2013 Masters featured plenty of firsts

The 2013 Masters Tournament was filled with firsts – headed by Adam Scott becoming the first Australian to don the green jacket.

Scott birdied two of his final four holes in regulation for 3-under-par 69 and beat 2009 winner Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, on the second hole of sudden death.

Scott was the first golfer to win the Masters using an anchored putting stroke. He could also be the last. Just over a month after the 2013 Masters, the U.S. Golf Association banned anchoring starting January 2016, meaning there are only two more years where anchoring will be allowed in the Masters.

Australians had won 15 major championships, but none at Augusta National until Scott did it, though they had numerous runner-up finishes, including three by Greg Norman.

“It’s amazing that it’s my destiny to be the first Aussie to win. It’s incredible,” Scott said.

Scott called himself a “proud Au­stral­ian” after closing out a 6-under weekend with rounds of 69-69. He ended up leading the field in greens in regulation, hitting 55 of 72 for a 76.39 percentage.

The first Aus­tralian winner at Augusta Na­tional came in a year when the number of participants from that country was down. Only four Aussies qualified, the fewest since the same number played in 2002.

It was a strong group, though. Scott won; Day, who led after 36 holes, finished third; and first-round co-leader Marc Leishman tied for fourth. John Sen­den, the other Aussie, tied for 35th, but he was one shot out of the lead at one point during the second round.

Late in the final round, Day appeared on track to be the first Australian winner, but he bogeyed two of his final three holes for 70 to finish two shots out of the playoff.

Scott said he received “incredible support from everyone in the crowd” in the final round.

“I really felt they were on my side a little bit in regulation coming down the last couple holes,” he said. “They wanted me to do something, and that’s a great feeling. I didn’t want to disappoint them, either.”

Scott didn’t. On the 18th hole, he rolled in a 28-foot birdie putt to take a one-shot lead over Cabrera, who was in the group behind him and watching from the fairway. Scott had seen Mark O’Meara in 1998 make a similar putt to win the Mas­ters.

“You’ve seen the read,” Scott said. “You know it goes a bit right to left. I just told myself to go with instinct; just put it out there and hit it. Show everyone how much you want it. This is the chance, put all the pressure on the guy back down the fairway.”

Cabrera answered with a birdie of his own to shoot 70 and force the playoff. After both men parred the first playoff hole, No. 18, they headed down No. 10, the same hole that Cabrera made par to beat Kenny Perry in their 2009 playoff.

It was on the 10th fairway that Scott felt the gallery’s support again.

“I think going down the 10th fairway was almost deafening, and the crowd wasn’t close,” he said. “It was a great feeling, and again, I felt like they were really, really pulling for me out there.”

Those fans were able to celebrate with Scott soon enough. Both men hit the green on No. 10. After Cabrera barely missed his 15-footer for birdie, Scott, with an assist on the read from caddie Steve Williams, rolled in his 12-foot birdie putt for the win.

“I said, ‘Do you think it’s just more than a cup?’ ” Scott said. “He said, ‘It’s at least two cups; it’s going to break more than you think.’ … He was my eyes on that putt. An unbelievable read.”

Scott contended in two of the majors after the Masters, tying for third at the British Open and tied for fifth in the PGA Championship. In his next start after the PGA, in late August, he won The Barclays, moving up to a career-best No. 2 ranking in the world. He finished fourth in the FedEx Cup playoffs after tying for 14th place in the season-ending Tour Championship.

Earlier in the week, before Scott’s heroics, the Masters field had to share some of the spotlight with a teenager who finished 58th.

That someone, of course, was China’s Tianlang Guan, who at age 14 became the youngest-ever Masters participant. Guan, the lone amateur to make the cut, shot 73-75-77-75.

In still another first, Guan received the first slow-play penalty in tournament history. He was given a one-stroke penalty on the 17th hole in the second round, turning a par into a bogey and 74 into 75.

He still made the cut on the number (4-over 148) thanks to his stellar work on the greens. Guan would end up tying for the fewest putts in the tournament with 108, including a 60-foot par putt on the 18th hole to close out his third round.