He’s back!

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Another Masters, another drought is over.

Tiger Woods is back, maybe not as dominant and certainly not as intimidating. But what difference does it make?

In as dramatic and spine-tingling a finish as any at Augusta National, Woods won his ninth major and fourth green jacket by beating Chris DiMarco on the first hole of a sudden death playoff on Sunday.

With his pump of the fist, Woods celebrated a 15-foot putt on 18 that gave him his first major championship in 11 tries, dating back to his U.S. Open win at Bethpage Black in 2002.

Woods blew a two-shot lead with two holes to play in what had been a two-man race throughout the long day. But with a little luck, he was able to tie Ben Hogan and Gary Player in the all-time major standings and join Arnold Palmer behind Jack Nicklaus for most Masters won. He’s also halfway to Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.

“More than anything it’s validation of all the hard work I’ve put into it,” said Woods, noting that he has been “ripped” for changing his swing and his coach. “It is special. I wasn’t winning major championships (and) for the most part, I wasn’t in contention. It was nice to get back there again.”

DiMarco, who a year ago was in the final group with Phil Mickelson at the Masters and who lost a playoff to Vijay Singh at last year’s PGA, deserved better. Given up for dead after blowing a four-shot lead that he took into Saturday night, DiMarco outplayed Woods by three shots with a 68 in the final round.

The difference, DiMarco said, was the chip shot that fell for Woods on 16 and the chip shot that didn’t fall for him on 18. It was that close.

“This was one fun victory but also a lot of work because I was playing one heck of a competitor in Chris DiMarco,” Woods said. “Chris has no backup in him. He’ll come right at you and fight you tooth and nail.”

Woods appeared to have won this in the morning when he came out blazing to cap off a third-round 65, tied for the low round of the tournament. DiMarco’s four-shot lead lasted just over 20 minutes after he double-bogeyed the 10th hole while Woods continued a birdie string that would reach seven and tie a Masters record. In a little more than half an hour, Woods had the lead by himself, which lasted until the 72nd hole.

DiMarco could have collapsed after shooting a 41 over the back nine in the morning. Instead, he displayed the grit for which he is famous.

“The way I went out and played this morning, those nine holes, I felt it was time for me to do something, it wasn’t time for me to shoot a 72 and do whatever,” DiMarco said. “It was time for me to go out and have a chance to win and do something. You know, I did. I was just playing against Tiger Woods.”

Woods extended the lead to four shots on the first hole of the final round and was playing as if he’d run away with things as he did at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. DiMarco kept stiffing his irons and missing several birdie opportunities, but still began to chip away at the lead. By the turn, he was outplaying Woods tee to green. After 11 and again after 14, he was within a shot.

And then came 16.

DiMarco was on the green, about 15 feet below the hole. Woods had blown an 8-iron over the green and was up against the collar. What followed was a Tiger moment. As TV announcers wondered if he could even get inside DiMarco, Woods ran the ball up the slope and then back again, remembering how David Love III had done the same thing a few years ago.

The ball followed the path of Trevor Immelman’s ace in the previous group. It trickled ever so slowly toward the hole and then stopped for what seemed like two seconds on the lip. Finally, it fell, extending Woods’ lead to two.

Woods called it one of the best shots he’s ever hit.

“I was just trying to throw the ball up there on the hill and let it feed down there,” Woods said. “All of a sudden, it looked pretty good and all of a sudden it looked really good and it looked like how could it not go in and how did it not go in and all of a sudden it went in. It was pretty sweet.”

“Expect the unexpected,” DiMarco said. “And unfortunately, it’s not unexpected when he’s doing it.”

Also not expected was Woods blowing a two-shot lead with bogeys on 17 and 18. On the last hole, he came out of his swing and put it 30 yards to the right of the flag in the bunker. DiMarco had hit the front of the green and rolled off, but the chip shot was an easy one. It looked to be in, then lipped out.

DiMarco said the chip “had every right to go in the hole. I don’t know how it didn’t go in.”

After Woods missed an eight-foot putt for par, they marched back to the 18th tee. This time, Woods hit “two of the best shots I hit all week.” Flushing an 8-iron, he was in a similar spot from which Mickelson made his winning putt last year. DiMarco, meanwhile, was back short of the green again. This time, he missed holing the chip by two inches. Woods’ winning putt never left the line and fell into the center of the cup.

“Cool,” Woods said.

Cool indeed.