Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

It's a great day to be from Australia. An Australian golfer has finally won the Masters. After years of torment and heartbreaking defeats for the country, including several by the great Greg Norman, they finally have their first victory in the most important event in the sport. Adam Scott has finally broken through the glass ceiling by winning this year's Masters on the second hole of a playoff with Angel Cabrerra, and it was an amazing journey for Adam to secure his first major victory.

Adam Scott is the only golfer to have a combined score under par in the last five major championships, yet this is the first one that he has been able to secure a victory in. He lost his previous bids in some of the most heartbreaking fashions imaginable, in much the same way that his fellow countryman, the aforementioned Norman, lost the 1996 Masters after having a six stroke lead going into the final day. Scott never had a collapse quite as drastic as Norman, but a few of them had that same feeling. Today was Scott's turn to be on the right end of this scenario. Scott managed a thrilling comeback, coming from three strokes back with eight holes to play to force a playoff. He would eventually sink a birdie on the second hole of the playoff to not only win his first major championship and the first Masters for his country, but also became only the fourth player to ever win a major in such a fashion.

While today's victory is indeed a remarkable one for Scott, the importance of one single hole for the best golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, cannot be overlooked. In his second round, Tiger hit a shot that appeared to be about as perfect as it could be. The shot hit the flag, then inexplicably shot out and landed in the water. This lead to Tiger taking a bogey on a hole in which he should have scored a birdie. After the round, Tiger mentioned in an interview that he had inadvertently broken one of the rules of golf when he re-hit the shot. It was initially deemed to not have been a violation, but after the interview officials decided to review their decision and assess Tiger a two-stroke penalty on top of the penalty he had already taken by the unfortunate turn the ball took to the water. While it's impossible to say that without those penalties Tiger would have won the tournament, I do think it's important to acknowledge that if you take those four strokes away, Tiger is at nine under and in the playoff with Cabrerra and Scott.

To his credit, Adam Scott made all the shots he needed to and secured a great win not only for himself, but for his country. I expect to hear much more from Scott now that he has been able to relieve some of the pressure. If you don't believe me, just look at Phil Mickelson. For the longest time he was talked about as the best golfer to never win a major, and that pressure got the better of him time and again. Once he finally won one, the flood gates opened and he has gone on to win three Masters competitions. Don't be surprised to see Scott take much the same path.