HispanicBusiness

Going into the first round of the Masters tournament on Thursday, Tiger Woods was the odds-on favourite to win his fourth green jacket at Augusta National.

Behind him, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson were given good chances to win.

But when 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel slipped the green jacket on his successor, it was none of the favourites who received the honour.

Instead, 33-year-old Bubba Watson, who minutes earlier had beaten South African Louis Oosthuizen at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off after both players finished on 10-under 278, was given the coveted green jacket.

Mickelson should have been involved in the play-off, but a triple bogey at the par-three fourth, when he tried an audacious shot out of the shrubs instead of dropping the ball, threw him back.

Although he clawed his way back to eight-under, he needed an eagle on the par-five 15th to put the pressure on Watson and Oosthuizen who were playing in the flight ahead.

Mickelson's eagle putt went just wide and the birdie he scored instead, was simply not enough. He went on to tie for third with Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar and overnight-leader Peter Hanson.

Watson also faced a situation where he needed an amazing recovery after putting his tee shot at the second play-off hole deep into the woods.

But unlike Mickelson, Watson pulled it off, landing his ball just 12 feet from the flag.

"Luckily for me, that was the same place I was in during the round itself, so I knew what to do."

Watson, who picked up 1.44 million dollars for the victory, said that winning would not change him.

"I don't play the game for fame. It is just me. I goof around, I joke around and I post dumb videos. If I was missing cuts, I would still be the same," he said.

Not quite the same was Tiger Woods, whose tied 40th place finish with 293 is his worst at the Masters since turning pro.

"If I look back on the week, I played the par-fives atrociously. This is a golf course you just have to dominate the par-fives, and I did not do that at all this week," he said.

But it was not only with his play that he disappointed, as he twice threw his club down in disgust, once even kicking it into a bunker.

The former poster-boy of golf could well face a fine from the PGA, which presumably would not even be covered by the 32,000 dollars he won in prize money.

World number one Luke Donald tied in 32nd place, while Rory McIlroy, who famously bombed out in the last round last year, this time pushed the self-destruct button a round earlier, when he played a 42 going out. Although he managed to finish the round on 77, it threw him too far behind the leaders to mount a challenge.

A 76 on the final day did not really help him and he ended up tied 40th.

The young Irish golfer, who impressed last year with the way he handled himself after bombing out, this time took a humorous approach.

"If you can't laugh at yourself, whom can you laugh at," he asked.

Also to be remembered apart from the joy and despair are three remarkable feats on Sunday.

Oosthuizen got an albatross two on the par-five second - the first double eagle on that hole and fourth overall in tournament history - while Bo van Pelt and Adam Scott managed hole-in-one shots on the par-three 16th.