2013 Masters

Adam Scott erased his name from those "best golfers without a major" lists by winning the 2013 Masters in a playoff over Angel Cabrera.

Scott also became the first Australian golfer to win The Masters, improving on his own second-place finish in 2011, and upending the history of Greg Norman's near-misses and collapses at Augusta National Golf Club.

For Scott, it was his ninth career PGA Tour victory, and his first major in his 49th time playing in one of the four professional majors.

Cabrera had only two PGA Tour wins entering the tournament - but both of them were majors, including the 2009 Masters that he won in a playoff.

But here, Cabrera was a playoff loser. Scott and Cabrera were tied at 8-under as both played the 72nd hole, Scott on the green and Cabrera in the fairway. So Cabrera had a great view of Scott's 20-foot birdie putt to finish at 9-under 279, and knew he had to birdie himself to force a playoff.

Cabrera played a fantastic approach to a couple feet from the pin and knocked in the short putt to tie Scott. The two golfers proceeded to a sudden-death playoff, starting on Augusta's 18th hole. Both parred.

They moved on to a second extra hole (Augusta's No. 10). Both hit great approach shots. Cabrera's 15-foot putt just missed, stopping about an inch from dropping into the cup.

Scott then putted from 12 feet, and his putt was pure. When it dropped in the cup, he threw his arms in the air in celebration as the 2013 Masters champion.

Two other things will be well-remembered about this Masters. First, a 14-year-old amateur not only played in the tournament, but made the cut, the youngest to accomplish both feats. Tianlang Guan, from China, opened with a 73 and added a 75 to make the cut on the number. Then he added weekend rounds of 77 and 75, finishing at 12-over 300, in 58th place.

Did we mention that he was 14 years old? He lowered the record for youngest to make the cut in a major by almost two years.

And second: The Tiger Woods ruling. Woods was in contention, three behind midway leader Jason Day, after two rounds. He signed for a 71 in the second round. But a rules incident arose around his actions on the 15th hole in the second round. Woods' approach into the par-5 green hit the flagstick and bounced back into the water. He walked back to the spot of the shot and dropped to re-play the shot with a 1-stroke penalty. But Woods later revealed in a post-round interview that he dropped about two yards behind the original spot, rather than "as nearly as possible" the original spot as called for by Rule 26-1. That meant Woods played from a wrong spot, and a 2-stroke penalty.

But Woods didn't realize his mistake on Friday, and nobody from The Masters' rules committee notified him of the problem until Saturday morning - long after he had signed what was, in retrospect, an incorrect scorecard. A controvery arose over whether Woods would be disqualified, but in the end he was assessed the 2-stroke penalty and allowed to continue playing under Rule 33-7 (committee's discretion to waive disqualification).

The penalty dropped Woods from three behind the leaders to five back. And although he shot two sub-par rounds on the weekend, he never threatened the leaders over the final two rounds.

Cabrera and Brandt Snedeker were the third-round co-leaders, one stroke ahead of Scott. Cabrera shot 70 in the final round, Scott 69, but Snedeker faded with a 75.

2013 Masters Scores
Results from the 2013 Masters golf tournament played at the par-72 Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia (p-won playoff; a-amateur):

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