The Masterzzzzzz...
Posted April 9, 2006, 9:07 PM ET

Phil Mickelson won the 2006 Masters. It used to be news when "Lefty" won a major, now it is getting to be routine.

Mickelson won his second green jacket and his third major championship since 2004 by disposing of the world's best players. Let me rephrase that: while Mickelson sculpted a final round 69, the rest of the world's best players three-putted their way to runner-up finishes.

The back nine of The Masters on Sunday is a special time on the sports calendar....so is the Final Four. But both events came up well short of expectations in the drama department.

In fact, I can't remember a more boring 10 days of sports given the hype and expectations. None of this matters to Mickelson or Billy Donovan, but as a sports fan, the finale to both the Masters and Final Four left me empty. It also feels like it is going to take forever for the college and pro football seasons to get here.

There was more drama in the bottom of the ninth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco (the Giants rallied to beat the Braves) than what took place in the final hours at Augusta....and that should never happen.

Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Vijay Singh putted as if they had anvils in their hands. I'm not saying anybody was going to beat Mickelson on Sunday, especially as well as he was playing, but nobody did anything of note down the stretch.

The tournament was all but done when Couples three-putted from four feet on 14. A birdie by Freddie at that moment would have cut the lead to one...but he missed...twice.

For Mickelson, he was stoic and smart. His play was almost un-Lefty-like...nothing spectacular, fairways and greens. His only bogey was on the final hole when it didn't matter.

He now owns two green jackets, joining eight other players with two Masters titles. We will not confuse him with Tiger and his accomplishments...but we will also know not to label him as a lovable loser.

Phil Mickelson has matured on and off the course, and it looks like his future his brighter than ever.