Winners and Losers From Masters Week

If you're like me, Sunday at the Masters is the pinnacle of the golfing year. Starting Monday, we face the longest stretch of time before we get to hear the wonderful sounds of Augusta again, see the bursting colors of the azaleas and cheer on guys to make eagles on 13 or 15 coming down the stretch Sunday. At this year's Masters, one of the better ones you will ever see, there were both winners and losers. Check out who we thought was the best choice for both.

Winners

Angel Cabrera -- The final scene of Rounders is one of the better competitive exchanges in movie history. Matt Damon's character, Mikey McDermott, is trying to take down John Malkovich's character, Teddy KGB, in a simple game of Texas Hold 'Em. As you may know, Mikey takes the cash from Teddy and, before Teddy delivers the always awesome "Pay the man his money" line, goes on a rant about how Mikey was just "hanging around, hanging around."

Basically, Angel Cabrera is the Mikey McDermott of major championships. An afterthought for most of the day, Cabrera made a sneaky birdie on 16 and pars the rest of the way to win his second major and first Masters. Now Angel is the only active player besides Tiger Woods to own both a Masters and U.S. Open title. Oh, and he quit smoking. Double bonus.

Kenny Perry -- Yeah, it might be strange for Perry to find his way on the Winners list, but hear me out. The guy played 70 holes of incredible golf this week and will only be remembered for his last two in regulation and the second playoff hole. He is one of the nicer professional athletes alive and was gracious in defeat, even admitting that he was proud of himself for sticking in there and competing. At 48, this was probably his last legitimate shot at winning a major, but the run was awesome, and his 8-iron was one more good swing away from sneaking out of there with a new piece of clothing. You can remember people for what they did or didn't do. I'll choose to remember Perry for everything except 17 and 18.

Rory McIlroy -- The kid is 19, and has more expectations on him than anyone since Tiger. What did he do in his first Masters? Not much, besides finishing t-20 and making it 5-for-5 for top-20 finishes on the PGA Tour. Do you know who didn't pull off such a feat when he turned pro? Yep, you guessed it, Tiger himself.

Phil Mickelson's Front Nine -- Talk about some shot-making! While his driver had abandoned him for most of Sunday, Mickelson made it up with precise iron shots from just about anywhere. Birdies on six of his first eight holes had Phil tie the best front-nine record in Masters history, and got patrons from all over the course scurrying to watch Lefty battle Tiger. The only other time I can think of Mickelson playing any better was at the Grand Slam of Golf, when he missed an eagle putt on the last hole for 58.

Losers

Chad Campbell -- It looked, for most of the week, like Campbell might avenge that tough loss to Shaun Micheel in the 2003 PGA Championship, but the fellow Texan couldn't close his rounds. On Thursday, Campbell had two holes left, needing just one more birdie to break the course record at Augusta National. A bogey-bogey finish turned an historic round into just another great day at the Masters. On Friday, Campbell was 4-under for the day after 10 holes, but made three bogeys on the way in, failing to birdie both the 13th and 15th. Saturday's round ended double bogey-birdie-bogey, and on Sunday he played himself into contention, only to miss a short, uphill par putt in the first playoff hole to advance. All in all it was a week of shattered nerves and missed opportunities for Campbell.

Tiger Woods -- Tiger has always said his favorite golf course is St. Andrews. I can guarantee that after this week, Augusta might be falling lower and lower on his list of faves. Woods looked confused by the winds and the greens all week, really only finding his putting stroke for a brief time on Sunday just to lose it again with missed putts on 12, 15, 17 and 18. Tiger was once the guy at Augusta who would make the putt he had to make. Now, he tends to struggle to get the ball in the hole when the moment calls for it. With Bethpage Black just two months away, I'm sure Tiger will work on his short irons and putting touch to get ready for the U.S. Open, but the first major championship has really done an interesting number on Woods the last four years.

Nick Faldo -- Faldo has won three Masters, and I can't take that away from him. The problem is that his last win was in '96, before Tiger Woods had ever played the course as a professional and before the course added roughs. Faldo's commentary on how the holes should be played and how the greens would break was dated and annoying, and it didn't help that Jim Nantz continued to pitch him softball questions about how everything worked a decade ago.

Faldo has never been my favorite announcer, but having him on a course that he once dominated was nearly unlistenable. The Masters is my favorite sporting event of the year, but Faldo took a little bit away from it with his commentary. I can only hope CBS decides not to bring him back next year. My ears would be happy.

Phil Mickelson's Back Nine -- If the front nine was Frank Sinatra on Sunday, the back nine for Phil was William Hung. The number of bad decisions Phil made on the back, including his half-swing on 12 and his driver choice on 18, led to one of my buddies admitting to me, "Maybe Mickelson just isn't very smart." No matter the pressure, if you're a big-time player, that back nine needs to be 1-under at worst. Phil left shots on the course from 15-18 and might remember the '09 Masters as Winged Foot 2.0.