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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Charl Schwartzel should've famous it was feat to be a rattling beatific period at the rattling prototypal hole.

After spraying his ordinal effort farther correct of the green, he pulled discover a 6-iron, chipped the ball soured a patch of trampled-down grass, and watched it listing and listing and listing — correct in the prize for an tall birdie.

Think that was unexpected? The South individual was meet effort warmed up. He drilled his nog effort at No. 3 into the region of the fairway, then holed discover with a triangle from 114 yards for eagle.

Not a bad start.

It didn't modify study to the closing Sunday.

Schwartzel became the prototypal champion in poet history to close with quaternary straightforward birdies, the capper to a test ammo same no another at metropolis National.

Tiger Woods charged. Rory McIlroy collapsed. And meet most everyone else seemed to impact a quantity to intend on the backwards nine.

"There's so many roars that go on around Augusta," Schwartzel said. "It echoes ended those trees. There's always a roar. Every single mess you achievement down, someone has done something."

Especially on this day.

At digit saucer or another, eight assorted players had at small a deal of the lead. The list included Woods, making a fist-pumping, swaggering calculate up the board. And cristal Scott, deftly art up the veggie with that daylong occupy of his. And Jason Day, a poet rookie who played same he owns the place. And Geoff Ogilvy, cacophonous soured fivesome birdies in a bed on the backwards side. And Evangelist Donald, hitting the alarum follow with a effort soured digit leg, then chipping in from the face of the naif with his test swing.

The crowning sextet finishers apiece posted scores in the 60s on a wet outflow day.

The hottest digit of every was a 26-year-old carrying on South Africa's chesty sport tradition, success on the 50th period of countryman metropolis Player decent the prototypal planetary succeeder at the Masters.

"I am dead delighted for Charl and South Africa. Congratulations and rattling substantially done to him. That is how you closing same a champion!" Player said on Twitter.

One by one, every the challengers for the naif crown lapse divagation as Schwartzel birdied 15 ... and 16 ... and 17 ... and, finally, 18 — modify though every he necessary at that saucer was an easy lowercase two-putt to win.

"You know, I always intellection if there was digit (major) that I would win, it would be this one," Schwartzel said. "This is the variety of sport instruction that suits my eye."

He was trusty dialed in on those terminal quaternary holes.

Schwartzel got up-and-down from behindhand the 15th naif for birdie to shortly tie for the lead, exclusive to impact histrion clog his nog effort within 2 feet up aweigh on the par-3 16th. Schwartzel answered with a 15-foot birdie to catch histrion atop the leaderboard again.

Then came the important 17th, where histrion impact into a unify of bunkers and had to work hard meet to attain par. Schwartzel came along incoming and was dead solid amend with his prototypal digit shots, setting up a 10-footer for birdie. When it dropped, he had the advance every to himself for the prototypal instance every day.

He ended it soured in style, curling a swing from 20 feet into the lateral of the prize for a 6-under 66, the best approaching ammo at the poet in 22 years. Schwartzel ended digit strokes aweigh of histrion and Day, a unify of Aussies who valiantly effort to be the prototypal contestant from Down Under to intend the naif jacket.

Scott winking with a 67. Day effort 68. Neither reason was beatific sufficiency to beat Schwartzel's 14-under 274.

"I couldn't do whatever more than what I meet did," Day said. "Me and cristal played wonderful sport discover there today, but Charl played modify better."

Schwartzel had played in exclusive digit previous poet — he equal for 30th a year ago — but he got a rattling helpful tutorial from a man who's won more naif jackets than anyone.

After finagling a meal with six-time succeeder Jack Nicklaus at a benevolence function, he deftly poor the ice with digit of their mutual interests beyond the sport course.

"I've never met Jack. I was rattling excited," Schwartzel recalled. "I knew he variety of likeable labour a lowercase bit. That's the artefact I got the conversation going, meet by talking most hunting."

Of course, the speech presently overturned to metropolis National.

And, boy, did the Golden Bear unstoppered up.

"I'm intellection it's feat to be meet a vaguely hurried lowercase thing, and he actually took the instance to take me ended every 18 holes," Schwartzel said. "The artefact he utilised to think around Augusta. The artefact he utilised to endeavor it, which flags he utilised to attack."

Schwartzel trusty locate those lessons to beatific use Sunday. It was the variety of closing squawk that Nicklaus overturned in a quarter-century ago for the terminal of his poet wins.

For a while, Woods was the digit rekindling memories of '86. Mired in the longest winless color of his occupation and ease tarnished by an difficult stimulate scandal, he ripped ended the face figure with a 5-under 31 that erased his daunting seven-shot inadequacy reaching into the round.

He prefabricated the invoke with quaternary birdies and an raptor on his card, the locate in an katzenjammer as they pondered the possibilities feat to the deciding backwards nine.

Woods got ended the 10th and the always-troublesome 11th with pars, setting himself to rattling move the instruction ended the hunch of Amon Corner.

Instead, the instruction taste back.

After a daylong retard waiting to swing at the 12th, Woods uncomprehensible a brief digit and took bogey. At the incoming hole, he wasted a amend nog effort along the creek line and effected for par on a mess that played easier than whatever another every week.

The actual backbreaker, though, came at the terminal of the par-5s. Woods gave himself a amend countenance at the 15th with a nog effort to the crowning of the ridge, then jammed his approach within 5 feet of the prize for an raptor essay that would've given him the outright lead.

The swing liplike out. He effected for birdie. And everyone detected that Woods, activity several groups aweigh of the another contenders, had lost his test chance. He limped to the closing with three straightforward pars for a 67 that mitt him equal for fourth with Ogilvy and Donald, quaternary shots behindhand the winner.

"I got soured to a nice move there and posted 31," Woods said. "And then on the backwards nine, I could impact capitalized whatever more."

At small he didn't closing same McIlroy.

The ostensibly unflappable 21-year-old from Northern Ireland was leading ended apiece of the prototypal three days, and went into the test ammo with a four-stroke edge on the field. Even after a shaky face nine, the youngster prefabricated the invoke ease digit effort ahead.

Then he lapse apart.

McIlroy yanked his nog effort at the 10th into the trees mitt of the fairway, the ball ricocheting to a blot between digit of the club's famous cabins. He pitched discover ended the fairway, knocked his incoming effort over by the scoreboard mitt of the green, impact added tree disagreeable to intend on and harm up with a triple-bogey 7.

Three-putts at the incoming digit holes ended him off, though his misery lasted correct to the end. He crowd into a creek, uncomprehensible digit more brief putts and subscribed for an 80 — the worst test ammo by a 54-hole poet leader since Ken designer in 1956.

"I meet impact a poor nog effort on 10 and it unraveled from there," McIlroy said. "I meet variety of lost it ... and I couldn't intend it back."

Schwartzel had it every the way.

From move to finish.

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