Rory McIlroy Chokes Away the Masters Green Jacket

After watching Rory McIlroy completely dominate the field after 3 rounds of the 2011 Masters, I logged into my favorite online betting site to consider placing a wager. According to the odds makers, to bet on Rory to win the whole kit and kaboodle you had to lay down $160 to win $100. With a four shot lead and demonstrating a complete mastery of Augusta National, I figured that betting on Rory was a sure thing. I didn't hesitate to lay down my hard-earned greenbacks on the Irish kid with the Ronald McDonald's fro.

But just when I thought that the recent meltdowns were over and confined to Japan, a complete meltdown was about to happen during the final round at Augusta. The overwhelming pressure cooker of the Masters finally got to the once unflappable McIlroy. I don't want to recount the blow by blow destruction but it was ugly. His sizeable lead evaporated in quick order and left the door wide open for the field to march right in. There was probably a dozen players in contention all day and it actually made for one of the most entertaining Masters final round ever. Tiger Woods was one of those contenders, but his putting still isn't back to form and he fell short. However, his new swing has made great strides and he's far ahead of schedule, IMHO. It will be interesting to see what happens to Rory now. Will he bounce back or will his massive choke job haunt him in the future? He's got a great swing and he's young so my bet would be on the former. Unfortunately, that doesn't say much based on my betting results as of late! Regardless, the first Major of the year was phenomenal and hopefully it sets the tone for the rest of the year. Congrats to Charl Schwartzel!