Australia on Monday celebrated Adam Scott's breakthrough triumph at the U.S. Masters golf championship, claiming it as an historic moment for the nation.
The 32-year-old Scott beat Angel Cabrera of Argentina at the second playoff hole to become the first Australian to win the Masters at Georgia's Augusta National course.
With the two biggest putts of his career, Scott holed a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th hole of regulation that put him into a playoff with Cabrera, and then won his first major championship Sunday with a 12-footer for birdie on the second extra hole.
For Scott, it was the ultimate redemption for a player who was first labelled an underachiever when he did not contend in any of golf's four majors, and eventually a choker when he competed but could not win.
For Australia, it was a chance to celebrate some good news on the sporting scene after a miserable performance at last year's London Olympics and a run of losses against England in the Ashes cricket series.
The Masters had somehow managed to elude Australia's best golfers for generations and had become an obsession in a country used to sporting success.
Australians had won all the other majors, but Augusta continued to elude it until Scott's breakthrough.
In another first, 14-year-old Chinese golf sensation Guan Tianlang became the youngest player ever to compete in the Masters.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur champion hit a delicate downhill lag putt at 18 that stopped two feet from the cup and then made par to complete a 73-75-77-75 set of rounds for a 12-over 300 total as low amateur.
The 32-year-old Scott beat Angel Cabrera of Argentina at the second playoff hole to become the first Australian to win the Masters at Georgia's Augusta National course.
With the two biggest putts of his career, Scott holed a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th hole of regulation that put him into a playoff with Cabrera, and then won his first major championship Sunday with a 12-footer for birdie on the second extra hole.
For Scott, it was the ultimate redemption for a player who was first labelled an underachiever when he did not contend in any of golf's four majors, and eventually a choker when he competed but could not win.
For Australia, it was a chance to celebrate some good news on the sporting scene after a miserable performance at last year's London Olympics and a run of losses against England in the Ashes cricket series.
The Masters had somehow managed to elude Australia's best golfers for generations and had become an obsession in a country used to sporting success.
Australians had won all the other majors, but Augusta continued to elude it until Scott's breakthrough.
In another first, 14-year-old Chinese golf sensation Guan Tianlang became the youngest player ever to compete in the Masters.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur champion hit a delicate downhill lag putt at 18 that stopped two feet from the cup and then made par to complete a 73-75-77-75 set of rounds for a 12-over 300 total as low amateur.
