Disappointing for Tiger to dismiss his major rivals

In a country where footballers are the real sporting gods, Angel Cabrera's achievement in winning the 2009 US Masters wouldn't have been enough to stop the Buenos Aires traffic.

In a country where footballers are the real sporting gods and Diego Maradona still has a big hand in international affairs, Angel Cabrera's achievement in winning the 2009 US Masters wouldn't have been enough to stop the Buenos Aires traffic. But 41 years after Roberto de Vicenzo put his signature to an incorrectly marked scorecard and lost a chance to win a green jacket in a play-off at Augusta, an Argentine golfer has one to wear.

It's an extra large one at that, as Cabrera is far removed from the modern day breed of slim-fit, diet-conscious professionals who spend as much time in the gym as they do on the driving range. This is a player who goes through almost as many cigarettes in a round as he does putts, and he'll have found the going even tougher than 48-year-old Kenny Perry as they climbed the steep 18th fairway along with Chad Campbell for a second time last Sunday in the Masters play-off.

The stage had been set for a Masters masterpiece when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together. While they started seven shots behind Perry and Cabrera, there was huge anticipation as the world's top two teed off alongside each other for only the second time in a major. It's an understatement to say that these two don't get on and this added more spice to golfing feast that was to be served up.

Although there was much wrong with Tiger's game, the fact that he was three under par for the front nine and was able to get within a shot of the lead by the 16th, spoke volumes for his tenacity. He hit a lot of very poor shots, but works so hard at getting the ball around the course on off days and this is something a lot of other players would do well to remember, instead of giving in when their swing breaks down.

Tiger's swing looked good when he was hitting three quarter iron shots. But when swinging full out, especially with the driver, he had so many moving parts coming into the ball. He was also over swinging a little and at times the swing simply got too flat. More often than not he was controlling the club face with his hands, which is exactly the opposite of what he is working towards, that is to control it with his trunk and the turn of his body.

While Tiger struggled throughout, Mickelson seemed in complete control, particularly in a magnificent record-equalling six-under par front nine of 30. This was the genius at work, producing iron play which was the best I've seen for many years and making Tiger look very ordinary. But, as we have found so often in the past, there is another side to Mickelson and we saw it on the 12th, where his indecision in the face of the notorious changes in wind direction between tee and green led to his worst swing of the day and a double bogey five.

Had he hit the green he would have been the favourite to go on and win, with the 13th and the 15th, two par fives easily reachable in two, to come. At the end of the round, Tiger was asked for his thoughts on Mickelson's front nine. It was a chance for the world's greatest player to acknowledge a remarkable display of stroke making. In reply, he made no reference to Mickelson, explaining only that he had "a number" in his mind - 11-under-par - that would have been good enough to win him a fifth green jacket.

In doing so he not only dismissed one of the finest front nine displays in Masters history, but at the same time inferred that Perry and Cabrera would not shoot par or better on the final day. Considering Perry recorded four PGA Tour wins in the previous 10 months and Cabrera had underlined his pedigree by winning the US Open championship two years earlier at Oakmont, it was surprising to say the least.

Regardless of the fact that he was proven wrong, it was disappointing to hear Tiger dismiss some of his main rivals, particularly bearing in mind how much praise players pour on him when he wins. At the time Perry was still leading and looking capable of replacing 1968 US PGA champion Julius Boros as the oldest ever major winner. He was also on target to become the oldest Masters champion, taking over from Jack Nicklaus who was 46 when he won at August in 1996, before bogeys on the final two holes, which sent him into a play-off with Cabrera and Campbell, underlined how difficult it is to secure a major championship.

Following his brilliant nine-under-par opening round, Campbell played magnificently over the next three days, without holing many telling putts. [e-mail]