three feet. Chad Campbell, on the fifth, hits his ball to the front where Tiger was. El Pato, at the fourth for par, sends it by on the high side but will make bogey to go back to -11. Phil and Tiger have gained a stroke, but Phil in particular is in danger of giving it right back.

15:29:42: Mickelson at the ninth, Nantz: “It’s clean,” finds the front corner of the left bunker.

15:31:12: Tiger’s approach at the ninth bounds off to the right and into the “patrons.”

15:32:52: Furyk birdies the fifth to get back to -8. Cabrera, with a fairway metal at the fifth, over-cooks his draw left of the fairway bunker. Faldo: “Dear dear dear.” At least I think it’s left of the fairway bunker.

15:33:35: Phil’s hat disappears as he steps into the bunker. Tiger is first to play from the middle of row six. Tiger wraps it around the hole to eight feet for par. Faldo: “Must have been dictated by the lie, had to play a little chip and run.”

15:35:13: Phil splashes out to three feet. It’ll slide left but it’s for par and a front-nine 30.

15:36:13: Cabrera, from the bunker (not beside it), comes up well short. Perry carries the ridge to pin hight.

15:36:46: Tiger must make the putt if he wants to contend today at all. His eagle at the last was even less of a must-make than this one. Tiger’s practice stroke is two inches… counting the through-stroke. He sneaks it into the right side to stay at -7, 33 on the front nine.

15:38:04: Faldo: “A cup of break outside the right of the hole.” The putt is struck purely and goes in: a front-nine 30 for Phil Mickelson! Never a better front nine at Augusta, tying Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, and K.J. Choi.

15:39:16: Cabrera chunks his birdie chip, and his ball catches a ridge and slides to where Tiger played his birdie putt from at the fifth. He’ll do well to lose only a shot at this point.

15:40:10: Campbell hits a good shot to the sixth.

15:40:23: The back nine on Sunday at Augusta commences with a Tiger Woods lash up the heart of the fairway.

15:40:53: Cabrera’s par putt comes up short, but not as short as Tiger’s, and he’ll make bogey to fall to -10. Phil drives at the tenth and flies it just past Tiger’s fairway metal. Phil is -9 on the front nine, -1 on the back nine… but he was -6 on the front nine today alone.

15:42:04: Kenny Perry, -11, for birdie at the fifth, makes par instead. Nantz: “Five opening pars for Perry.” Cabrera brushes in his bogey putt. Phil is now T2, one back of Kenny Perry. Tiger is four back and in need of a Phil-like charge on the back nine.

15:45:40: Nantz tells us Rory McIlroy shot 31 on the back nine today. Yes, the roars seem to have returned. Tiger bails out well to the right on the tenth green. Phil, from 178, talks about the flag moving left on the green when it should move right. His shot comes up short of the fals front and pulls back, but Faldo: “He’s gonna get away with it” as his ball holds up just a few feet off the putting surface.

15:48:25: Kenny, -11, misses the green left and a bit long at the sixth. Cabrera, -10, finds the putting green hole-high and 15 feet right.

15:50:40: Phil chips to tap-in range. Tiger, with five people ahead of him, faces a much more difficult putt. Perry chips to five feet at the sixth. Back to 10. Faldo: “Not a lot of break. Just a little right to left. But… literally halfway, a ridge, runs straight off the green.” Tiger judges the pace too well and somehow leaves it five feet short. Faldo: “Last place I expected that ball to finish.”

15:52:15: Perry makes par at the sixth, still -11. If he wins, he’ll be the oldest major winner ever. El Pato’s birdie slid by on the right, -10.

15:52:45: Chad Campbell, also -10, at the seventh just misses the ridge. Jim Furyk, -8 at the same hole, catches the piece right of the cup.

15:53:26: Tiger’s two-inch putting stroke serves him well yet again as he holes his five-footer for par, still -7. Phil taps in to stay -10, four and one back respectively.

15:54:42: Mahan birdies the 11th from off the green to go to -6. Kostis: “I’m getting the feeling that the play of the Woods/Mickelson is sucking the energy out of the last two groups.” Faldo agrees, and adds “I thought these characters might just like that, give them a chance to breathe.”

