On a obviously painful left knee that gave him way more trouble than he ever let on, Woods birdied the 72nd hole Sunday to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate. Woods blew a three-stroke lead with eight holes remaining in Monday’s playoff and trailed by one with three to go. The world’s No. 1-ranked player then made another birdie at the last hole to tie Mediate and force sudden death in what will go down as one of the game’s most exciting tournaments.

A par on the first extra hole, the par-4 seventh, was good enough to clinch Woods’ 14th major title as Mediate made a bogey.

“I think this is probably the best ever,” Woods said. “All things considered, I don’t know how I ended up in this position, to be honest with you. It was a long week. A lot of doubt, a lot of questions going into the week. And here we are, 91 holes later.”

South African Trevor Immelman fired a respectable 75 on Sunday at Augusta and held on to become the winner of the 2008 Masters by three shots over four-time champion Tiger Woods. Woods earned a second-place spot, finishing at five-under with fellow Americans Stewart Cink and Brandt Snedeker tied for third a further stroke back.

With this monumental win, Immelman became the second South African to wear the green jacket at the Masters, the other being Gary Player.

“I knew I had to just be as tough as I can and hang in there. And I’m so proud of myself. I actually still can’t believe that I got that done,” Immelman said in a post-match interview. Immelman began playing golf when at only five years of age. His father, Johan, put in a practice bunker and green at the family home in Cape Town. Looks like it paid off.