Cabrera captures Masters crown with playoff win

Argentina's Angel Cabrera won the 73rd Masters with a par on the second sudden-death playoff hole, a stunning recovery after putting his first playoff tee shot behind a tree.

Cabrera, who had not won a title since claiming his first major at the 2007 US Open at Oakmont, made a par on the second playoff hole, the par-4 10th, to defeat Kenny Perry, who had missed the green and could do no better than bogey.

"This moment, and the win in Oakmont, are the greatest moments of my life," Cabrera said. "It's incredible. I still can't believe it."

Cabrera, Perry and Chad Campbell all finished 72 holes on 12-under par 276 to force the eighth sudden-death playoff in Masters history, which began at the 18th hole with Cabrera firing his tee shot behind a tree right of the fairway.

Cabrera smacked his second shot off a tree and watched it bounce into the fairway. His approach dropped six feet from the cup and made a tension-packed putt to match Perry's par while Campbell missed a four-footer to drop out.

The playoff moved to the 10th hole, where Cabrera found the green in two and Perry sent his approach left of the green.

"That green is firm," Perry said. "I was juiced up and I hit it too far over the green."

A chip across the green and missed putt sealed his fate, allowing Cabrera to two-putt from 10 feet for victory.

"This is a great moment for any golfer, to win the Masters," Cabrera said. "I'm so emotional I can barely talk."

Perry, who at 48 would have become the oldest major champion in golf history, also lost a playoff to Mark Brooks at the 1996 PGA Championship.

"I'm not going to hang my head from this deal," Perry said. "I fought hard. I was nervous. I may not get this opportunity again but I had a blast.

"I just didn't get it done. I had the tournament to win. I lost the tournament."

A day that saw Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson make astonishing runs at the leaders from seven strokes off the pace ended with the first South American winner of the green jacket symbolic of Masters supremacy.

"When Tiger and Phil were making a move, I knew that I had to make a move myself to be the winner," Cabrera said.

The only other South American to win a major was Cabrera's countryman Roberto De Vicenzo, who won the 1967 British Open but signed an incorrect scorecard at the 1968 Masters to hand Bob Goalby a win without a playoff.

Perry had not made a bogey in 22 holes and had the green jacket almost within his grasp until a bogey-bogey finish left him level with Campbell and Cabrera, who each parred the last three holes of regulation.

Cabrera, the 17th winner in the past 18 Masters from the last group, and Perry each fired a final-round 71 while Campbell shot 69.

"I thought I was going to be one shot out of it but snuck in there and didn't do too well on the hole," Campbell said. "Just a little unfortunate."

Campbell, runner-up at the 2003 PGA Championship and third at the 2006 Masters, has never won a major.

It was the first Masters playoff since Tiger Woods beat Chris DiMarco in 2005 and the first three-man playoff since 1987, when Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman after Seve Ballesteros was eliminated on the first hole.

Perry began with 11 pars before sinking a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-3 12th. He birdied the par-5 15th and smacked an 8-iron shot at the par-3 16th that rolled inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie that gave him a two-stroke edge on Campbell and Cabrera with two holes remaining.

But Perry opened the door to his rivals at 17 when his chip rolled back down the front of the green and led to a bogey and he found a bunker off the 18th tee, eventually missing a 15-foot par putt to win the Masters.

Japan's Shingo Katayama sank a long birdie putt at 18 for a final-round 68 to finish fourth on 278, matching his best major result from the 2001 PGA Championship.

Woods and Mickelson, playing together, staged epic comeback bids after starting the day seven strokes off the pace but blunders on the final holes foiled the dreams of the world's two top-ranked players.

Mickelson, who matched a Masters record with a six-under 30 on the front nine, settled for fifth on 279 after a concluding bogey in a final-round 67.

Woods finished bogey-bogey for a 68 that left him on 280, sharing sixth with fellow Americans Steve Flesch, Steve Stricker and John Merrick.

While Woods is 14-for-14 when leading majors after 54 holes, he has still never rallied on the last day to win a major.

Playing his first major tournament since ending an eight-month layoff from left knee surgery in February, Woods did not gain ground on Jack Nicklaus' all-time record of 18 major titles.

Woods and Mickelson staged a shot-making show for the ages but blundered at the finish.

"It was a struggle all day," Woods said. "If I got to 11 and posted it, I thought I would be all right."

Mickelson found Rae's Creek with a nine-iron off the 12th tee for a double bogey.

"The ball went in the water and I stopped making putts," Mickelson lamented.

The 38-year-old US lefthander answered with birdies at the par-5 13th and 15th, but botched a five-foot eagle putt at 15 for a share of the lead.

"That one was costly," Mickelson said. "I didn't trust my read and I messed up my impact."