The Masters Golf 2011 - Mickelson And Woods Look For Next Big Win

Past Masters Champions falter in The Masters Golf 2011

Phil Mickelson came to The Masters Golf 2011 with great expectations. He was the defending champion, having won an exciting victory in The Masters the previous year. Not only that, just the week before he had come from behind at the Shell Houston Open to win. He was hoping his momentum in Texas would carry through in Augusta.

But it was not to be. First of all, the weather did not cooperate on Tuesday when he had planned to play a practice round. Due to the terrible weather he had to postpone his practice round until Wednesday, the day before Round 1. I think this definitely threw him off pace.

Phil also had serious trouble with his driver. He couldn't keep his drives in the fairways. Before the tournament he debated about which drivers to put into his game bag. Whatever he decided didn't work. Not even Phil's mastery of the short game was able to put him in contention for another Green Jacket. He finished tied for 27th place.

Tiger Woods arrived in Augusta with a new golf swing that he had been working on for months. Whether his purpose in changing his golf swing was to resuscitate his game, which had sagged along with events in his personal life, or whether it was to take pressure off his injured knee -- I'm not sure. There were flashes of the old Tiger charge during the tournament, but his putting failed him at critical moments.

Mickelson and Woods look for next big win

Following The Masters both Phil and Tiger said they was going to take some time off. Neither has announced their next tournament.

What did Schwartzel and McIlroy do following The Masters?

Charl Schwartzel is the South African who won The Masters Golf 2011 with a blazing finish. What did he do following his win? Rory McIlroy is the 21-year-old lad from Northern Ireland who electrified the gallery with his accurate and consistent play to lead rounds 1, 2 and 3. What did he do?

Both Schwartzel and McIlroy jumped on a plane and flew half way round the world to Kuala Lumpur where they played in the Malaysian Open. Perhaps it was their youthful energy, or desire for continuous competitive play, or a vision of winning part of the purse that motivated them. Whatever it was, the contrast between their actions following The Masters and the actions of Mickelsonj and Woods could not have been greater.

McIlroy had no time for a practice round at the Malaysian Open. He had never even seen the course before he teed off on Round 1. But déjà vu! -- Rory found himself at the top of the leaderboard once again in round 4 of the Malaysian Open -- just as he did in The Masters the week before — only to falter and fail to win.

Scwartzel finished tied for 11th place.

Tips from the Masters offers a valuable lesson drawn from what these champions did following The Masters Golf 2011.