Mark Roe looks back at the 2010 Masters and says Lee Westwood needs to putt better to win a major.
A look back at what Mark Roe said after the 2010 Masters
To use Lee Westwood's own words, if he keeps knocking on the door then eventually it will open.
Westwood has now finished third, third and second in his last three major championships and that's an incredibly impressive record, especially when you consider where he was four years ago.
This is a golden period in his career and he deserves a major championship. Let's hope the door will open for him soon.
Phil Mickelson spoke to him after the final round had concluded as somebody who finished in the top three at eight major championships before eventually winning one.
But there are several key differences between Mickelson and Westwood.
Westwood has won many tournaments and has won the Race to Dubai through his supreme skills from tee to green. His short game has improved, but his putting is still not in the same league of that of Mickelson or Tiger Woods.
In the final round he simply didn't make enough putts. He hit a lot of good shots and showed magnificent composure, but Mickelson's putting was so much better; that's what you need to win at Augusta.
Westwood is a better player than Mickelson. That might sound ridiculous when Phil's the guy wearing the Green Jacket, but I genuinely believe Lee is a better golfer. Mickelson simply has supreme short-game skills and is an awesome putter.
Westwood needs to hole a few more putts on the final day to make that breakthrough. I think back to Turnberry when so many putts shaved the edge of the hole - and that's the difference between winning and losing.
You can't win a major on ball-striking alone and he needs to add that one small piece to the jigsaw. Perhaps he needs to spend as much time on the putting green as he did on improving his short game. That's something I discussed with him during the 18 months I worked with him.
Occasionally his putting is sublime. He holed some monster putts at the Dubai World Championship and if he can reproduce that in the final round of a major championship then he'll end up winning by five or six shots.
I always felt that Westwood's best chance would come at a US Open. He had a great chance at Torrey Pines last year and I think there will be chances for him in the next three majors.
Wrestled
Westwood shot 71 in the final round, so you can't really say he lost the Masters; he had it wrestled from him by Mickelson.
His final round had everything; there were some typically erratic tee shots, an incredible display of short game and a sprinkling of magic like the shot he threaded between trees at the 13th on Sunday.
He's the modern-day Arnold Palmer and people love watching him. This was his fourth major victory and it will be interesting to see how he fares for the rest of the year.
A lot will depend on the world number one because we saw an incredibly inconsistent and off-form Tiger Woods at Augusta.
His failure to get a tournament under his belt before the Masters was a huge mistake. There were some great shots in there, but he was very, very rusty.
The pollen count was quite high on the golf course and I wonder if that affected him. He seemed to be taking his sunglasses on and off between shots and his putting was poor.
I wonder if taking his sunglasses on and off affected his ability to read the greens because I haven't seen him do that before.
He said afterwards that he doesn't know when he is going to play again, but I think he needs some tournaments under his belt if he wants to contend at the year's remaining majors.
The only thing that matters to him now is major championships. Until he surpasses Jack Nicklaus' record, then he'll perhaps be known as the second greatest golfer of all time.
There is still plenty of time for him to do that and let's not forget, there's probably nobody else in the world who could have contended for a major feeling as off form as he was. His competitive spirit was still there in abundance.
Potential
Elsewhere, I felt Anthony Kim looked to be in full control after his victory the week before. He's a potential superstar and pummelled the course in the last round.
And KJ Choi gave us 63 good holes and then succumbed to the pressure that is the back nine of the Masters.
It was an impressive performance from Choi and he will have learned a lot. He will take his form to this week's Verizon Heritage and I expect to see him in contention, live on
Sky Sports this week.
Overall I felt it was an awesome year for the Masters. The course was set up beautifully in the sunshine and was a little bit more receptive than last year. That meant scoring was better and players could go on bursts of birdies.
Furthermore, the atmosphere around the course was astonishing. Of course, Tiger's return had a lot to do with that and his presence in the field had people buzzing.
How the game of golf welcomed his return.
