Masters ... sadly anticlimactic

The 2010 Masters is in the books, and Phil Mickelson, with his wife and daughters watching from behind the 18th green, earned his third Green Jacket with a bogey-free closing round of 5-under 67, capped by a short birdie at the 72nd hole.

As wonderful as it was for Phil and Amy, who's battling breast cancer, and for anyone who roots for Lefty, his 3-shot victory seemed sadly anticlimactic. Others who could have given Mickelson a run for his money all shot themselves in the foot at one time or another on the final day.

Such as:

• Lee Westwood. The unflappable Brit was one of only five players in the field to break par all four days and led for much of the tournament. But he bogeyed three of the first nine holes on Sunday to fall out of the lead and never held it again. He's had several near-misses now in major championships. Let's hope he doesn't become his generation's Colin Montgomerie, the dour Scot and one of the best players to never won a major.
• Anthony Kim. The 24-year-old hailed by some as the successor to Tiger played the final six holes 5 under par to finish with a flourish at 65 and grab third alone. But in a tournament where players seemingly were putting up birdies and eagles every couple of minutes, he had a stretch of 22 holes - from early in the third round until nearly midway through the fourth - where he played 1 over par. In other words, Kim took too long to get it going.
• Tiger Woods. He gave us everything we've come to expect from the world's greatest golfer, such as 17 birdies and four eagles and, perhaps most surprising for a guy who hadn't played a round of competitive golf in five months, four straight rounds under par at Augusta National. However, the rust caught up with Tiger, and at times his game - and his temperament - were ragged. He offset some of his sterling play with 14 bogeys, eight more than winner Mickelson, and yet wound up just five shots back.
• K.J. Choi. The 39-year-old Korean had a share of the lead for a brief while on Sunday, but his Waterloo began at Amen Corner, where he went 3-6-5 at the 12th, 13th and 14th holes, when Phil was going 2-4-3.

Mickelson won by staying out of trouble and by not trying to bite off too much, which for him is pretty grown up. He also realized the essential nature of Augusta National, a mostly forgiving golf course with some treacherous approaches, and greens that need to be managed with chess-master intelligence. Some of the shots he hit at Augusta would have cost him dearly at a U.S. Open, where accuracy is Rule No. 1.

Augusta is more Mickelson-friendly, and I'm pretty confident he's not done winning there.