Sam Torrance on Masters: ‘Augusta had it all’

We witnessed a young player who has been around for what seems like an eternity finally fulfil his destiny. And we saw some champions of yesteryear make their own telling contributions to the drama over an unmissable weekend of golf.

I will come to Adam’s deserved triumph. However, for me the story of the weekend was Tianlang Guan competing and making the cut. We can look forward to more players from China competing at the highest level as the game explodes domestically, but not all will be as young as 14, which for me was a truly mind-blowing achievement.

Skip a generation and we saw two ex-champions roll back the years to add to the spectacle over the weekend. Freddie Couples loves Augusta and the feeling is mutual amongst its galleries. Freddie admitted himself that he was tired going into the third round but he held it together until his collapse from 14 onwards, including what he described as a “debacle_ at 17 when he triple bogeyed. He did rally on Sunday, returning a fine 71 in trying conditions for a top-15 finish. Bernhard Langer, someone I played against for many, many years and a two-time winner of the Green Jacket, also showed strongly. This will sound strange, but Bernhard was unfortunate to open with three straight birdies on the final day. By that I mean it thrust him into the spotlight early on, he didn’t have the luxury of easing himself into the round and I think that extra pressure together with natural fatigue put paid to his challenge – but a great showing nevertheless.

And so to our winner, and one of the nicest young men you could meet. Adam Scott is a worthy champion. For me, he has the best swing on the Tour. People say his swing was similar to Tiger’s in Woods’ early years but I always thought it was better. I’m so pleased for Adam. To come back from the crushing experience of last year’s Open to win a major within a year shows real mental strength. In many ways it’s a similar path to Rory when he quickly followed up his Masters collapse in 2011 with his maiden Major at the US Open that year. It could well be that Adam follows Rory and starts his own collection of Majors; he’s still only 32 and moving into his prime. What was really impressive about Adam’s win was his ability to keep his composure. In the final round he could not buy a putt but he didn’t let that faze him, he remained patient. As he ran out of holes he continued to produce sublime shots into 15, 16, 17 and then when it really mattered he finally drained one on 18 after another great approach.

And what of his play-off opponent Angel Cabrera? His shot into the 72nd hole was magnificent; on a rain-soaked course knowing only birdie will do – well, to then go and knock it stiff is incredible. Angel’s world ranking and the bookies’ odds before the tournament didn’t give him much of a chance this year but it’s amazing how much comfort and inspiration you can draw from playing somewhere knowing you have won there before. The 2009 champion looked relaxed and in the zone as the match moved in to the play-off.

His sublime chip at the first play-off hole was incredibly unlucky not to go in as was his putt at the following hole. But sometimes the golfing gods have picked the winner and this year they decided it was Adam Scott who duly took his chance supremely well on the second play-off hole.

This year’s Masters didn’t see any Europeans seriously threaten for the title, but look beyond the leaderboard and there was some great play. Justin Rose is the owner of a fantastic swing and was outstanding from tee to green. It was his putting that let him down badly throughout the tournament. Sergio had some magical moments and ultimately ended up tied eigthh with Lee Westwood who put another very solid, commendable performance.

Going by what we have seen at Augusta, I’m looking forward to 2013 being another vintage year for golf.

• Sam Torrance wrote exclusively for The Scotsman in his role as Caledonia Best Clubhouse Captain, visit www.caledoniabest.com for the latest news from the brand.