DIMARCO ALSO A WINNER AT MASTERS.

Byline: DAVE SHELBURNE Golf

Tiger Woods came away with his fourth green jacket, his ninth major title, a return to No. 1 in the world rankings and an unforgettable addition to the list of greatest shots ever hit at the Masters.

Chris DiMarco wound up a big winner, as well, even though he lost to Woods on the first hole of a playoff at Augusta National Golf Club.

Playing in front of the Masters' traditionally huge final-group gallery and a U.S. television audience made up of 21 percent of all the sets turned on Sunday, DiMarco demonstrated nationally the kind of ability his fellow touring pros have seen for some time, but which remains mostly under the radar for non-major winners.

The 1994 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, a three-time winner on the tour, held his own with the man who has dominated the tour and the world rankings for most of his 43-win, nine-plus-year tour career and was at his hard-charging best for most of his final three rounds at Augusta.

``I really felt like I could win it,'' DiMarco said afterward, ``and coming out the way I did, I will be ready to win next year.''

Woods recorded 16 birdies during one 30-hole stretch, including seven in a row, and in the process, he stormed from six shots out of first place to a three-shot 54-hole lead over DiMarco, who led the tournament after each of the first two rounds.

They played their final round in the same pairing, and DiMarco proved up to the pressure - perhaps because he has faced so much of it in the past 12 months.

The former University of Florida All-American shared the 54-hole Masters lead last year when Phil Mickelson won his first green jacket.

Then, DiMarco got into a playoff at the PGA Championship, won by eventual tour Player of the Year Vijay Singh.

That finish helped earn DiMarco his first Ryder Cup berth - to which he responded by going 2-1-1 to lead the losing U.S. team at Oakland Hills.

So he was ready for pressure Sunday, when Woods delivered it throughout 27 holes of rain-delayed play and especially with his last birdie in regulation.

That could have been the emotional crusher, since DiMarco faced a birdie putt and Woods a difficult chip from the edge of greenside rough while clinging to a one-shot lead on the par-3 16th hole.

But what seemed a likely two-shot swing that would have given DiMarco the lead - on his own good birdie chance and a probable bogey by Woods - turned instead into an unexpectedly expanded Woods lead, thanks to one of the most dramatic shots ever at Augusta.

Woods' 30-foot chip shot landed exactly where he aimed it, turned 90 degrees and trickled slowly down the steeply sloped green another 20 feet, accompanied by a growing roar from the gallery.

The ball halted dramatically on the edge of the cup for two agonizing seconds, then toppled in to a deafening cheer from greenside fans who probably still can't believe their luck in picking a final-round viewing location.

Minutes earlier, they had been treated to a hole-in-one by South Africa's Trevor Immelman.

Woods' shot took longer in the making, if much shorter than the cheering it touched off. And in turn, the reaction figures to be surpassed by the retelling, which seems certain for as long as they play this annual spring tournament in Georgia.

It was that kind of a Masters moment, comparable to Jack Nicklaus' 1975 bearprints-on-the-green birdie putt from 40 feet on the same 16th hole during his fifth Masters title, Larry Mize's playoff chip-in from 46 feet to defeat Greg Norman in 1987, and the double-eagle on No. 15 that helped Gene Sarazen get into a playoff he won in the second Masters, in 1935.

Like those shots, Woods' birdie on 16 proved worth more than a demonstration of brilliant shot making. It also expanded his lead to two shots with two holes to play, as DiMarco could make only par, and the unlikely birdie turned out to be the reason Woods got into the playoff.

DiMarco weathered the emotion of No. 16 and stayed on his game. He made par on his final two holes to finish with a 12-under-par total of 276 that would have won all but 12 of the previous 68 Masters and wound up in a playoff when Woods finished bogey-bogey.

DiMarco nearly won in regulation, but his third-shot chip from 40 feet spun out of the cup on Augusta's par-4 18th hole, where Woods claimed victory soon after with his playoff birdie - following another near chip-in by DiMarco.

For Woods, the win was the result of outlasting unpredictable golf fate as much as DiMarco's grit. Although DiMarco was 5-under-par in each of his first two rounds of the weather-plagued tournament, Woods' opening 74 included an eagle putt that wound up in a greenside creek on one hole, and an approach shot that bounced off the base of the flagstick and into a bunker on another hole.

Woods (74-66-65-71) said he never doubted he would rebound. DiMarco (67-67-74-68), who had the lowest final round of the tournament, demonstrated similar resolve - closing so strongly while being out-driven by as much as 80 yards by Woods.

That's what DiMarco will take away from his best Masters performance - confidence strengthened by stout play under fire and the knowledge he is getting closer to winning at golf's top level.

By next year, he'll probably be looking down at the radar.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

TIGER WOODS

Box:

ON THE GREEN

BY DAVE SHELBURNE