15:56:32: IBF: “Tiger with the full wind up,” finds the fairway at the 11th. Large roar is heard somewhere as it rolls to a stop. Phil hits, the crowd murmurs, and the ball crashes into the trees well right in the pine straw.

16:00:02: Perry responds to the pressure and puts it to four feet at the seventh for birdie. Still think the hole’s been ruined by the trees. Cabrera comes up well short of the green. Kostis: “That devil-may-care attitude he had in the first three rounds is absent. He’s the only one over par until you get to T14 and Tim Clark.

16:02:11: IBF recaps the Steve Williams comments on Phil Mickelson as we watch Phil and Tiger stare at the treetops and pull clubs at the 11th. Tiger is first to play and Phil seems to have gotten a great break. Tiger hits, stares at it, does his step back thing, and spins it away from the hole, 30 feet left of the hole, putting uphill.

16:03:46: Phil has a completely open shot from grass, 155 yards away, near the crosswalk. Faldo: “A great break for phil, a short iron in.” He puts the ball five feet outside of Tiger’s ball.

16:04:37: Kenny Perry misses his short birdie putt. He’ll stay at -11 with seven pars. Cabrera’s birdie chip, hits the backstop, and rolls back to five feet above the hole.

16:05:51: IBF talks about the “sea of patrons” below his tower and admits that he’s “tingling.”

16:07:07: Phil’s birdie putt comes up short. Tiger probably got a good read, but the putt is pretty straight.

16:08:14: Tiger prepares to stroke his birdie putt at 11. Faldo: “I’ve got a funny feeling.” The putt is two feet short. Pars for both at the 11th, and Tiger’s still four back, and three back of Phil. But a par at 11 isn’t terrible, and now they’re at the crucial 12th, where dreams have been dashed. Tiger has the honor.

16:09:51: 175 at the eighth for Chad Campbell to 10 feet, a great shot, after finding the fairway bunker from the tee. Jim Furyk from 30 yards short of the putting surface nips a high lobe that runs out to six feet below the cup.

16:11:08: IBF: “Tiger had a 9-iron to start. Put the club back waiting for the wind to settle.” Faldo: “Phil is happy to not be going first here.” IBF: “He went back to eight.” Tiger tosses more grass.

16:12:40: Chad Campbell makes birdie to tie for the lead at -11.

16:12:50: Tiger’s ball finds the putting green 20 feet below, short, and left of the pin at the 12th. Manageable.

16:13:18: Mickelson: “Pelz nine. I got it.” Faldo: “He’s going to give it a bit more release, draw it. Dangerous shot.” The ball goes right, catches the hill, and rolls down into Rae’s Creek! Faldo: “We called it Ian.” So did I: dreams are dashed at the 12th.

16:15:31: Kenny Perry waaaaaaay right at the eighth nearly hits Jim Furyk’s caddie. Faldo: “Impossible pitch from there.” Cabrera, 262 yards, uphill, with an iron, falls back and shanks it. Faldo: “Unbelievable. He’s saying I hit it there and somehow it shanked.”

16:16:59: Furyk, earlier at the eighth, makes his birdie and moves to -9. Phil, from 67 yards on the ball drop, puts the ball behind the pin. We see John Merrick putting for eagle at the 15th, and he’s to -7. He leads Masters rookies by six and nearly aces the 16th. He’ll get to -8. He’ll be the first to post a good number.

16:18:33: Dustin Johnson eagles the 14th and is the second player in Masters history to eagle consecutive holes!

16:18:55: Tiger’s birdie putt at the 12th misses just low. He’s begun the back nine with three pars and stays at -7. Phil’s bogey putt will be very fast.

16:19:25: Furyk pulls the ball well right at the ninth. The ball comes out into the pine straw/rough.

16:19:56: Phil’s bogey putt slides by high. He’s doubled the 12th and falls back to -8, one ahead of Tiger and three back of the leader.

16:20:48: Cabrera hits to 40 feet or so at the eighth. On the 13th tee, Tiger chooses a fairway metal for one of his rope hooks. He seems a tad late but the ball turns enough. Kostis: “hole location is very, very accessible today.”

16:21:51: Kenny Perry to ten feet at the eighth. Not bad for an “impossible shot,” eh Nick? 🙂 Phil hits a “beauty up the right side of the 13th. Kostis continues talking about the energy difference.

