AUGUSTA, Ga. — Phil Mickelson entered this year’s Masters looking to become the fourth player to win the event in consecutive years.
Instead, he struggled throughout the week and finished well back in the pack at 1-under- par 287, tied for 27th. Mickelson never really got going throughout the week, shooting rounds of 70-72-71-74.
Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods remain the only back-to-back winners in Masters history.
“It was out there,” Mickelson said. “The greens are receptive, the pins are in spots you can get to, and there’s not much wind. So it was out there. But I struggled (putting) again (Sunday), and it was a frustrating week, really, with my putting.”
Still, Mickelson recorded his 16th top-30 finish in 19 Masters appearances.
Awesome Aussies.
No Australian player has ever won the Masters, but Adam Scott, Jason Day and Geoff Ogilvy certainly gave it their best shot in this year’s event.
Scott and Day finished tied for second at 12-under, and Ogilvy was two shots back, tied for fourth.
Scott and Ogilvy had their best Masters finishes, and Day was playing in the tournament for the first time.
Scott shot a 67 on Sunday and had a two-shot lead after he played the 16th hole, but he was passed by Charl Schwartzel.
Day broke Fuzzy Zoeller’s record for the lowest four-day total by a Masters rookie after shooting a 68 in the final round. Ogilvy had a 67 in the final round, which included five straight birdies starting at the 12th hole.
Apology to woman reporter.
Masters officials apologized to sports columnist Tara Sullivan of The Bergen (N.J.) Record after she was denied entry to a locker room for a post-tournament interview.
Augusta National spokesman Steve Ethun said a security guard acted improperly in stopping Sullivan, since club policy is to provide equal access to all reporters. Several female reporters at the tournament confirmed they had made numerous trips to the locker room for interviews in the past.
Ethun said “it should not have happened” and that officials will work “as hard as we can to make sure it does not happen again.”
Top amateur returning to Japan.
Hideki Matsuyama, a 19-year-old amateur from Japan, will return to Sendai today and join relief efforts in the city that took the brunt of the March 11 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Matsuyama is a student at Sendai’s Tohoku Fukushi University.
Matsuyama was the only amateur to make the cut. He shot a 74 on Sunday, but a birdie on 18 put him at 1-under for the tournament.
Denver Post wire services
