Story highlights
- Adam Scott is the first Australian ever to win the Masters golf tournament
- Australians had placed second in the major golf championship seven times
- Scott has been in the top 20 of the world golf rankings for most of the last decade
- He almost won the 2012 British Open but collapsed on the final four holes
The wearing o' the green has Australian eyes smiling.
Adam Scott won the 77th Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia -- and the green jacket that goes to the champion -- on Sunday, beating Argentine Angel Cabrera on the second hole of a thrilling, sudden-death playoff to become the first Australian ever to win the Masters.
"Australia's a proud sporting nation, and this was one notch in the belt that we'd never got, and amazing that it's come down to me today," Scott, 32, told CBS' Jim Nantz on the post-tourney telecast.
For years, Scott, who has been ranked in the top 20 of the official world golf rankings for the better part of a decade, was considered one of the best golfers to have never won one of golf's four major championships: the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA championship.
Australians had come in second in the Masters seven times before, most recently when Scott and Jason Day, who finished third this year, tied as runner-ups in 2011.
Adam Scott: Masters win was 'my destiny' 00:10
The most famous Australian golfer of all time, Greg Norman, finished second at Augusta National Golf Club three times, in 1986, 1987, and 1996. Scott praised Norman after Sunday's victory.
"There was one guy who inspired a nation of golfers, and that's Greg Norman," Scott said. "You know, he's been incredible to me, and all the young golfers in Australia, and part of this definitely belongs to him."
In 1996, Norman turned a six-stroke Masters lead into a five-stroke loss with a final round 78. SI.com called the collapse one of the most painful moments in sports history.
Scott survived his own painful ordeal in last year's British Open, when he bogeyed the last four holes at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club to lose by a stroke to Ernie Els.
On Sunday, Scott put his past shortcomings behind him.
"It seems a long way away from a couple of years ago here, and even last July, when I was trying to win another major. I found my way today. There was some luck there somewhere. I don't know how to digest it all at the moment, but it was incredible," he said. "I'm just so proud of myself and everyone around me who's helped me. The list is so long."
One name on that list is easy to determine. For the past two years, Scott's team has included caddie Steve Williams, who carried the bag for 13 of Tiger Woods' 14 major tournament victories. This weekend, Williams helped guide his new boss to the Masters title, while his old boss, Woods, finished tied for fourth, four strokes off Scott's pace.
Scott also had special support behind the scenes at Augusta National: his father.
"A hug with him behind the 10th green there when it was all over is something I'll never forget," Scott said, while also acknowledging his mother and sister back home. "Just incredible to have him here."
