AUGUSTA, Ga. - Tiger Woods thrust a fist in the air, let out a scream and headed off to hug family and friends huddled around the 18th green at Augusta National.

His wife, mother, caddie, agent.

Yes, order is restored in the world of golf. Woods is a major champion again, and No. 1 in the world, too, making Masters magic instead of swing changes, and back to chasing Jack Nicklaus' record.

But someone important was missing from this fourth Masters victory - the man who steered a toddler to set of a golf clubs, molded his swing, toyed with his mind, instilled a love for the game.

As Woods collected another green jacket, he couldn't help but think of his dad. And that's when Tiger, all grown up now, did something unusual Sunday.

He cried.

"I want to dedicate this to my father," Woods said, his eyes filling with tears. "I could feel him out there with me on the course."

Earl Woods, who has suffered from cancer and heart problems, didn't feel well enough to leave his hotel room. But he surely was watching on television, and surely proud of what he saw.

After surging to the lead with seven straight birdies in the weather-delayed third round, and after finishing up on the dew-covered grass of morning, Woods pulled off a shot for the ages in the fading sunlight of afternoon.

Then, he made the most important stroke of all: a 15-foot birdie on the first playoff hole to beat gritty Chris DiMarco.

Woods was clinging to a one-stroke lead and on the ropes when his tee shot at the par-3 16th hole sailed long. DiMarco was safely on the green and facing a 15-footer for birdie.

Woods played his chip up the slope and watched it trickle toward the flag. The ball dipped slightly to the right, wobbled back to the left and stopped at the edge. Hanging there for two full seconds before finally toppling into the cup.

Sarazen's double eagle, meet Woods' improbable birdie.

"I would rank that as one of the best ones I've ever hit," Woods said. "It turned things around. It was pretty huge."

DiMarco mumbled "nice shot" toward Woods, then missed his own birdie attempt. The Masters, it seemed, was over.

Not so fast.

The greatest closer in golf - Woods has never blown a final-round lead in a major and never squandered more than a one-stroke advantage on the last day of any tournament - made a mess of the final two holes.

His tee shot at 17 flew into the pines, leading to bogey. Then he missed the fairway off the tee at 18, pushed his second shot into a bunker and failed to get up-and-down.

DiMarco's approach rolled off the front of the 18th green, but he nearly won the tournament with an amazing chip of his own. From 40 feet, he caught the right edge of the cup, his ball spinning around the flagpole before winding up 6 feet away.

"The difference was his chip went in on 16 and my chip lipped out on 18," DiMarco said. "I don't know how it didn't go in."

For the playoff, the two returned to the 18th tee to do it all over again. This time, Woods came up with two of his best shots of the day under stifling pressure.

He split the fairway with his tee shot and covered the flag with an 8-iron. The winning putt slid into the corner of the cup, giving Woods his ninth major championship at age 29.

Woods tied Ben Hogan and Gary Player on the career list, halfway home to the standard set by Nicklaus. Woods joined Nicklaus (six) and Arnold Palmer (four) as the only players with at least four Masters titles.

Still, this didn't look like the same player who won his first eight majors.

There was the familiar brilliance. Woods needed only five shots over two holes in 22 minutes to erase a four-shot deficit to DiMarco when the third round resumed. Woods tied a Masters record with seven straight birdies on his way to a 65, giving him a three-shot lead going into the final round.

Then, Woods made the kind of mistakes rarely seen from him in the final round of a major - a three-putt from about 25 feet at No. 5, a poor bunker shot on the 13th, all of them raising DiMarco's hopes.

"Anytime you can make him hiccup a little bit, you know you're doing something right," the runner-up said.

Woods last won at the 2002 U.S. Open, the 0-for-10 slump matching his longest drought in the majors. If that thought crept into his mind, he wouldn't admit it.

"Ten majors is really not that long," Woods said. "Some guys go 0-for-life."

No. 9 returned him to No. 1 in the world ranking, again replacing Vijay Singh at the top. Singh and defending champion Phil Mickelson played together after a dispute over Lefty's spikes, but they were the undercard.

Woods and DiMarco were the main event, posting 12-under 276s over 72 holes. No one else was within seven strokes.

"Twelve under is usually good enough to win," DiMarco said. "It's just that I was playing against Tiger Woods."

DiMarco became the first player in more than a quarter-century to lose a playoff in consecutive majors. He's the first since to even make back-to-back playoffs.

Last August, he was part of a three-way playoff at the PGA Championship, but Singh took the title.

If nothing else, DiMarco has shown he can go shot-for-shot with the world's best. The only thing missing is a major title.

"He'll fight you tooth and nail," Woods said. "He put up one heck of a fight."

Not much of a fight in the morning, when DiMarco double-bogeyed his first hole on the way to a back-nine 41. He made up for it in the afternoon, but it wasn't enough to keep Woods from restoring order to the world of golf.

Except for one thing.

"Every year I've won this tournament, my dad was there to give me a hug," Woods said. "He wasn't there today. I can't wait to get home and give him a big hug."