Lefty Wins the Green Jacket

(Clockwise from top left): Phil Mickelson after a birdie at 18 to win the Masters, watching his spectacular shot on the 13th hole, Tiger grinding out a 69, Couples after missing a putt, Kim was all smiles after posting a 65

Phil Mickelson won an emotional third Masters Sunday and finished the tournament at -16. Trailing Englishman Lee Westwood by a stroke heading into the final round, Phil shot -5 and beat Westwood by three strokes. The victory was especially meaningful for Mickelson because his wife Amy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of last year, made it out to the course and watched her husband take home the green jacket.

If there is one defining moment from the 2010 Masters, it will be Phil Mickelson's miraculous shot at the par 5 13th. After hooking his drive into the pine trees, Phil was peering at the green through a gap in the trees only four or five feet wide. His ball rested on a bed of pine straw 207 yards from the green. The smart play would have been to chip his ball out and then allow his short game to take over. But as Phil said after the round, "I was going to have to go through that gap if I laid up or went for the green." He took a 6 iron, laced his shot through the gap and his ball settled about four feet from the hole. He missed the eagle putt, but knocked the next one in for birdie and maintained his two shot lead over Westwood, one he would not give back.

The week started with all the media attention on the return of Tiger Woods, but the world's #1 ranked player never seriously challenged Mickelson on Sunday. He finished tied for fourth place with K.J. Choi at -11. Tiger's tee shots were all over the place, but he still managed to post a -3 for the day. Chalk it up to Woods's grit and relentlessness to be three under par when he bogeyed three of the first five holes, couldn't control anything off of the tee and three putted from eight feet. All the attention was on Tiger at the beginning, but Mickelson was the best player throughout the tournament, and was a very deserving champion.

He had five birdies and no bogeys on the last day, which included some sensational par saves. At the beginning of the round Phil had the "hooks" and his short game saved him many times. But he never wavered and shot a 32 on the back nine to win comfortably. He shared a long embrace with his wife Amy after the round was over.

Anthony Kim shot a ridiculously low score of 65 and finished in third place with a -13. Over a span of four holes on the back nine Kim was five under par and completed his best Masters finish ever.

Fred Couples, who led with a -6 after the first day of action at Augusta, finished at -9. He was in the hunt but a double bogey on the par 3 12th undid him.

This was a Masters to remember that featured the top players in the world duking it out. The first day of the tournament was overshadowed by the return of Tiger Woods to action following a low layoff after a car accident on Thanksgiving morning of last year set off a storm of stories about his infidelity. Woods shot a -4, but 50 year old Fred Couples was all alone in the lead after he shot a -6. Tom Watson, all of 60 years, shot a -5 to be tied for second going into Friday. Two Englishmen stole the show on Friday as Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter moved to -8 and into a tie for first place. Poulter would end up tied for 10th. On Saturday Westwood maintained the lead, but Phil Mickelson tied a Masters record with two consecutive eagles on holes 13 and 14. Mickelson holed out a wedge on 14, and barely missed an eagle putt on 15 for a tap in birdie. But amid all the focus on Phil, Westwood still held a one stroke lead on Lefty with a -4 going into Sunday. And that's when Phil took over.