Rearview Mirror

If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:


The Masters - A thrilling final day that had as many as many as ten players still in contention into the back nine, and eight of them have at least a share of the lead at times, eventually saw South African Charl Schwartzel come through the pack with four closing birdies to win by two shots on fourteen under. Overnight leader Rory McIlroy had a horror day, losing his four shot lead early, and proceeding to fall back through the field to finish in a tie for 15th after shooting 80. Away from McIlroy, the standard amongst those in contention was very high on the day. Tiger Woods surged early and, despite missing two short putts in the round, was the clubhouse leader at ten under when he finished. Adam Scott was the leader at that stage on eleven under, and made some great saves on the back nine to finish at -12, in a tie for second with fellow Aussie Jason Day. The top six finishers all shot under 70 on Sunday, and it was an amazingly composed finish from Schwartzel to ride through the pressure in such style for his first major.    

IPL - The latest instalment of the IPL has kicked off, with many of the World's leading cricketers in evidence. Or in many cases, former leading cricketers. Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist are among some big names that many occasional viewers of cricket would be surprised to find still going around. Shane Warne did little to quieten the calls for his resurrection to the Australian team by leading the Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable victory in their opening match, finishing with 2/21 off four overs. (Meanwhile, the Australian team is playing Bangladesh and trying to resurrect Cameron White's leg spin.) The most notable performance so far saw Malinga run through Delhi, finishing with 5/13 as they were bowled out for 95. Mumbai cruised to victory with Tendulkar continuing his fine World Cup form.  

AFL - Round 3 saw Collingwood see off their first major challenge this season, as Carlton matched them for much of the game. In fact, across three of the quarters, the scores were even. Unfortunately for the Blues, Collingwood won the second quarter and the match by 28 points, and saw off a short lived challenge in the third quarter, helped by Jarryd Blair who finished with five goals. Gold Coast had another tough outing, falling to the Bulldogs by 71 points, while big margins were also recorded as Essendon continued St Kilda's disappointing start, Hawthorn were far too good for Richmond, and Geelong thumped Port to keep pace with the Magpies. Fremantle and Sydney had strong away wins at Adelaide and West Coast, but Brisbane fell just short away to Melbourne.

EPL - Arsenal returned to form with a 3-1 win away to Blackpool, but made no headway as leaders Manchester United won 2-0 at home to Fulham. Chelsea also won, while Manchester CIty travel to Liverpool on Monday night. Arsenal still trail United by 7 points, but have a game in hand and will host United early next month in what may be a crucail match. However, Arsenal will need to improve their consistency if they are to still be in the hunt when that match takes place.