2010 Masters-Day 4

       
Although my score may not indicate it, I actually played much better in my final round at the Masters. I hit the ball much better but did get some bad breaks, which cost me. For example, on the fourth hole, the wind switched on me just as I was hitting my tee shot and the ball went way off line. The result was a double bogey.

I won't say I didn't hit some shots that didn't work out. I tried to play aggressive at the start of my round and any time you do that around here, you can get into trouble. There's a very fine line here of what you can get away with and what you can't and any time you challenge it, you run the risk of a big number.

Still, I had some problems here this week. For one thing, I can't remember any tournament where I didn't make a putt over 10 feet. Putting at Augusta National is very difficult at the best of times, but it was frustrating not to get any of the long ones to drop. And I also had trouble playing a fade off the tee. That's the shot I need around here to play some of these doglegs, but I wasn't able to hit it on a consistent basis.

Overall, though, I can leave Augusta knowing that I'm heading in the right direction. I know it might be hard to say that looking at my scorecard, but I know that I'm improving. This is always a fun week. I generally have a good number of family and friends down and get to spend some time visiting with them and they get to watch the tournament. I also love the cooking of my good friend AKA (GOV) Steve Bennett, my first club professional. And, of course, I always leave here knowing I'm coming back next year regardless. That's the beauty of being a past champion, although I'm still hungry to be a two-time champion.

Next week I'm going to play at Hilton Head, which is the first time I've been there since 1999. Right now, I just want to keep playing and see where I can take my game so I'm looking forward to teeing it up again this coming Thursday.

As always, thanks for your support.
Mike