Justin and Sergio - good on ya both. You guys single handedly put the usual drama and excitement of Masters Sunday on your shoulders and carried it start to finish. And it's a damned good thing you did, because the other "marquee" pairings in the last few groups playing ahead of you came out flatter than a pancake and pretty much left it up to you guys to provide the fireworks.
And what a fantastic duel it was! Neither deserved to lose, but to his credit - Sergio just wouldn't blink today. There were several moments that tested his spirit to be sure... the sprayed approach that left him well right of the green at the 10th, leading to bogey... the bad tee shot at the 11th that led to another bogey... the wayward tee shot that found the bushes on the 13th that forced him to take an unplayable. Might've been the most significant up-n-down par save he's ever pulled off under that type of pressure, basically halving the hole with Rose when it looked certain that he was at least gonna drop one shot or possibly even two. That was huge, that really kickstarted his momentum heading into those last 5 holes.
But even then, I just kept waiting for the old Sergio, the one who could never seem to stay out of his own way, to reappear and accept yet one more near-miss in the big one. Yet he kept his shit together today, for all 18 holes, never got down on himself, took his medicine when he needed to, and stepped up to hit some big time shots when the opportunities came. That eagle on the 15th was incredibly clutch.
And what ultimately put the cherry on top was that Justin forced him to continue hitting quality shots, forced him to actually win it, instead of being the benefactor of a disappointing performance from his opponent. A win is a win, but winning is so much sweeter when the guy you've bested played his ass off too.
Congrats, Sergio. You proved a lot of people wrong today, including me.
And congrats to Justin as well. Whether he wins or loses, he does so with the type of grace and dignity that we competitors should all strive to emulate. Sportsmanship, class, and all of the other intangibles that we seldom get to see in full display in the other sports.
The show was everything you could possibly hope for as a true golf fan!