Left-Handed Weir Wins the Coveted ‘Green Jacket’

Mike Weir, (aged 33) a left-handed golfer from Canada, reached the top at the Masters Golf Tournament for the first time in history for southpaws.

The fourth and final round of the 67th Masters Golf Tournament was held at Augusta National Golf Course (72 par / 7290 yards) in Georgia, U.S.A. on April 14. After finishing regulation play at 281, 7-under-par with Len Mattiace (U.S.), Weir, was awarded the coveted ‘Green Jacket’ and his first major win of his career, leaving Mattiace, who did not perform well at the first hole, in second place.

The play off was held on the 10th hole (4 par / 495 yards), the #1 handicap hole of Augusta Golf Course. Weir recorded par for four continuous days, Mattiace had par in the 1st and 2nd round along with two consecutive birdies in the 3rd and 4th rounds, making this hole more advantageous to Matthiace according to the record.

However, the outcome was already decided on the second shot of the competition between Weir, who has participated in the Masters for four consecutive years, and Mattiace, who only participated twice in the Masters, once in 1988 as a guest amateur player as well as in 2003.

The two players were well matched with Weir shooting 308 yards and Mattiace shooting 307 yards on driver tee shots in which both players safely reached the center of the fairway.

The joy and sorrows were decided though by this one-yard difference. What would have happened if the shooting order had been switched?

Mattiace, who took his shot first, drove a satisfying iron shot towards the pin located left of the green. However, his shot landed behind a tree far away from the green due to his nervousness. After confirming the situation, Weir safely landed in the center of the green.

Nevertheless, a last chance was offered Mattiace when Weir’s birdie putt passed the hole by about 180cm and stopped at a difficult line.

However, even though Mattiace recorded 65, 7-under-par in the regular round, his par putt rolled to the edge of the green opposite the hole due to a lapse in concentration. And yet again, his bogey putt passed the hole and stopped about 150 centimeters shy of its mark.

Weir, then, finished the play-off with ease, thus capturing the title of ‘major left handed winner’ for the first time in the history of the Masters Tournament and the second left handed player of a major tournament since Bob Charles, winner of the British Open in 1963.

Weir added up his winning prize of 1.08 million dollars, ranking first (3,286,625 dollars) in the prize chart and putting Tiger Woods (3,067,250 dollars), who had failed the goal of the achieving three consecutive wins at the Masters in second. Moreover, Weir continued his ‘new record marching’ by finishing all of his 6 wins in the USPGA Tour with come-from-behind efforts.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com