McAllister: Cherish what we saw this Easter

Mike McAllister says Sundays like the one we saw at Augusta don't come too often. Not only did Tiger and Phil have a battle for the ages, but Kenny Perry battled major pressure again.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- You need to cherish what you saw on Easter Sunday. Days like the one that unfolded in the final round of the Masters rarely happen. Maybe once, maybe twice a decade, when the drama and excitement turn to heart-racing levels, the roars reverberate through the stately pine trees, and those golf fans in attendance consider themselves the luckiest people on the earth.

We've been waiting for a Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson final-round showdown in a major. We got it, albeit in a less conventional manner than we might have hoped, the two heavyweights battling the leaderboard as much as each other. And when that show closed, the bright lights fading into the harsh reality of an impossible-to-overcome deficit, we got the next act, with one of the PGA TOUR's most likable players seeking to become the oldest player ever to win a major.

Kenny Perry didn't, of course. The pressure of carrying a two-shot lead into the final two holes at Augusta National can unravel even the most veteran of players, especially a 48-year-old whose right hand has a firing mechanism that acts up when he gets a little nervous.

And Perry was nervous. Heck, we all were. Although he's playing his best golf at the back end of his TOUR career, Perry has never won a major, and he's running out of chances. No one wanted him to stumble and blow it -- like he did in the 1996 PGA Championship when he bogeyed the 18th -- certainly not his immediate family and a bountiful supply of other relatives were in attendance, all of whom were living and dying with each swipe at the ball.

But there were birdie chances that were missed. A skulled chip shot at 17 leading to bogey. A drive into the fairway bunker on the finishing hole, and a makeable par putt for the green jacket that came up a few inches short. Really, no excuse there. Perry knew it.

"You know what? You've got to give that putt a run," Perry said. "I mean, how many chances do you have to win the Masters?"

Consequently, the 73rd Masters, like 13 others before it, went to a playoff, this one a three-man showdown involving Perry, Texan Chad Campbell and 2007 U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera. The most star-studded names in golf? Well, no, but if a green jacket is on the line, the tension becomes ultra-thick, no matter who's listed on the marquee.

But after Campbell exited on the first sudden-death hole, Perry found trouble again, allowing Cabrera -- who received the most fortunate of bounces on the 72nd hole when his approach shot hit a tree and caromed into the fairway instead of spinning off somewhere south of Butler Cabin -- to became a two-time major winner with par.

Making Perry, at least in his mind, a two-time major loser.

In the sting of Sunday's crushing loss, he described himself as average, a guy who can't get it done in the biggest of games. It was harsh self-criticism, unjustly so considering his performance level of the past 12 months in which he's won four times and achieved his Ryder Cup dream.

"Great players get it done, and Angel got it done," he said. "This is his second major he won. I've blown two, but that's the only two I've had chances of winning."

Tragedy, of course, is almost always great theater (unless it hits too close to home), but frankly, there was no better show on this day than the Tiger-Phil twosome, the 24th -- and arguably most entertaining -- time they've been paired together. The world's two best golfers each started the day seven shots off the lead, knowing the only way to get back into the hunt would be to shoot lights out.

Mickelson set the tone, tying a Masters record with a front-nine 6-under 30 that was thrill-ride Phil at his very best. Incredibly, Tiger's 3-under 33 on the front was practically an afterthought, lost in Mickelson's manic ride up the leaderboard.

"Every minute you were hearing a roar," noted Sean O'Hair, "and that's what the Masters should be."

By the time the two reached Amen Corner, Mickelson had destiny in his own hands. He didn't need to be spectacular on the back nine. He just needed a couple of birdies (most likely on the two par 5s) and stay clean the rest of the way, figuring a 34 coming in would get it done. As it turned out, that would have put him in the playoff.

But Rae's Creek claimed another would-be winner when Mickelson found the water at the 12th, resulting in a momentum-shifting double bogey. From then on, his putter failed him.

And Tiger? His charge came late, as he seemed to take the baton from Mickelson (how's that for a relay team?). But needing birdies on the difficult last two holes was asking too much.

So as they made their way toward the 18th green, their fate obvious to themselves and the massive crowd, Mickelson and Woods were still lost in their own affairs. In the moment, it can be difficult for an actor to know when he's given a great performance. Only in retrospection, when reviews are read and introspection occurs, is it easier to know the true value of the show.

Mickelson and Woods won't be satisfied because they aren't wearing a green jacket today. Perry will be disappointed, knowing he gave it away.

But the rest of us? We can just appreciate what we witnessed Sunday. Drama at Augusta National. Nothing quite like it.

Mike McAllister is PGATOUR.COM's Managing Editor. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the PGA Tour or PGA.com.