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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The red lapel pin attached to Charl Schwartzel’s black Nike visor identified him as participant 077 at this year’s Masters.
Next year he’ll wear No. 1 – the number assigned to the reigning champ.
Schwartzel emerged from a pack of close to a dozen golfers as the champion by closing the 75th Masters with four straight birdies including a 15-footer on the 72nd hole that brought the gallery to its feet and a wide smile to the face of his wife Rosalind.
“You know, I always thought if there was one [major] that I would win, it would be this one,” said Schwartzel wearing a jacket and no visor. “This is the sort of golf course that suits my eye; the sort of course that I grew up playing on with the tree lines, and I just felt really comfortable around it.”