London Free Press

AUGUSTA — “If you can keep your wits while all around you are losing theirs ....”

Rudyard Kipling penned those words. It’s not certain whether he was ever a member at Augusta National, what with the secrecy thing and all, but it’s a pretty good swing thought if you ever expect to win the Masters.

Somewhere in the fog of noise and anxiety and fear, coming down the back nine on Sunday, Charl Schwartzel found that happy quiet place that transported him to a Masters title.

“I knew if I could relax my hands, that I would be able to make a proper stroke. And I got myself really calm, which is something you need to do when you putt. I’m proud of myself.”

And so is all of South Africa after Schwartzel came out on top of an outstanding leaderboard in the pressure of the back nine of Masters Sunday.

He shot a final-round 66 and finished the job with birdies at the final four holes to pass Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day to win by two shots. Tiger Woods put on an early surge that vaulted him to the top of the board early in the say, but he faltered coming down the stretch and finished tied with another Aussie.

Rory McIlroy, who led the first 63 holes of the tournament, suffered a meltdown and fell right out of the top 10 before it was over.

Schwartzel began his final round with a ridiculous running birdie chip from about 20 yards off the green that found the bottom of the cup. After a par at the second, he knocked his approach shot in at the par-4 third for eagle to jump into a brief tie for the lead.

He bogeyed the fourth, then rattled off 10 consecutive pars. With what seemed like half the field still in the hunt and just four holes to go, Schwartzel grabbed the tournament by the throat. He birdied 15, 16, 17 and 18. End of debate.

“It was unreal,” said Day, making his Masters debut. “It’s the most exciting tournament I’ve ever played in.

“You’re out there, there are roars around you and you don’t know what’s going on. It’s an amazing feeling to be out there in the thick of things.”

As McIlroy and Angel Cabrera, the final pairing, stepped to the 10th tee, there were eight players bunched within three shots of the lead and seven of them were within two. McIlroy was at 11 under, Cabrera, Schwartzel and K.J. Choi sat at 10, while, up ahead, Woods, Luke Donald and Scott were sitting at nine under, with Day at eight under.

Then McIlroy yanked his tee shot a mile left off the 10th tee and could only pitch out to the fairway. He pulled his third shot into trees left of the green, hit a tree with his fourth, pitched on to the green and two-putted for triple-bogey seven to fall to minus eight and heading south.

Meanwhile, Scott was in the process of making birdie at 11 to join Cabrera, Schwartzel and Choi in the lead at 10 under.

At the 15th, Schwartzel joined Scott at 11 under and they, along with Day, remained the only players who could carry any positive momentum down the stretch. A half-dozen other players strained to join them, but nobody could put enough good holes together.

ken.fidlin@sunmedia.ca