16:24:03: Perry’s birdie putt at the eighth misses high. He’ll par again and stay at -11. Apparently he thinks he’s trying to win the British Open! Cabrera will also make par.

16:25:00: Phil’s T5, Tiger’s T7, four back. The lackluster play by the leaders is increasing their chances of winning, but Tiger in particular needs to do a lot more on the back nine to have a chance. He’s only -3, and Phil’s only -4, both through 12. They started the day seven back, and they’re still four and three back.

16:26:46: Tiger’s ball is in an old divot or depression. 220 yards to the green, Tiger takes a lash at it, and the ball finds the upper tier. Then it starts to move, but left instead of towards the front of the green. A likely birdie and an improbable eagle.

16:27:41: Furyk flubs a shot at the ninth, coming up short.

16:27:53: Phil, at 13 from 185, does no better than Tiger Woods. Horrible shot.

16:28:21: Chad Campbell from nine punches out to short and right of the green. Faldo: “Incredibly difficult hole location.” He chips it eight feet past the hole and the ball somehow remains.

16:30:25: Furyk blades the ball out of the bunker on the ninth across the green to near where Tiger chipped from. That was his fourth shot. Chad Campbell blows it high but the ball stops a foot behind the hole. Bogey, -10. Furyk chipped to two feet, apparently, and will make double bogey.

16:31:23: Phil’s eagle putt is on the way and it looks good for a long time but comes up with just a little too little speed. He birdies to go back to -9. Kostis talks about how they walked up to the green: Tiger’s quicker pace, chin up, chest out, the opposite of earlier in the round.

16:32:14: Tiger’s eagle putt along most of the same line just swings by low but leaves a tap-in birdie. He’ll get to -8, now three back of Mr. Par Perry, the sole leader.

16:33:29: Cabrera goes long at the ninth. Tiger is T5, Phil is in fourth alone. Perry’s approach goes left and into the bunker where Phil and Furyk found vastly different fates.

16:34:20: Tiger, still with the honor, hits a sweeping hook with a fairway metal at the 14th. He looks late but must be timing his clubhead release quite well on those. Phil goes with a driver. Phil’s hit only 4/10 fairways, but makes it 5/11 here.

16:35:21: Kenny Perry blasts out to eight feet, Faldo: “very good.” John Merrick, again at -8, nearly makes five consecutive birdies at the 17th. His playing partner Geoff Ogilvy made his fifth straight on that hole. Steve Flesch hits it close at 16.

16:36:30: Cabrera at the ninth, for birdie, sets the ball in motion and watches it trundle down to the hole. Good putt, good par.

16:38:17: Kenny Perry backs off his par putt as someone yells something stupid. Over his par putt from eight feet, he knocks it home. Mr. Par Perry with nine pars on the front nine.

16:39:01: Tiger from 172, 32 back of Phil to a back-right hole, comes up short and pulls the ball off the false front and into the fairway. Tricky chip/pitch coming up, and a poor shot at the wrong time for Tiger. Mickelson flies it behind the hole to ten feet. Phil has, with the exception at 12, outplayed Tiger tee to green all day.

16:42:31: Tiger’s chip at the 14th, into the hill, rolls out to three feet for par. Good save. The last two pairings are +1, and Tiger and Phil are -9.

16:43:21: Cabrera smokes one at the tenth with a fairway metal. Perry hit driver and didn’t get it quite as far.

16:43:44: What would be Phil’s eighth birdie of the day catches the right lip and stays out. Both players will par, and stay at Tiger -8, Phil -9. Faldo looks forward to one of the two eagling the 15th.

16:45:18: Campbell’s birdie putt at the 10th stays low. He’ll remain at -10. Jim Furyk will stay at -7 with his par.

16:46:07: John Merrick, at 18, misses his birdie putt but makes an easy par. He’ll be the first to post -8 – all due to his sixth-place finish at last year’s U.S. Open. Great first Masters appearance for a guy I watched play at Peak ‘n Peek nearby. Top 16 get invited back, and he’s well inside that number, currently T5. Sides of 34 and 32 for Merrick.

16:47:20: Woods, still with the honor, unleashes the ball at the 15th. Tiger’s birdied the hole in each of the first three rounds but probably wants an eagle today. Phil has gone par birdie birdie and hits a solid drive that bounds well, well beyond Tiger’s drive. 30+ yards past – but potentially on a more downhill lie.

