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| The Canadian Press |
You gotta love the Masters! I think it is even greater when a relatively unknown player wins it coming from behind. Charl (pronounced Sharl--- I never would have guessed that) Schwartzel, a 26 year old from South Africa won the Masters 50 years after Gary Player (also from South Africa) became the first International player to win the tournament. He was also the first player to win while making 4 birdies in the last 4 holes. It is always awesome to see someone win rather than the others lose. Schwartzel qualified for the Masters by being top 50 in the year end 2010 world rankings. He has been a pro on the European tour for 7 years and in 2011 has his PGA Tour Card. Pretty cool little story below from the AP:
Schwartzel had played in only one previous Masters — he tied for 30th a year ago — but he got a very helpful tutorial from a guy who's won more green jackets than anyone.
After finagling a lunch with six-time winner Jack Nicklaus at a charity function, he deftly broke the ice with one of their shared interests beyond the golf course.
"I've never met Jack. I was really excited," Schwartzel recalled. "I knew he sort of liked hunting a little bit. That's the way I got the conversation going, just by talking about hunting."
Of course, the talk soon turned to Augusta National.
And, boy, did the Golden Bear open up.
"I'm thinking it's going to be just a vaguely quick little thing, and he actually took the time to take me through all 18 holes," Schwartzel said. "The way he used to think around Augusta. The way he used to play it, which flags he used to attack."
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