Tiger Woods with wife Elin Nordegren after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday. (AP)

Augusta (Georgia): Tiger Woods and his determined challenger, Chris DiMarco, chased each other to the last moment of daylight, through row after row of loblolly pines. But as the sun set on Augusta National Golf Club, Woods announced his return to the pinnacle of golf Sunday with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first play-off hole to win his fourth Masters title and his first major championship in almost three years.

Woods and DiMarco were locked in a battle for 27 holes, the first nine of which went unseen by television viewers, but not by patrons who rose early to catch the completion of the third round at 8 am.

In a stunning surge, Woods gained seven shots on DiMarco in nine holes to take a three-shot lead into the final round. The highlight of his victory was an improbable birdie chip on the 16th green ? the ball stopped on the lip for a few seconds before falling in ? but two late bogeys allowed DiMarco to catch him.

Woods and DiMarco finished at 12-under-par 276, seven shots ahead of Retief Goosen and Luke Donald. Woods shot a one-under-par 71 in the final round; DiMarco shot 68.

The victory could usher in another dominant run by Woods, who wove together season-long stretches of sterling play from 2000 through 2002.

When Woods? final putt fell, he executed his trademark windmill punch in the air, squeezed his caddie, Steve Williams, then walked up the slope of a small hill to hug his mother, Tida, and wife, Elin.

Woods? father, Earl, who has been ill, could only watch the tournament from a nearby house.

?Every time I?ve won this tournament, my dad was here on the green side and I was able to give him a hug,? Woods said in tears. ?I can?t wait to get home to see him. This one?s for you, Pop.?

The 29-year-old Woods has won nine major championships, putting him halfway to Jack Nicklaus? record 18; he trails Nicklaus? record six Masters green jackets by two.

The victory was also Woods? first major since he changed coaches, married and overhauled the swing that helped him capture 7 major titles in 11 events, from the 1999 PGA Championship to the 2002 United States Open.

Woods said he believed he could get better.

Before outduelling DiMarco, Woods had gone 10 events without winning a major, matching the longest drought of his career. Just past dawn Sunday, in a tournament delayed by inclement weather, he trailed DiMarco by four shots as he stood at the 10th hole, but he quickly whittled the margin.

Playing a group in front of DiMarco, Woods birdied No. 10. DiMarco made a double bogey there when he hit into a bush. When Woods made another birdie at No. 11, they were tied. He had made up four shots in two holes. It took 22 minutes.

Woods then birdied Nos. 12 and 13, giving him four straight birdies on the back nine and seven straight birdies in the round. That tied the Masters record set in 1999 by Steve Pate, who also birdied Nos. 7 to 13.

Woods entered the final round leading DiMarco by three shots; he had never lost a major when he held or shared the lead.

Woods and DiMarco birdied No. 9, keeping the margin at three with nine holes to play. But with so much water and unpredictability remaining, Woods said he expected DiMarco, a three-time Tour winner, to keep fighting.

?The times I?ve played with him on the Ryder Cup teams and Presidents Cup teams, he is in your face,? said Woods, who regained the No. 1 ranking in the world from Vijai Singh. ?He?s very straight off the tee and hits his irons well.?

DiMarco, who was looking for his first major championship, did not fade away. He had to switch drivers on the ninth tee when the head came loose, but he seemed unfazed.

He pulled a stroke behind Woods with a birdie on No. 11, then closed to a stroke again on the par-4 14th, bouncing back from a bogey on No. 12 with another birdie.

After they birdied No. 15 ? Woods with two putts, DiMarco with a layup wedge and a 4-foot putt ? Woods maintained a one-shot lead.

But it was on the 170-yard, par-3 16th where Woods unleashed his most impressive salvo of the tournament.

After flying the green with an 8-iron, Woods found his ball against the fringe of the green, 30 feet away.

He hit a chip shot that ran up the bank of the green and began to roll slowly toward the hole. Woods crouched to his knees as the ball inched closer, hung on the edge of the cup and stopped for about two seconds. Then it fell into the hole to give him a two-shot lead with two holes to play.

?Under the circumstances, it was one of the best I?ve ever hit,? Woods said. ?All of a sudden it was pretty good, then really good, then it was, ?How can it not go in?? Then it went in.?

DiMarco said: ?Unfortunately, it?s not unexpected when he?s doing it.?

Woods led by two shots on No. 17, but he made bogey there while DiMarco made par, cutting the margin to one stroke.

On No. 18, Woods flew his approach shot into a yawning greenside bunker, then blasted to 10 feet.

DiMarco had a chip from the front of the green that went right at the hole but skipped over it, leaving him with a 4-footer for par. Woods missed his par putt, DiMarco made his, and they were off to a play-off.

?The difference was his chip went in on 16 and mine went out on 18,? DiMarco said. ?My chip on 18 had every reason to go in the hole. I don?t know how it didn?t go in.?

DiMarco had a birdie chip in the playoff from almost the same spot. That one came up a foot short of the hole.

Woods can look ahead to June and the United States Open at Pinehurst No. 2, where talk of his winning all four majors in one season will again be a part of the discussion in golf.

Woods made it so in the dying light of a warm Georgia evening.