A heartbreaking final round capitulation by Rory McIlroy allowed Charl Schwartzel to claim the famous green jacket at Augusta National.
The 21-year-old Northern Irishman had shown maturity beyond his years around the course during his first three rounds as he looked to seal his maiden Major title.
He attacked the pins when he needed to and settled for the middle of the green when the pins were dangerously inaccessible.
His “solid” and “un-dramatic” golf was drawing praise from fans and pundits alike.
Although his flaws on the green were plainly evident, after some precision iron play set up a multitude of birdie chances which he squandered.
McIlroy could easily have been ten strokes clear of the chasing pack approaching Championship Sunday, where so many legends have been crowned.
Nevertheless, he started the day on -12, leading by four shots.
But he got off to the worst possible start by bogeying the 1st after pushing a five foot par putt wide of the hole.
And it got worse after he drove into the bunker on the 2nd and made a mess of his recovery shot by hitting the lip of the hazard.
He then found the green-side bunker with his third shot, though he did manage to get up and down to save par.
However, Schwartzel had holed out for eagle at the 3rd for a share of the lead, and he was turning up the heat on the young Ulsterman.
A bogey on the 4th from the South African gave the reins back to McIlroy, who surrendered a shot at the 5th before regaining his composure by sinking a 20 foot birdie putt on the 7th.
His jangling nerves looked to be settled as he approached the renowned and idyllic Amen Corner with a one shot advantage.
Then disaster struck at the par four 10th, when his tee shot caught the trees as he looked to draw it round the bend and into the optimum position on the fairway, but ended up off the beaten track.
He had to resort to a pitch back onto the fairway, but again his swing deserted him when he dragged his third shot, a three wood from the first cut, into the pine needles.
And just when it couldn’t get any worse, he hit his fourth shot against a tree leaving him off the green to the left and straying into the bogey territory.
It all resulted in a triple bogey, and in one forlorn swoop he had dropped to -8.
He further unravelled with a bogey on the 11th before a painful four putt for a double on the 12th.
It was now far from un-dramatic golf, and having led just three holes earlier he was now in freefall.
The Augusta patrons were witnessing another Greg Norman-esque collapse and, whether they wanted Rory to win or not, no one wanted to see him falter in such a fashion.
McIlroy dropped another shot at the 15th and his misery was compounded when he missed a relatively simple putt on the 18th for birdie.
It would have done little to change the outcome but would have at least ended proceedings on a positive note.
He finished the day +8, leaving him -4 for the tournament and tied for 14th.
A score of +8 also scuppered his chances at St Andrews last year when another South African, Louis Oosthuizen, romped to victory.
However, the youngster showed strength and dignity to smile and face up to the cameras when he must have been battling a tumultuous mix of emotions.
"It was a very disappointing day obviously but hopefully I'll learn from it and come back a little stronger. I don't think I can put it down to anything else than part of the learning curve.
"Hopefully if I can get myself back into this position pretty soon I will handle it a little bit better. It will be pretty tough for me for the next few days, but I will get over it – I will be fine.
"There are a lot worse things that can happen in your life. Shooting a bad score in the last round of a golf tournament is nothing in comparison to what other people go through.
"Getting applauded up onto the greens, I was almost a little embarrassed at some points. But the support I had here was fantastic and I really appreciate it.
"I can't really put my finger on what went wrong. I lost a lot of confidence with my putting, but I just hit a poor tee shot on 10 and sort of unravelled from there.
"I'll have plenty more chances I know and hopefully it will build a bit of character in me as well."
There is only one way he will defy anyone who will label him as a choker, and that is to go that one step further and claim a Major title.
He has the talent but he must wait a little longer to do so with the US Open rolling into the Congressional Country Club, Maryland in June.
Charl Schwartzel became the third South African, behind Gary Player and Trevor Immelman, to win The Masters.
It was 50 years to the day since Player became the first international winner at Augusta and Schwartzel achieved a feat his good friend and countryman Ernie Els has yet to do.
A magnificent four birdies on the closing four holes was what sealed victory as Adam Scott looked to be the one to profit from Rory McIlroy’s demise.
Tiger Woods, looking back to his old self, missed an eagle putt at the 15th which would have seen him take the lead.
He shot -5 in a blistering front nine and his odds were cut from 20/1 to 3/1 as he hunted down those at the top.
Luke Donald’s challenge looked all but over after he fired into the water on the 12th for a double bogey.
Some brilliant play saw him card three birdies, on 13, 15 and 16, before dropping a shot on the 17th which finally sealed his fate.
A stroke of bad luck saw Donald’s approach to the last cannon off the pin and off the green after a brilliantly lofted shot from an awkward stance found its target.
It wouldn’t matter though, as a delicate little chip ran into the centre of the cup to the elation of the fans who echoed his name.
Scott was the first to make the move from -10 when he birdied the 14th and 16th to go -12 but Schwartzel matched him all the way.
And when the South African holed a tricky putt at the 17th to go -13 he was on the brink of victory.
Par at the last for the Aussie meant Schwartzel also needed par for the win.
He found the green in two, leaving him a two putt for victory – but only one putt was needed.
Final Leaderboard:
-14 Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
-12 Adam Scott (AUS)
-12 Jason Day (AUS)
-10 Tiger Woods (USA)
-10 Geoff Ogilvy (AUS)
-10 Luke Donald (ENG)
-9 Angel Cabrera (ARG)
-8 Bo Van Pelt (USA)
-8 KJ Choi (ROK)
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