After watching Tom Watson do his thing at the 2009 British Open at Turnberry, it was going to be hard for this year’s tournament to match the events of the previous year. But hey, this was still the British Open, and it was being played at St. Andrews. Something totally awesome had to happen, right? Umm, not exactly.

To be quite frank, this was one of the most boring events I’ve watched in golf this season. That in no way is a knock on the winner of this event, Louis Oosthuizen. He wasn’t very well known entering this tournament, and his seven-shot victory was one of the more impressive feats in golf this year. But from start to finish, this tournament just did not offer the suspense and excitement that we expect from a major championship.

Had Tiger Woods been the one with the seven-stroke advantage on Sunday, obviously, things would have been different. But due to the lack of drama on the weekend, and lack of a truly compelling story, it made this major an average one at best.

Hey, at least it offered us this shot by Miguel Angel Jimenez though.

This was the first of the two major championships that Dustin Johnson would be remembered for during the four majors this season. And had he known what would happen a few months later at Whistling Straits, he probably would have been just fine with people remembering him for his collapse in the final round at Pebble Beach.

Johnson was actually one of the hot picks to win this tournament, after winning at Pebble earlier in the season. It was just hard to watch his final round 82, but it certainly wasn’t the first time someone folded under the pressure at a major (which would become evident a few months later as well). However, that opened the door for Graeme McDowell, who gladly accepted the opportunity, and won his first-ever major championship in the process.

In terms of excitement, this one wasn’t the most exciting U.S. Open in recent memory, as it sort of felt like we were seeing numerous bad shots down the stretch, and players were essentially knocking themselves out of contention instead of making the shots to get in contention. Scores were high on Sunday, and the back nine was brutal, but McDowell was the one who was able to push past this and pick up the victory. Again, not a whole lot of fun to watch players struggle mightily in the final round, but this tournament wasn’t all that bad.

There’s no doubt that this will go down as the most-talked about majors of 2010, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was the best major of the 2010 season. I really enjoyed this tournament from start to finish, and it didn’t hurt that one of my favorite players on tour (Nick Watney) had the lead entering the final round.

But then of course, one shot from a piece of trampled sand changed everything, and sent the finish of this event into complete disarray. Dustin Johnson saw himself at the center of a a major for the second time this season, but this time around, the consequences were much more tough to accept than his performance at the U.S. Open. He suffered the two-stroke penalty, and then had to watch helplessly as Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson in a three-hole playoff to win his first-ever major. That could have been Johnson, but it just wasn’t to be.

What made this event really compelling was the true uncertainty that surrounded the final round. Once Watney started off the day with a bogey, and the proceeded to just hit the ball over the place, we knew that someone besides Watney would be walking away from Whistling Straits with the trophy. Problem was, it seemed like we could never get a grasp on who that would be until Kaymer actually made the winning putt in the playoff. Guys like Zach Johnson, Steve Elkington, and Rory McIlroy all seemed to have putts that would have gave them a shot at the lead, but couldn’t capitalize.

Though this tournament will be remembered more for the Johnson/PGA blunder on the final hole, we must give credit where it’s due, as Kaymer was the one that stood out above the rest in the final round that golf fans won’t forget anytime soon.

The Masters marked the return of Tiger to the game of golf. That was the big storyline heading into the event. So of course, we should have known that Tiger’s biggest nemesis throughout the years would come in and steal the headlines. And that’s exactly what Phil Mickelson did, as Lefty went on to win for the third time in his career at Augusta.

The thing is, even though Phil winning was a HUGE story, considering the types of miraculous shots that he made in the final round to do so, there was a still a lot of intriguing happenings at this event.

Tiger finished tied for fourth in his first tournament back since the scandal. Lee Westwood was the leader entering the final round, and once again saw major championship glory slip through his fingers after tough day on Sunday. Fred Couples was a major factor the entire week, and had a chance to win the thing entering the final round. Tom Watson was in the lead early, and made golf fans think back to his performance at Turnberry last year.

Simply put, this tournament had it all for four days straight, and it culminated with an absolutely brilliant performance by Phil on Sunday. Given the difficulties with cancer that his wife has faced, this was the feel-good ending that golf fans love to see. This will not only go down as my favorite major of the season, but my favorite tournament of the year as well.

How would you rank the 2010 major championships in golf?

Golf fans, if you aren’t already, be sure to follow me on Twitter for more thoughts on all the action from the world of professional golf!

Here’s 10 things that I take away from this year’s installment of the Masters:

1. Phil Mickelson is going to have a much better season than Tiger Woods

And not just because Lefty won this particular tournament, and is already one up in terms of majors this season. But because I really think that this was all that Phil needed to get his season heading in the right direction. When we all learned that Tiger would be out of golf for the first part of this season, I immediately jumped on the Phil bandwagon, and declared him the 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. I was starting to wonder about him before the Masters, but now, he looks as confident as ever, and he might make this one of his best seasons yet. As for Tiger, while there was clearly rust, he still finished T4. The problem is, we don’t really know when we’ll see Tiger play again, so Phil has the chance to make 2010 his year.