16:48:59: Cabrera finds the bunker right of the tenth. Perry, earlier, finds a spot well right of the cup pin high.

16:49:52: As of right now, the first page of the leaderboard looks like this:

1    K. Perry      E    9    -11
T2   C. Campbell  -1   10    -10
T2   A. Cabrera   +1    9    -10
4    P. Mickelson -5   14     -9
T5   J. Merrick   -6   18     -8
T5   S. Flesch    -5   16     -8
T5   T. Woods     -4   14     -8

16:51:40: Pato plays a poor bunker shot. Campbell blows his tee shot well right at the 11th. We see Todd Hamilton on the 12th. He hit his tee shot in the water, but holes out from the drop zone for a par! He’s still +1 today and only -5 for the tournament.

16:53:11: Tiger looks straight down the 15th at the flag. 197 yards. Ball is on track and 20 feet right of the flag. Feherty: “Great chance for eagle.”

16:53:45: Phil, from 187 and a small downslope right near an “eastern white pine,” hits to four feet! This is truly a display of “anything you can do, I can do better!” Tiger must absolutely make his putt, because Phil’s going to get to -11 and tie for the lead.

16:55:25: Feherty calls it a “sea of humanity,” eschewing the word “patron,” and calls both of the putts “absolutely crucial.”

16:56:16: Perry makes a safe par at the 10th. Ho hum. He’s about to be caught, though, and we’ll see if pars will do it. Cabrera misses his eight footer for par. He falls back to -9.

16:57:48: Feherty: “Get ready to put your fingers in your ears if this goes in.” He’s called it a right edge putt. It misses just right. He played it a cup out and right edge looked like the right call. He’ll tap in for birdie and go to -9, two back – and quite likely two back of Phil and Kenny Perry.

16:59:09: Tiger is officially 100 under par on the par fives at Augusta National. He’s only +7 on the par fours in his career.

16:59:24: Phil pushes his eagle putt! Faldo: “That was the biggest shove of his life.” He’s only going to get to -10, one ahead of Tiger and one back of Mr. Par Perry. WOW. Phil’s short putting may – with one stroke – cost him this Masters.

17:00:39: Chad Campbell, from right of the pine straw on 11, chips out 40 yards short of the surface. His third checks up 15 feet short. IBF: “They’re all hearing the roars up ahead.” Campbell’s par putt slides by left, bogey.

17:01:38: Kenny on the tee at 11, hits, and picks up the tee. Center cut. Jim Furyk to get to -8, short, stays at -7. Jim will not win without a great back nine. But then again, Tiger was at -7 after 12, and he’s only two back now.

17:02:42: Tiger is -2, E, and -4 career at the last three holes. 7-iron at the 16th, he’s staring at it, and it hits the slope and goes to three or four feet. Lundquist: “He has a history at this hole, does he not?” Queue the chip-in footage (but not just yet, apparently – we’ll watch Phil first).

17:03:40: +11, -6, +3 career. 8-iron, staring at it also, to 15 feet behind the flag. Tough putt. Tiger may very well tie him at -10 here, making up the last of the three-stroke deficit to his playing partner on the front nine.

17:06:01: Kenny from 193 at the 11th – it’s like he’s playing a completely different golf tournament somewhere. No noise. Cabrera from 174 find the green just below the flag.

17:06:35: Chad Campbell, 8I at the 12th, pin high left, and a makeable birdie putt.

17:07:00: Phil to tie for the lead from 15 feet at the 16th, it never has a chance missing low to two feet. He’ll finish.

17:07:34: Mr. Par Perry somehow manages to catch a lot of lip with a slow-moving ball and yet still not make a birdie. He’ll stay at -11, now with 11 pars on the day. He threw his putter when it didn’t drop.

17:08:16: To Tiger at the 16th, a must-make putt given Tiger’s troubles on the last two holes in recent years. Tiger missed a putt similar to this one in the third round at another hole. But he’s Tiger, and he doesn’t miss these kind of putts during the final round. He’s to -10, ties Phil, and both are one back of Mr. Par Perry. The last two pairings are +3, and Phil and Tiger are -12 (-6 each). Tiger’s yet to make bogey today, and Phil has only a double bogey blemish at the 12th.

