Australia hails new champion

Australia’s long wait for a Masters champion is finally over, and when Adam Scott won at rainy Augusta National on Sunday an entire nation rejoiced and breathed a collective sigh of relief.

For Scott, it was the ultimate redemption for a player labelled an underachiever when he did not contend in a Major and eventually a choker when he did but could not win.

But for Australia, it was a chance to celebrate some good news on the sporting scene after a miserable performance at last year’s Olympics.

Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard led a flood of tributes to Scott.

“Adam Scott held his nerve and prevailed in the most intense pressure imaginable on any sporting field. With this outstanding achievement, Adam Scott has done his country proud,” Gillard said

When Cadel Evans won the Tour de France in 2011, the Masters was deemed the last frontier and the ‘Holy Grail’ of Australian sport.

Much of the media coverage in the Australian media related to Scott’s strength of character. In The Sydney Morning Herald, Richard Hinds wrote: “Despite some misconceptions, Scott is made of stern stuff. His image has been of a handsome, well-spoken dilettante with a taste for good-looking women and the European lifestyle. A man satisfied with the trappings of his considerable success and not driven like some of his contemporaries. That image belies the intensity of Scott’s desire, and the dedication he has shown to his sole objective — winning one of the game’s four Majors.”