Schwartzel biggest winner -- this time

Let's see him do it again.

Charl Schwartzel's clutch play at the end of a stirring Masters continued a trend of first-time major winners. He is the fourth in a row, and is another reminder that every first-timer has hope of winning multiple major championships. It's easier said than done. Check with Mike Weir, Lucas Glover, Michael Campbell, Rich Beem, Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis and a bunch of others.

In fact, the previous three major winners all said earlier last week that they enter an event such as the Masters with more confidence now. It's a good thing they had their say early in the week because Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer were all gone by the weekend, having failed to make the cut.

It all demonstrates how hard it is to win one of these. So hats off to Schwartzel, the big winner in Masters week. And before they start planning how to make biltong (South African cured meat) for next year's champions dinner, here's one last look at the other winners and losers:

Winner: Ernie Els. No, he never has won the Masters and it looks as if he never will. But he is a huge name in golf again because Schwartzel and Oosthuizen came through the ranks of Els' golf foundation in South Africa.

Loser: Rory McIlroy. It is assumed that his epic meltdown was "a learning experience." But who wants to learn that? Time will tell if he will be strengthened or haunted the next time he's on top.

Winner: South Africa. Fifty years to the day after Gary Player opened the door as the first international golfer to put on a green jacket, Schwartzel got one of his own.

Loser: United States. For the first time since 1994, Americans don't hold any of golf's majors. Not only that, we don't have the Ryder Cup, either (thank goodness for Long Islander Jim Liu and the rest of the victorious Junior Ryder Cup squad).

Winner: Masters appeal. All those birdies, the constant roaring, the eight guys with at least a share of the lead on the back nine Sunday -- the tournament strengthened its stamp as the most exciting major.

Loser: Augusta's teeth. It becomes more obvious by the year, especially a year in which they slow down the greens, that golfers aren't freaked by any of Augusta's holes. It's only the tournament pressure, not the course, that gets to them.

Winner: Sean Foley. Tiger Woods' new swing instructor apparently has been doing his job. Woods hit some extraordinary shots, such as the cut on No. 18 Friday and the second shot on 8 Sunday.

Loser: Tiger's putter. He lets too many of those little ones get away and makes too few of the ambitious ones. Anyone who says "Tiger's back!" doesn't know Tiger. The guy doesn't accept moral victories. How about leaving seclusion in Florida and sharpening that stroke in regular PGA Tour play?

Winner: Australia. So, the continent has as many Masters wins as Antarctica. It had one of its finest days with Adam Scott, Jason Day and Geoff Ogilvy all in serious contention, almost to the end.

Loser: Europe. McIlroy's flop kept the continent winless at Augusta since the course was "Tiger-proofed."

Winner: Chubby Chandler, agent for Schwartzel and maybe the most powerful person in golf now.

Loser: Chubby Chandler, agent who had to rebuild McIlroy's psyche on a flight to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysia Open.

Winner: CBS. Not "American Idol" or NFL-caliber ratings, but a decent showing.

Loser: The private security firm whose guards mistakenly prevented Bergen Record columnist Tara Sullivan from entering the locker room because she's a woman (the club has no such policy). Rogue guards are not uncommon in golf -- one of them once said the locker room at Long Island's Commerce Bank Championship was off limits to the media, even though PGA Tour policy said otherwise and even though there was only one print reporter covering. But do-it-yourself discrimination is intensely tone deaf at a club that is controversially all-male.