Sorry to the eternal optimists out there, but in light of how The Masters ended yesterday, I thought I'd write about the guys who had a chance to win and how they blew it because I think we can all agree that the green jacket was not won by Cabrera but lost by a slew of others.  Cabrera did make a nice birdie putt on 16, but when you're having crazy par saves on the last two holes and playoff and you were down 2 with 2 to play, you didn't win, somebody else lost.  So let's take a look at who blew it in order of first to last chances.

Steve Stricker

Missed a three foot birdie on one and a five-footer on two.  Not even close.  Had to put him in here because I had him at 60-1. 

Tiger Woods

Granted at the time it didn't feel like Tiger was choking anything away but instead felt like he had his "A-minus game" instead of his "A Game."  However, in retrospect, Tiger blew a huge chance.  12-under got a spot in the playoff and Tiger himself said 11-under was his target.  With Tiger, it's always his tournament to lose when he's in contention.  Even though he wasn't in the final group, I am utterly convinced, especially after watching how well everybody performed under the pressure later on, that if Tiger had played a solid final four holes, he would have won the golf tournament.  Even if he had gone and posted 11-under, I wonder how well the leaders behind him would have held up when the number got posted by Tiger.  Remember, nobody was contending with a final number until the 17th hole.  They were all looking to post something.  That's a far different mentality.  Once they knew they had to reach certain numbers, the folding ensued.  And I know you're not going to tell me that somebody would be confident entering a playoff with Tiger.  I know it's a stretch, but in retrospect, one could argue that Tiger blew this one more than he just played a somewhat off round.

Phil Mickelson

Could you imagine if Phil had pulled his meltdown from the final pairing?  I know I was stretching a bit with Tiger, but Phil really blew it.  He had it to 10-under through 9.  What possessed him to try a little 9-iron on 12?  How did he miss those putts on 15 and 17?  The bogey on 18 was the icing on the cake.  I'm not saying that Phil needed to light it up on the back the way he did on the front, but even after the double-bogey on 12, he still should have won the tournament.  I'm really glad that he's won some majors before this because otherwise, this would have made the choke job in his duel with Payne Stewart look minute in comparison.  Phil not only blew the Masters, but he blew his chance at establishing himself as someone who could possibly topple the post-surgery Tiger in a mano a mano matchup.  Now?  Not so much. 

As an interlude, didn't it feel like the tournament was over after Tiger and Phil finished 18?  I almost changed the channel just out of force of habit.  I'm glad I didn't, but it definitely felt like the act ended, Hamlet had died, and the final act was starting with a bunch of guys we weren't paying much attention to.

Chad Campbell

I know what you're thinking, and yes, I agree.  He looks a lot like Rube Baker from Major League II.  Here's Rube:  (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm431200768/nm0116717).  Here's Chad:  (http://www.pgatour.com/players/01/25/10/).  That being said, poor Chad had to play an entire round with Jim "I lost any semblance of a game today" Furyk.  Campbell held up nicely and was in prime shape to make Perry come undone.  Perry had just birdied 15 and was watching Campbell's 8-foot birdie attempt on the nearby 16th.  Another player with the chance to take command.  And another gaffe as we'd come to expect on Sunday after watching so many fail before.  Campbell's birdie effort didn't sniff the cup.  A made birdie there would have tied Perry at 13-under.  You think Perry still knocks it stiff if he's not up a shot there?  I don't know.  Campbell still somehow made his way into a playoff and was dead center in the fairway with Cabrera having just struck a tree and Perry missing short and well right.  So Campbell took that opportunity to fan one into the bunker and fail to get up and down.  And then there were two.

Kenny Perry

Poor poor Kenny.  He's 48-years old so it's not like he has his whole career ahead of him.  He's a good guy, and he choked again.  This wasn't Greg Norman finally going to win a Masters with a 6-stroke lead entering the final round only to fold for 18 straight holes and shoot a 78 - level bad, but Kenny's choke job was pretty awful to watch.  He was pulling a Don Johnson's character from Tin Cup on the front nine going with 9 straight pars and then it looked like he had found his groove.  He drained that long birdie putt on 12, birdied 15, then hit that shot of the tournament that you figured we'd see 100 times on Sportscenter on 16.  He was well ahead of Phil and Tiger, and two ahead of Campbell and Cabrera.  On 17 he sailed one over the green, but so did Cabrera.  No harm no foul, until Kenny tensed up and bladed one over the green with his chip.  But it was okay, still one up with only one to play.  Wait, did he really just put his tee shot on 18 in the bunker?  Wait, what's he doing going left with his fairway bunker shot?  Are you kidding me?  He went to the one place he couldn't go?  His chip to 20 feet was actually not that bad because that's jail down there.  And you knew that putt wasn't going in after watching the two previous holes.  I don't even want to talk about the playoff with his almost chip-in preceding the pull hook into the bush on 10.  I just felt so badly for the guy.  He hit the nail on the head saying that if this is the worst thing that happens in his life then he's doing just fine.  But, in the highly likely event that he doesn't win a Green Jacket, he will replay those final holes in his head over and over and over again for the rest of his life.  I can't say it enough.  Poor Kenny.

Angel Cabrera

The only guy to weather the storm and stay afloat, albeit barely.  I guess he'll have to do.