17:10:44: Tiger at the 17th, with a driver. He pulls it left. It crashes into the tree but finds the left rough. He’s played the hole in par, par, birdie.

17:11:21: Chad Campbell at the 12th, makes it for a two and moves to -10. Phil bombs a driver at the 17th. The hole location is accessible today.

17:11:53: Kenny Perry at the 12th. Stares it down. Safely onto the back middle fringe.

17:13:54: More commercials. Four minutes out of every hour? Really? Has anyone checked this recently? We just had two commercials, and I’m fairly confident we had one or two at 5:04 too. That’s 1:30 or 2:00 of commercials before we’re a quarter way into the hour. Not complaining – even six minutes would beat everyone else – just curious if someone’s actually kept track.

17:15:37: We see Phil hitting. Puts it to five feet.

17:16:09: Mr. Par Perry turns into Mr. Birdie at the 12th! He moves to -12! With two par fives left Kenny is the odds on favorite to win now, even if Phil gets to -11 at 17.

17:16:58: Tiger plays a low snap hook to short and right of the green at the 17th. He’ll need to get up and down and then generate some final-hole heroics or another Mickelson miss to even tie his playing partner let alone Kenny Perry.

17:18:39: Chad Campbell at 13, 230 yards, catches the slope and funnels down to the proper tier. Likely birdie.

17:19:05: Tiger from pin high right of the green, a long, uphill pitch, can’t see where he’ll land the ball. He flies it almost all the way to the hole and it skids to a stop 12 feet past the hole. 50/50 shot of making it, and only that high because it’s Tiger Woods. The two bogeys Tiger made on the 18th hole in the first and second round, as well as the short miss in the first round at the 17th, may be what cost Tiger this Masters.

17:20:36: Perry slings a good draw around the 13th.

17:21:53: Oosterhuis: “A horrible tee shot at the wrong time for Tiger.” 12 feet may have been generous: call it 15 feet. Similar line as the one Jack Nicklaus holed in 1986. Tiger strokes the putt, and it misses well low. Bogey five for Tiger at the penultimate hole of the Masters puts him back to -9. Tiger’s quest for a fifth green jacket ends one hole prematurely.

17:22:43: Phil, from five feet, pushes it again! Amazing! Phil stays at -10 after a great approach shot. Phil’s quest for a third green jacket also ends one hole prematurely.

17:24:06: Furyk rolls his eagle putt close and will birdie the 13th to get back to even par for the day and -8. Chad Campbell faces a putt to tie the lead at -12.

17:25:24: Faldo: “We can hear the birds twittering” (at 13). At 18, Nantz: “This will be the first time Phil’s had the honor since the eighth tee.” Phil flies his driver into the bunker.

17:25:37: Campbell leaves his eagle putt an inch short! Still, he gets to -11.

17:25:55: Tiger rips one right and into the pine straw at the 18th. If these two were any other players, I’m not sure CBS even shows their tee shots. They ain’t winnin’ unless Greg Norman goes out to the several people in front of them and gives them a pep talk.

17:27:11: Birdie Perry at the 13th, from 204 and a big hook lie, walks after it. He ropes it onto the back of the green, deep, and it won’t catch the slope either. Campbell drives up the 14th safely.

17:28:40: Two commercials again. That puts the total at 2:30 to 3:00.

17:30:11: Tiger on the 18th, from the pine straw, trying to hit a long iron to keep it low and hit a “power slice.” Tiger nails the tree right in front of him and the ball bounces well right into the 10th. He seems to have an open shot, but needs to get up and down for par.

17:31:32: Phil, uphill lie, comes up short of the left bunker in the fairway at 18. Faldo is amazed at how poorly he played the shot: “He caught it fat!”

17:32:35: Kenny Perry nearly holes his eagle putt, but rolls it six feet by to get to -13. I think he’ll make it. Cabrera gets to -10 with a birdie at the 13th. His eagle putt came up short.

17:33:52: Tiger’s third at the 18th gets to eight feet. He needs it to stay at -9, but Phil will get up and down to stay at -10.

