Dr. Phil Delivers

When Tiger Woods was out of golf (both for his knee injury in 2008 and his off-the-course issues this winter), everyone expected Phil Mickelson to step in and take control of the PGA Tour. Mickelson actually didn't win any tournaments in Tiger's absence. Once again, Tiger returned to golf: the 2010 Masters was one of the most anticipated golf tournaments in recent history. The main question was: how would Tiger play?

Tiger finished tied for fourth at -11. Nonetheless, even though he missed over 5 months of golf, he said in his CBS interview after his Sunday round that he was disappointed. Anthony Kim made a late surge, shooting a 65 to finish at -12 and third place. Lee Westwood was the leader going into the day and shot a 71 to finish second at -13. KJ Choi impressed all as he played three of the four rounds with Tiger and finished -11, like Tiger. If none of those players had enough to win, who did? It was Mickelson's clutch final round of 67 that brought him to -16 for the tournament. With all that went on before the Masters, Mickelson was the last person I would have picked winning it all, but in the end, he came away with his 3rd green jacket.

This tournament proved a few things. 1) Tiger Woods is back. Some of the shots he had were unreal, and he had two eagles in the final round. No one can finish fourth place in a major championship after leaving the game for almost half a year. 2) Phil is back too. Mickelson had three wins last year, but this Masters win definitely gets him back on the radar. This is his first major win since he won the Masters in '06, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is a confidence booster for him. This sends the message that says he can still win big tournaments as he approaches 40 years of age. And 3) the PGA is going in the right direction. One of the Tour's best young players, Anthony Kim, shot a 65 in the final round. He didn't win any tournaments last year, but won just a week ago at the Shell Houston Open. Keep an eye on him for the next decade. Also, four of the Top 10 finishers are under age 30. I think this Masters was very successful for both Augusta National and the PGA Tour.