2001 Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Bobby Jones, co-founder of Augusta National Golf Club, would have approved of the way Tiger Woods won his second Masters Tournament Sunday.

Woods did it like the champion he is, by holing his final putt on the 72nd green for a birdie 3, to complete a final-round 68 for a 272 total, 16-under-par. Woods won by 2 shots over his close friend, David Duval, who closed with a 67 for 274.

Phil Mickelson, playing in the final group with Woods, was another shot back at 275 after a 70. Mickelson missed by one shot of becoming the first golfer ever to shoot four rounds in the 60s at the Masters. Even if he had, it would not have been enough.

It was a historic finish with three of the world's best golfers - Woods is No. 1, Mickelson No. 2 and Duval No. 8 in the global rankings - dueling with marvelous golf shots and clutch putts to the delight of the appreciative galleries which make Augusta and the Masters such a special treat.

"It was awfully fun to go out there and compete, and know that you have to hit the best shots, make some putts and just hang in there," said Woods, who won his first Green Jacket in 1997 as a 21-year-old in his first full season of professional golf. "To see David up there and playing as solid as he did on the front nine, and know that's probably going to continue on the back nine. Phil, right there in my group, making birdies."

By the time Woods arrived on the 18th green, all he needed was a two-putt par for victory. He recalled another close friend, Mark O'Meara, winning the 1998 Masters with a clutch birdie putt on the same putting surface, before the same great galleries, in the shadow of the same grand clubhouse.

"I was reading the putt and kept telling myself, 'Well, my good buddy Marco made it. Why can't I make it?'" Woods said.

"I just started thinking about that and I think by doing it, it just made me feel a little more at ease, a little more relaxed. I went up there, rolled it down there, had good speed, and it just went right down to the bottom."

Duval was among the first to congratulate Woods.


"He's a friend of mine and under these circumstances to shoot 68 and win the golf tournament in the manner that he did is outstanding," Duval said.

Woods declined to put a tag on his sweep of the majors.

"I'll let you guys (decide)," he told the media. "You guys are very creative.

"The enjoyment is going out there and working for it, and grinding it out and going toe-to-toe with two of the best players in the world. That's work but that's what it's all about. That's the fun of it."

Final Placings