17:34:30: Mr. Birdie Perry reverts to Mr. Par Perry with a three-putt. He yanked his birdie putt – horrible. 12 pars, one birdie today. He’s starting to look constipated. Cabrera, as I said, is at -10.

17:35:50: Phil tries to use the ridge but leaves himself a 25-footer for par. Faldo: “He needed to hole that.” He’s amazed he didn’t try the Phil Phlop.

17:37:39: Phil misses and bogeys the final hole. He’ll finish at -9, the leader in the clubhouse, but a 30/37 for a final-round 67.

17:39:15: Tiger pushes his par putt and bogeys 17 and 18 to shoot 33/35 for a 68.

1    K. Perry     -1   13    -12
2    C. Campbell  -2   13    -11
3    A. Cabrera   +1   13    -10
5    P. Mickelson -5    F     -9
T6   T. Woods     -4    F     -8

17:40:38: Campbell races his birdie putt well by at the 14th. He made the come-backer though. Mr. Par Perry finds the back of the green 20 feet away on the 14th.

17:41:36: We’re going to have a first-time Masters winner and we have a good chance of seeing a first-time major winner.

1    K. Perry     -1   13    -12
2    C. Campbell  -2   14    -11
3    A. Cabrera   +1   13    -10

17:42:13: Tiger says he felt like he wanted to post to -11, regardless of what Phil did. That would have been a 65 – three better than he managed. Nantz reminds us that Phil had a putt to get to -11 at 15.

17:43:06: Campbell stripes one down the 15th. We cut back to Kenny on the 14th. Except for great shots, we’ll see only Campbell, Cabrera, and Kenny from here on out.

17:44:17: I’ve surpassed 7500 words. I’m almost as long as Augusta National! 🙂

17:45:00: Mr. Par Perry, for birdie at 14, settles again for a par. Yawn. With all of the excitement we’ve seen today, it’s bizarre that what is right now a round of 71 may win the Masters.

1    K. Perry     -1   14    -12
2    C. Campbell  -2   14    -11
3    A. Cabrera   +1   14    -10

17:49:30: Chad Campbell looking at the flag from 220 on the 15th. Contact sounds good. He stares it down. It just carries the ridge and nestles to 20 feet left of the cup, flag high. Make it and he gets to -13.

17:50:11: Shingo Katayama at 16 makes a birdie to get to -9. See what I said above about not seeing anyone else unless they make a great shot. Cabrera hits a good ball up 15. Kenny Perry does likewise.

17:52:19: I might have missed some commercials in between, but we’ve just gotten two, so I know we’ve hit 4:00 within this hour.

17:53:36: Hey, Jim Furyk is still on the golf course, and he nearly chips in for eagle at the 15th. Even on the day, -8.

17:54:14: Chad Campbell, slower putt from pin high on the 15th, just misses on the high side. It just doesn’t want to turn – same miss as Tiger but from the opposite side of the hole.

T1   K. Perry     -1   14    -12
T1   C. Campbell  -3   15    -12
3    A. Cabrera   +1   14    -10

Jim Furyk misses a birdie put that would have gotten him to -9 with Shingo and FIGJAM, which would have pushed Tiger back to T7.

17:56:47: Kenny from 227 with a 5I. Looks at it. Caddie asks “Did you get enough of it.” Just carries the slope and rolls out to the left side of the green, a long ways away. Cabrera grunts after his and he misses the green pin-high right.

17:57:20: More commercials. We’re beyond 4:00 at this point.

17:59:20: I just realized that Tiger won’t be catching Jack in 2009. Earliest he can do that now is next year’s Masters, and that’s if he Tiger Slams it again.

17:59:48: Campbell elicits an “Oh my!” from Lundquist as his ball stop right about where Tiger’s did earlier on the 16th. Are we playoff bound? Can Campbell win it outright? Kenny doesn’t have the easiest of eagle putts on 15.

18:01:27: We’re reminded that the champ has come from the final pairing 17 of the last 18 years (Zach Johnson in 2007 was in the third to last group). Meanwhile, Shingo sucks from the bunker at 17 and will likely bogey to go back to -8, bumping Tiger to T5.

18:02:20: Cabrera’s eagle chip goes to tap-in birdie range. He’ll get back to even par on the day.

18:04:17: Kenny’s eagle putt nestles close to the hole. I’ll give him the birdie to get to -2 on the day and -13. Campbell misses his putt low and Kenny has the lead alone!