2. This may be the most confident we’ve ever seen Anthony Kim

After a win last week at the Shell Houston Open, I thought that Kim would come into the Masters with some confidence. I was wrong though. He came into the Masters with a ton of confidence. AK had another one of his memorable Augusta rounds, shooting a 65 on Sunday to earn him a third place finish in this year’s event. Kim had talked about having thumb surgery after the Masters, but with the way he’s playing right now, I hope he can put it off for a while. Because if he does, he’s got his best shot at a major championship coming up at either Pebble Beach or Whistling Straits.

3. Lee Westwood is easily the best player in the world without a major

You could make the argument for a few other players before this past week, but I don’t think that there’s any doubt now. He didn’t lose this tournament, Phil won it. Yes, he held the lead entering the final round, but he couldn’t have anticipated the kind of day that we would see. It is simply hard to believe that Westwood has yet to capture a win at a major, especially considering just how close he’s been in recent years. Here’s a look at his recent finishes at major championships:

2008 U.S. Open: 3rd
2009 British Open: T3
2009 PGA Championship: T3

And now he can add a second place finish at the 2010 Masters to the list. There’s a reason why this guy is always a popular pick every time a big tournament rolls around. But you can bet that Westwood would like to eventually be the one with all the glory on Sunday. And he’d probably like that to happen very soon.

4. K.J. Choi is a very, very calm man

How else do you explain the fact that Choi played with Tiger all four days, and managed to shoot the same score as him (11-under par) for a T4 finish? We saw how playing with the world’s best player affected Matt Kuchar the first few days (finished even par for the tournament), but Choi never allowed the surroundings get to him. Now granted, Choi is a veteran and has faced similar situations before. But to be paired with Tiger given the circumstances surrounding this week, and to even grab a share of the lead at one point on Sunday, is just amazing. I’ve got plenty of respect for this guy after this tournament, and hope to see him in contention at another major this season.

5. Amazing players play amazingly bad at majors sometimes

Just take a look at the stellar list of players that missed the cut this week:

Jim Furyk +12
Stewart Cink +8
Padraig Harrington +5
Paul Casey +9
Henrik Stenson +11
Vijay Singh +10
Ross Fisher +9
Rory McIlroy +7
Justin Leonard +6
Martin Kaymer +5
Luke Donald +5
Ryo Ishikawa +4

Furyk and Harrington were heavy favorites entering the week, which shows that golf can be pretty confusing at times.

6. Freddie Couples can still win PGA Tour tournaments

Now that Couples has made the transition to the Champions Tour, you don’t get to see him all that much on a regular basis. However, after his play this week at Augusta, one thing is for certain: he’s the best player on the senior circuit, and would still be one of the best players on the PGA Tour if he played there full-time. It was smart move by him though because of the back trouble, but at least this week has proved to him that he can still compete and be in contention with the big boys in golf. If recent history is any indication, we’ll probably see him battling for another major in the near future.

7. Tom Watson’s still got it

I started getting heavily into golf writing last year after Watson’s performance at Turnberry, because I wanted to try and put into words what I had just witnessed. Needless to say, it was impossible, but it’s memories like those that make everyone realize just how great it is to be a golf fan. Watson tinkered with giving us some more major memories for a day or so this week, before finally settling for a 1-under par finish. Still though, over the last several years, we’ve seen memorable performances by older players (Couples and Watson in their aforementioned tournaments, plus Greg Norman at Royal Birkdale in ‘08), and I hope it’s a trend that continues. As they say, and is being made evident by these men, golf is certainly a game for a lifetime.

8. Nick Watney is going to win a major championship within the next two years

If you want to talk about a guy that has a bright future ahead of him, look no further than this man. I hyped up Watney all week entering the tournament, and he made me look pretty good with his seventh place finish. Watney embraced his inner Anthony Kim on Sunday, shooting a 65, and there’s no doubt that he could have shot 62 or 63 had he not missed a few putts that were not all that difficult. Like AK, his confidence is riding high right now, and although he may not be a factor in every tournament he plays in, his game is too good for him to not win a big tournament soon. Let me just go ahead and throw it out there right now: Nick Watney wins the 2011 Masters.

9. The one-handed follow through is usually a sign that you’ve just hit a horrendous tee shot

I kept mentioning to a friend that I had never seen so many great players follow through their swing, and end up with only one hand on the club after impact. We see it every now and then, but there was plenty of it on display this week. We saw Tiger do it multiple times. Westwood did it. Ian Poulter did it. And well, with the exception of maybe once or twice, the shots were pretty terrible off the tee. Let’s face it though, driving at Augusta isn’t the easiest thing in the world, so I’d say that we could let the players slide this week. And after all, their one-handed follow through is better than my best golf swing any day of the week. So while we already knew that two hands all the way through was the way to go, it makes me feel a little better about myself when I accidentally lose grip of the club on my swing.

10. Augusta is as cruel as it’s ever been

Luckily for Phil, he still managed to win the tournament. Just think about how much we’d be talking about this if he had lost by a stroke.