Woods moved to 2-under-par — a shot out of the lead at that point — and was poised to overtake everyone in front of him. But then began one of the most bizarre afternoons of golf he's played in a long time.

For some unknown reason, Woods chose to hit a driver off the tee of the short third hole and pushed it well right into the trees and up against an azalea bush. He had to hit his next shot left-handed and did that very well, pitching to the base of the hill below the green.

He then semi-skulled his wedge over the green, left his chip back short of the putting surface, missed the bogey putt and had a quick double bogey.

That was his first bogey or worse in 22 holes, and he made his second quickly, three-putting from 25 feet below the hole.

He managed pars on the next two holes but poor play around the green cost him bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes before he stiffed a wedge a couple of feet behind the hole at nine for birdie.

It didn't get much better on the back nine, as he couldn't put anything together and shot even par for the tournament with a 75.

Woods said in a television interview afterward that his caddie, Steve Williams, talked him into hitting that driver on the third hole, over his objections.

"I should have laid it back there and hit a wedge in," he said. "When I made birdie on No. 9, I thought I could shoot 30 on the back nine. You never know. I just didn't do it. You can't win everything, that's just the nature of our sport."

"He's human," said Scott Verplank, who shot a final-round 69. "Well, maybe just today."

"Today, he's human," Greensburg native Rocco Mediate said. "Mostly, he's not."

GOING SOUTH

Nine three-putts, a sore back and a somewhat-bruised ego later, Mediate headed south from Augusta to his home in Jacksonville, Fla.

He hung a disappointing 75 on the Augusta National Golf Club scoreboard in the final round of the Masters.

"Sure, I'd like to have played better, but I was behind the eight ball all week," Mediate said. "I just wasn't physically able to do anything more. I need to go home to get a couple things worked on and I'll be OK."

Mediate was pleased with his ball-striking over the last two rounds but struggled quite a bit on the tricky greens.

"I played OK, I can think of four putts right off the top of my head (Nos. 2-5) that I had great chance to make and didn't," he said.

Mediate will play this week in the Heritage at Hilton Head. He'll be in the field at the Colonial in Fort Worth in late May, the tournament in which LPGA star Annika Sorenstam will play. Mediate also is scheduled to play in the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.

GOODBYE, WEDGE

Scott McCarron, playing with Mediate, sent his tee shot well off line on the par-5 second hole yesterday afternoon. It struck the pine straw to the left of the fairway and bounced into a hazard at the bottom of the hill.

"Well, I don't like this wedge anyway," McCarron said to his caddie after inspecting the lie. He put on his rain suit to protect his clothes from flying mud.

McCarron got the ball out of the hazard, although it was easy to hear the club making contact with a rock while striking the ball. He ultimately saved par.

As it turned out, there was no damage to the wedge, and he kept it in the bag for another day.

NOTABLES

Davis Love III, winner of The Players Championship two weeks ago, was thought to be a favorite coming into the Masters. He got off to a lousy start — he shot a first-round 77 — but finished strong on his birthday with a 71. "Four bad drives and four three-putts kept me from a chance to win," he said. "I made too many mistakes." … U.S Amateur champion Ricky Barnes finished as low amateur with a 3-over total. "Low amateur is a great title to have, but I'd rather be second amateur and in the top 16 (which guarantees playing in the 2004 Masters). Tomorrow it's back to reality. Flying back to Tucson and back to school." Another amateur, Ryan Moore, finished as the third low amateur, but that's not what he'll remember from this week. "Playing with Arnold Palmer, that was incredible, awesome, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. That's something I'll definitely take with me." … The victory was Mike Weir's third of the year, and he took home $1,080,000 and pushed his season's earnings to over $3 million.