Phil Mickelson Wins the 2010 Masters

On a day where it seemed like maybe five or six guys could win the golf tournament, only one stepped up and made it his tournament to lose down the stretch. And that man was Phil Mickelson. Mickelson had a dominating performance this afternoon, shooting 5-under par on the day to finish at 16-under for the championship, and took home his third green jacket, with Lee Westwood being his closest competition at 13-under.

Unless you watched it, there’s really no way to explain it in words. Mickelson started off slow, but not by bogeying, but just by shooting even par for the first seven holes. He then took off, with a birdie on 8, and then four birdies on the back nine to lock up the tournament. The shot that pretty much won the tournament for him was a shot from behind a tree on 13 that landed just a few feet from the hole. I can’t explain the shot, because it was just incredible. Chances are that you’ll see it soon though.

As for Westwood, it had to be heartbreaking, as he once again failed to cash in on a shot at a major championship. He’s had plenty of opportunities in the past, and with the lead heading into the final round, he looked to be in great shape to pick up the green jacket. But honestly, it didn’t have a whole lot to do with what Westwood did. It just had a lot to do with the day that Phil had. Phil left everyone else behind, and Westwood just had no chance to catch up to him. A job well done by Westwood, though I’m sure he’ll be leaving Augusta very disappointed.

A few other thoughts on the final round:

– Anthony Kim was the guy to make the run up the leaderboard, shooting a 65 in the final round, to finish at 12-under par on the week. We knew that there would be one player that would go VERY low today, and Kim was the man to do that. This kid has all the confidence in the world right now, and he has big things in store for him this season.

– It was a good way to get back into the flow of things for Tiger Woods, but I honestly never thought that he would win the golf tournament. He struggled mightily off the tee today, and he just never seemed to get any type of consistency going. But again, for his first tournament in quite some time, a T4 finish isn’t too shabby.

– Early on, it looked like Fred Couples would be in contention as well, but had to settle for 2-under for the day, and sixth place finish at 9-under. Freddie had a very up and down back nine, and could never make up any shots, despite six birdies on the round. It was a great story this week though, and I really hope we see him in contention at another major this season.

– My sleeper pick for the tournament, Nick Watney, also made a run up the leaderboard to finish seventh. Watney also shot a 65 on the day, and was honestly only a putt or two away from going even lower than that. I think this guy is going to have a huge season on tour.

– After this week’s performance, I’ve got nothing but respect for K.J. Choi. Choi was paired with Tiger every single day this week, and finished with the exact same score (11-under) for tournament. Given the fact that no one has been paired with Tiger for all four rounds at a tournament, this guy never backed down, and even found himself in the lead for a while today. He’ll definitely be in contention again though at a big tournament. Gaining this type of confidence this week, you can bet on that.

– And I have to give a shout to one of my favorites on tour, Miguel Angel Jimenez, who closed off the week with a 66 today, and a T12 finish. I just love to watch that guy play.

We’ll certainly have more thoughts on the tournament tomorrow. But for now, congratulations to Phil Mickelson on picking up his third green jacket. After all that he has been through over the past year or so with the health of his wife Amy and his mother’s health, this is just a feel-good story all the way around. So congrats Phil!