The adage that suggests the Masters “doesn’t begin until the back-9 on Sunday” had a new, premature twist. It started on Sunday, and then it started again. Just when it seemed the old Tiger Woods was back, running away from the pack, he turned mortal again and DiMarco turned tenacious.

Then came that unfathomable chip-in at No. 16, a Larry-Mize moment, a Tiger Woods moment, a moment that figures to become the signature shot of this tournament. “You’re just throwing the ball up on the hill somewhere and, hopefully, it will be where you have a chance for a putt for a par,” he said. “It just happened to go in.”

It just wasn’t enough. Woods bogeyed No. 17 and 18, lost a two-shot lead with two holes to play, and his resurgence seemed greatly exaggerated. In his eight previous major championship wins, Woods had never relinquished a multiple-shot lead.

So maybe it’s true. Maybe he isn’t so bullet-proof, maybe the “A” switch clicks on and off. But in the end, when a 10-foot birdie rolled in to clinch a dramatic playoff win on the 18^th green, these were the good old days, the red-shirt days, the days of Woods and roses.

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“Yeah it is special,” Woods said. “You know, I’ve kind of battled the last couple of years to work hard on my game and make some changes. I wasn’t winning major championships and I contended a couple of times and didn’t win.

“But for the most part, I wasn’t in contention on the back nine on every major, like I like to be. It was nice to get back there again … it’s a thrill.”

Woods’ quest to catch Jack Nicklaus and challenge his “greatest ever” label also is back on line. Woods now has four green jackets at age 29, three years younger than Nicklaus, when he added his fourth of six. He has nine majors, two years before Nicklaus had his ninth. He has won 31 of the 34 tournaments he has led after 54 holes.

The gap may have shrunk, the walls might be closing in, but the bottom line after the first major championship of the 2005 season is undeniable: Tiger Woods is back, breathing fire, pumping fist. Big as ever, if not always better than ever.

“I don’t think you’re ever there,” Woods corrected. “You never arrive … and as a player, if you ever have that moment, you should never have that moment. You’re always trying to get better.”