(Phil) Mickelson said earlier in the week that he's over the U.S. Open meltdown. Truth be told, the colossal collapse is like the famous Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme. Hefty Lefty sat on a wall. Hefty Lefty had a great fall. All of the golf teachers and all of the sports psychologists couldn't put Hefty Lefty together again.

Mickelson shot 40 on his first nine holes Sunday. It matched his first nine holes on Thursday. Mickelson shot a 5-over par 77 Sunday on a day that the roars returned to Augusta National. It was his highest score ever at the Masters.

Mickelson is more likely to get an invitation from the club not to return than win another Masters title.

He should cherish his previous two wins in Augusta. He joked after his first Masters win that he was going to sleep with the green jacket on. He might want to wear it everywhere he goes. It might be the only way people will know that he's a past champion. Mickelson's scores of late are certainly not an indication of someone who won the Masters or any past major title.

- Tom Hanson, Naples (Florida) Daily News

While (Tiger) Woods descended to temporary mediocrity, a man formerly on the Hooters Tour did his best steely Tiger impersonation. (Zach) Johnson was the one extending his arm and holding it strong to celebrate. He was the one who played daring and dashing golf. He was the one who took a tournament waiting for a savior and threw it over his shoulder.

He was the one who did what we kept waiting for Woods to do.

- Jerry Brewer, The Seattle Times

(Tiger) Woods has been golf's version of Michael Jordan with the basketball in his hands and the clock ticking down, Lance Armstrong with a crushing mountain climb coming into view, Joe Montana with first-and-10 and a minute to go the length of the field. In other words, clutch.

This time he was anything but.

- Jim Litke, The Associated Press

(Zach) Johnson was completely calm until he finished his round and went to his family to be congratulated. Then he turned into a spigot. He hugged and kissed his wife, Kim, and their 14-week-old son. That set something off.

"I was just an emotional wreck," he said. "I was a slob."

He would later cry during his TV interview with CBS. And during his green jacket ceremony with the Augusta National members. And during his news conference. Anything could restart the flow of tears - a mention of his high school in Iowa was enough to do it once.

It was touching. Ordinary guy, extraordinary day, and all a little too much for him by the end.

But not on the golf course. There, he was golden. Johnson's birdie at the par-3 16th - a gorgeous 6-iron, followed by an eight-foot putt - turned out to be the two shots Tiger couldn't match.

Like Tiger, Johnson is 31 years old. Unlike Tiger, Johnson would never get stopped in an airport unless someone mistook him for a baggage handler. He is a "normal guy," as he kept saying Sunday, and he looks it - 5-foot-11, 160 pounds, going a little bald on top.

- Scott Fowler, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer

At least one entity, CBS-TV, certainly wasn't rooting for him (Zach Johnson) because it's selling drama, and Johnson came in here with practically zero sales appeal.

So b-o-r-i-n-g. That isn't a kindly thing to say, but it's too true to suit the network. The tube people always root for Tiger Woods because he is the man the whole world watches, and Sunday he was so consistently denied a chance that he burst out, "What the hell just happened?" after another failed birdie try on the 17th hole.

How bad was it for Tiger?

He shot par on a course that played awfully hard, and he still didn't come close.

How good was it for Zach?

Golfers will remember his name as long as the game is played, if he never hits another lick. He took a mean day - cold enough to chill you over a course so hard it would shiver your feet just to step on it - and bent it to his will.

Zach just drained out all the drama.

- Edwin Pope, Miami Herald

In a gallery, a lot of golf fans still like to yell: "You the man!"

In the gallery at Augusta National, a lot of fans must have wanted to yell: "WHO is the man?"

What a dimpled goofball of a Masters this one was. No wonder Will Ferrell was among those who showed up Sunday to watch.

The winner was 31-year-old Zach Johnson, a guy who ordinarily couldn't catch Tiger Woods on a golf course if you let him drive through in a Buick.

Johnson and winning don't go together. Even his favorite TV show is called Lost.

- Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune