Woods helped Mickelson put on the Green Jacket
Phil Mickelson said it was unnerving to watch the players out in front of him at Augusta National Golf Club for Sunday's final round of the Masters making birdie after birdie.
Truth is it must have been at least equally uncomfortable for those players knowing that Mickelson was following them.
Mickelson, playing with supreme confidence and in total control of his golf game, won his second Green Jacket in three years with a dominating performance. He shot 69 for a 281 total, seven-under-par, and a two-stroke victory over Tim Clark of South Africa.
Five golfers were another shot back at 284: Defending champion Tiger Woods (70); former winners Fred Couples (71) and Jose Maria Olazabal (66); Chad Campbell (71); and two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (69).
Mickelson now has won back-to-back major championships. He won the PGA Championship last August. He first won the Masters in 2004 with a birdie on the 72nd hole. No such dramatics were required this time. Mickelson led by as much as four strokes on the second nine.
"I'm having the best time right now playing golf," Mickelson said. "I'm having so much fun being able to compete for major championships. It's just incredible and to win a couple now; it's an amazing feeling."
Woods, as the defending champion, helped Mickelson put on the Green Jacket as is the post-Tournament tradition. A year ago, it was Mickelson helping Woods.
"I certainly enjoyed having the jacket put on me," Mickelson said. "I love the chance to compete against guys like Tiger, guys like Retief and Ernie and Vijay and Fred who are playing so well. It gives me an incredible feeling of accomplishment to be able to come out on top this week."
2007 Masters Golf Tournament
There is no event quite like the Masters. Once inside the gates of Augusta National, golf fans witness first hand the beauty, grandeur and storied history that is the Masters Golf Tournament. For over 60 years the world's best golfers have gathered at Augusta to lay claim to the most coveted prize in all of golf; the famous Green Jacket. By doing so, one-by-one, the sport's greatest legends stamp their names into the annuls of golf history to be forever immortalized as Masters Champions.
The 2007 Masters Golf Tournament will once again mark the pinnacle of another great PGA Tour season. An expected 16 million people will tune in via television to see Phil Mickelson defend his title for the second time against the biggest names in golf while a lucky few with Masters tickets will witness it first hand.
Hootie Johnson,
Hootie Johnson, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, will step down from his position at the end of the season on May 21, 2006. Johnson will assume the title of Chairman Emeritus, and will be succeeded as Chairman by William Porter Payne.
Johnson, 75, was elected Chairman May 1, 1998, and during his eight year tenure oversaw some significant changes to Augusta National Golf Club, modified the Masters qualifications for invitation, initiated 18-hole television coverage and announced over $25 million in charitable contributions made by the Tournament.
“I have enjoyed my time serving as Chairman,” said Johnson. “Working with Club Members, staff and volunteers on the Masters has been very rewarding. The Tournament is successful by any measure and will continue to grow. I know I leave the Chairmanship in very capable hands.”
Payne, 58, previously served as Chairman of the Masters Media Committee since 2000. The Georgia native was born in Athens and raised in Atlanta. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Committee for the 1996 Olympic Games, spearheading the successful effort to bring the Centennial Olympic Games to Atlanta. He is currently a Partner with Gleacher Partners, a full-service investment banking firm.
“It is an honour to be the new Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament,” said Payne. “Our Club has an outstanding Membership, dedicated staff and volunteers committed to the Masters, and loyal and knowledgeable patrons. Hootie did a wonderful job as Chairman, and I will endeavor to maintain the customs and traditions of our Club as established by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones.”
Payne will be the Club and Masters’ sixth Chairman. Ken Schofield, Executive Director of The European Tour from 1975-2004, said: “The continuing commitment to excellence at Augusta National and the enhancement of the Masters Tournament worldwide have been prime features of Hootie Johnson’s enormously successful period of Club and Tournament Chairmanship.
“Hootie Johnson epitomized the traditions established at Augusta National by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones and maintained by his immediate predecessors in office. Additionally, Hootie’s period faced major challenges in a changing world and he addressed and handled all of these with great strength, courage and courtesy.”