1    K. Perry     -2   15    -13
2    C. Campbell  -3   16    -12
3    A. Cabrera    E   15    -11

18:08:31: Shingo made his par putt, so Tiger’s still T6 with Shingo, Phil, and the three leaders ahead of him. Just FYI, since “top five” sounds much better than “top ten.”

18:09:24: Kenny Perry has a bright green Zero Friction tee in his teeth as he wipes his hands on the 16th tee. Campbell finds the middle of the 17th fairway. Cabrera, with an 8I at the 16th, will putt from just inside of Phil’s spot.

18:10:28: Kenny sticks that bright green Zero Friction tee in the ground. He nearly holes it for an ace! Kick-in birdie for Kenny Perry!

18:14:23: The leaderboard at this point:

1    K. Perry     -3   16    -14
T2   C. Campbell  -3   16    -12
T2   A. Cabrera   -1   16    -12

18:15:29: Campbell finds the front right bunker at the 17th. Barring a Van de Velde-ian collapse by KP, Campbell and Cabrera are done.

18:17:59: KP blocks one into the trees at 17. He has a shot to play with though, so he’ll be fine.

18:19:17: Shingo birdies the 18th to finish at -10, leaving Tiger in the cold at T6 and moving Phil back to fifth place alone.

18:22:47: Campbell taps in for a par after a great bunker shot at the 17th. Kenny Perry, somehow from 176 yards and the middle of the fairway, tugs it a little just over the back left of the green. How’d his ball get to where it was in the fairway? Bounced off a tree? Cabrera is 40+ yards closer.

18:24:01: Campbell at 18, pulls one through the pine straw and into the grass on the left short of the bunker. More commercials.

18:28:44: Kenny’s chip races well by the hole and onto the front fringe. His long, long par putt never has enough steam and comes up short. He’ll bogey and fall back to -13.

1    K. Perry     -2   17    -13
T2   C. Campbell  -3   17    -12
T2   A. Cabrera   -1   17    -12

18:29:38: Campbell hits a good swooper on the 18th to the middle of the green.

18:31:54: Faldo talks about how difficult the drive up 18 may be for KP, a natural hooker of the golf ball, and wonders whether he’ll hit a fairway metal. Cabrera will hit 3W. Nantz: “They have posted the Perry bogey, so Campbell knows it.” Pato hits a good 3W up the left side.

18:33:20: KP, going with driver. Sirens in the background, just like when Tiger played it in 2005. He hits it, leans, watches it, and it finds the fairway bunker. Faldo: “Just as I’ve been saying… why?!”

18:34:05: Chad Campbell, to tie KP: putt doesn’t come down the hill enough, misses high, tap-in par to finish -12 and a likely second-place finish for Chad Campbell at The Masters. A final-round 69.

1    K. Perry     -2   17    -13
T2   C. Campbell  -3    F    -12
T2   A. Cabrera   -1   17    -12

18:37:58: El Pato comes up in Chris Dimarco territory, short and right.

18:38:20: Faldo: “He’s well back, the lip won’t come into play. It’s all down to the strike.” 7I. The strike sounds good, but Kenny is disgusted. He’s yanked the ball well left, nearly pin high, and will face a difficult up and down. Chad Campbell figures to be 50/50 to get into a playoff. Angel Cabrera slightly less because he’s not even on the green yet. Then again, El Pato could also win outright if he chips in like Dimarco almost did.

18:39:49: Kenny Perry gets to walk up the 72nd hole of a major in the lead and in the final group, but he’s still got a lot of work left.

18:41:29: Faldo: “Going to take his medicine. Hero shot, land it just on the edge of the green. Looks like what he’s trying to do.” The ball checks up 15 feet past the cup in the middle of the green. Playoff chances now at 75%. OK, so it hasn’t taken a Van de Velde-ian collapse, but bogeys at the last two aren’t the way you want to finish.

18:42:53: El Pato chips close. He’ll make par and likely get into a playoff at -12.

1    K. Perry     -2   17    -13
T2   C. Campbell  -3    F    -12
T2   A. Cabrera   -1   17    -12

18:43:55: KP has almost the same putt, but shorter, as Chad Campbell’s earlier. Chad’s was for birdie. Kenny Perry: 15 feet to become the oldest major winner in history, and to earn his first. A southerner to win the Masters … and the putt … is short left by one inch.

