It was inevitable that writers and fans would start the conversation about who actually choked away the Masters.  Jay Busbee entertained the topic pretty quickly after the Masters ended.  Over at Geoff Shackelford's site, he has done a great job cataloging the mainstream writers' view of the finale.

In all of the work that I read about the leaders and the Mickelson-Woods pairing, it seemed as though few writers were willing to use the word choke with any player.  And it's not that they should.  Still, it is tough not to wonder if it was Angel Cabrera that won the Masters or just how much help he had in winning.

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Let's start the conversation by wondering about Kenny Perry.

Kenny Perry was awfully steady during most of the round.  For 11 holes, he made his way around the National, trying to make birdies but inevitably settling.  Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson was lighting up Augusta's front nine in a way we have never seen.  His 30 almost assuredly put Perry on the defensive.  Perry did not back down, though.  He figured out a way to make birdie on 12.  Somehow, he did not take advantage of the susceptible 13th.  He did manage to cash in on 15 with a great two putt after a dicey approach that was a yard away from being wet.  Then, he hit the shot of his life at 16.

It was on 17 and 18 that Kenny Perry let himself down and handed the Masters to Angel Cabrera.  Perry chipped with way too much sauce from the back of 17 green and left him a certain bogey.  Armed with a one shot lead at the last, Perry stuck to his plan and crushed his driver over 310 yards - right into the left hand fairway bunker.  As a righty is apt to do from the position, he pulled his approach shot and left himself an almost impossible up and down for the championship.  He almost pulled it off.

After Cabrera made his par in regulation, the momentum appeared to be all his until an errant 3 wood appeared to end his chances.  By the grace of physics - or God - Cabrera's unwise poke through the right hand forest landed back in the fairway just a few yards ahead of the drives of Campbell and Perry.

Perry probably could and should have won it right there.  With a short iron in his hand, all he had to do was hit the green.  It may have been enough pressure to prevent Cabrera from getting up and down with his wedge.  The pressure of the moment was enough to eliminate Chad Campbell.

Perry's chip from the short side of 18 green was spectacular.  A couple of more feet and he could have won it right there - reminiscent of Chris DiMarco in 2005 against Tiger Woods.  The par was great considering the circumstances, but it was not the score he needed.

Meanwhile, Cabrera needed that par desperately or his tournament was over.  In fact, the whole tourhament was likely over if El Pato failed to make his putt.  Buoyed by his performance on 16, 17, and 18 coming into the playoff and the divine intervention in the woods just a few minutes prior, Cabrera's par effort was center cut.  To him, par was everything.  For Perry, it was a disappointment.  The same score meant completely different things for both players.  That par gave Cabrera the title.  Perry's par likely cost him the focus and confidence needed to stymie the Argentinian.

It cost him one hole later when he overcooked a mid iron into the 10th green, leaving his fate resigned like Len Mattice in 2003.  Quickly seizing the opportunity, Cabrera walked right up to his perfect drive and placed the ball 15 feet short of the hole.  He knew he had won.

In the final analysis, Kenny Perry gave away the Masters.  He held off every challenger but one.  Likely, it was the one he most overlooked.  Woods and Mickelson made their intentions clear and did so often on Sunday.  Neither could complete the round of 64 needed to catch Perry.  His good friend Chad Campbell was likely on his mind.  The kind of guy that Perry is seems to indicate that if he could have wanted anyone else to have won this title, it would have been him.

Perry may have lost site of Cabrera.  After that spectacular tee shot to 16, it seemed like Cabrera's impressive birdie of his own may have been overlooked by his playing partner.  It may have dawned on the Kentucky native when he scalded his chip at 17, or when Cabrera managed to par 18, that his biggest rival had been with him all day long.

Cabrera went out in 37 and bogeyed the 10th in regulation.  But, he made up for it in all of the right places - 13, 15, and 16.  Perry failed to capitalize on a benign 13th and had lapses of concentration on 17 and 18.  The incredible nature of Perry's run enamored him to the crowd, but Cabrera played great golf to win.  El Pato had an up and down final round at Augusta, which likely helped steady him in the moment much more than any cigarette could.