     Playoff Bound
T1   K. Perry     -1    F    -12
T1   C. Campbell  -3    F    -12
T1   A. Cabrera   -1    F    -12

18:45:38: Nantz: “First three-man playoff since 1987.” Angel Cabrera, who seemingly did nothing all day, gets in. Kenny goes from a near-ace at the 16th to two straight bogeys at 17 and 18. The playoff will begin at 18.

18:51:07: Kenny is 3-2 career in playoffs. Campbell is 0-1. El Pato is 2-1. The Rangers need to beat the Flyers today (currently they’re losing 3-2) so the Pens can get home-ice advantage against the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs I care more about at this point. 🙂

18:56:18: Campbell’s drive up the fairway is right up the right side, in “excellent position.” Cabrera will play second. He’s stymied in the trees to the right, a big block, and he looks ill on the tee. Now KP, going with driver from the far left side, hits a good drive this time right up the center of the fairway.

18:58:36: After Chad Campbell’s wife, we see Kenny Perry’s wife and, presumably, daughter. Good genes… and that’s all I’ll say about that. Oh, and the Rangers have just tied it up at 3, but the Flyers need to lose in regulation.

19:00:30: Cabrera is looking to make a “suicidal” attempt at it by flinging the ball well around the right of the trunk. Faldo: “There’s no sense in going for an absolutely ridiculous shot.” He’s going for it. His ball hits a tree and pops out in the middle of the fairway somewhere ahead of the others.

19:01:42: KP is next to play. 8I, 156 yards. It’s Kenny’s club this week. This time he flails it well right, shorter and righter of where Chris Dimarco and Angel Cabrera have hit.

19:02:36: Chad Campbell, who stuffed one on the 18th hole at Valhalla in the Ryder Cup to squeeze a point out of Poulter and Rose (IIRC), says “get left.” He hits it in the bunker!!! Everybody’s puking all over themselves!

19:04:07: Angel’s third shot goes to about where Tiger hit his third after also hitting trees right of 18. Faldo: “That may be the closest third shot we’ll see.”

19:05:42: KP from short right, hits a great shot to a foot. That virtually guarantees he’ll win or keep playing today. Chad Campbell has two shots from the bunker, and Angel the putt. He taps in for his four.

19:06:45: Campbell is 3 out of 4 from the sand this week. He plays quickly. Faldo: “beautifully done.” It runs out to four feet. Cabrera has six. At least one will make and we’ll see another playoff back to 10. The Rangers score again to pull ahead 4-3. We see Kenny Perry’s family again, clapping.

19:08:10: Cabrera pours in his par putt. What a par after that drive – luck has been on Cabrera’s side today with his “blah” play. Campbell from four feet: lips it out on the right side. He’s out, and Kenny and Angel will play at least 20 holes together today. Chad Campbell, T2, 2009 Masters.

19:11:11: Cabrera misses the slope on the 10th to the right, but he’ll have a flatter lie perhaps. KP has played the hole birdie par birdie par for the week. With his driver, he finds the fairway just left and short of Cabrera.

19:12:15: Bill Macatee interviews Chad Campbell. Nothing new.

19:14:41: No sudden death playoff has gone past two holes.

19:15:38: KP’s approach to the tenth, doesn’t like it, way way left. Kenny’s fallen apart. C’mon, Kenny – anybody’s better than El Pato. He hits and he’s pulled it but only 15 feet below the flag and still on the green. 80% chance to win or higher for Cabrera.

19:19:04: Kenny’s chip, strong, no check, 30 feet above the hole. Angel Cabrera is now a 95% chance to win. I’m giving Kenny only a 7.5% chance of making the putt.

19:20:51: Kenny’s putt for par at the 10th. Faldo: “It’s gotta be pure.” It isn’t and misses low, sliding four feet by. Kenny will have to watch Angel make an easy two-putt to win. What a great interview this will be in Butler cabin. 😛

19:22:01: He taps it up close and elects to finish. He does so, and Angel Cabrera (yawn) is the 2009 Masters champion. Kenny pukes on himself on the four closing holes to give it away.

The End.