A Finish That Left Everyone Woosie : Golf: Woosnam pars the last hole to win by one shot over Olazabal and continue British success at Augusta.

A lot of people came charging at Ian Woosnam Sunday, fell back and then charged again.

However, when the 55th Masters tournament at Augusta National ended, it was the little Welshman who stood tall.

Woosnam shot a par 72 for a 72-hole total of 277, 11 under, as his primary challengers, Tom Watson and Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal couldn’t force a playoff when they faltered at the 18th hole.

Watson three-putted for a double bogey and Olazabal, in two sand traps, had a bogey.

It was the fourth consecutive year that a player from the United Kingdom has won the Masters. Sandy Lyle won in 1988 and Nick Faldo wore the Masters’ green jacket in 1989 and 1990.

Asked to comment on the recent foreign domination of an American major tournament, Watson said:

“I guess they’re just better players.”

Woosnam had won 26 tournaments worldwide, but had never won a major, and he said earlier that he was determined to achieve that goal.

He also acknowledged that he was under pressure because he had said that he was the best player in the world.

That assessment was based on Woosnam’s No. 1 rating in the Sony ranking system.

Woosnam also had to overcome some negative reaction from a spectator on the 14th tee, while being paired with Watson.

“Some people tried to get me by saying, ‘This is not a links course,’ ” Woosnam said.

Watson intervened and told Woosnam a little story. Asked what Watson related to him, Woosnam said:

“He said that when something like that happened to Don January he would just turn around and say, ‘Thank you very much.’ And after I hit the ball down the middle on 14, I turned and said, ‘Thank you very much.’

“You get a few biased people. You’ve got to expect that.”

That exchange would be embarrassing to Masters officials, who are very conscious of the behavior of spectators.

Woosnam, 33, earned $243,000 for his Masters victory, along, of course, with considerable prestige.

Olazabal, 25, finished second, at 278. Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Lanny Wadkins and Steve Pate tied for third at 279.

Pate, the former UCLA star, wasn’t considered a contender at the outset of the round as he was only two under par through 54 holes.

However, he shot a seven-under-par 65, including a 45-foot par putt on the finishing hole. He finished almost two hours ahead of the leaders, but he wasn’t nervous because he didn’t think he had a chance to win.

As it was, the leaders weren’t exactly burning up the course. Woosnam, who had a one-stroke lead over Watson going into the final round, settled for a par round.

Olazabal shot a 70, and Watson came in at 73.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed I didn’t win. It was an up-and-down day for Tom Watson,” Watson said.

Watson was seemingly out of contention when he went in the water and double-bogeyed the par-three 12th hole to fall to seven under, but he forged a tie with Woosnam and Olazabal by getting eagles at the par-five holes on the back nine, the 13th and 15th.

Olazabal, who began the round three strokes behind Woosnam, fell back with bogeys on eight, nine and 10, but charged into contention with birdies at 13, 14 and 15.

Woosnam, Watson and Olazabal were tied for the lead from the 15th through the 17th.

Olazabal, playing one hole ahead, then drove into a a fairway bunker on the 18th hole. He found a green-side bunker, came out and two-putted from 40 feet for a bogey.

Watson and Woosnam each had their own problems on the last hole. Watson hit a three-wood tee shot--as he had done all week--but he wound up off the fairway in a bed of pine needles.

He then hit a three-iron shot into a a green-side bunker. His sand shot landed near the pin, but slid 30 feet past.

Woosnam unloaded a big drive, but it went far to the left and it settled in what is called the members practice area. There are no out of bounds stakes at Augusta National.

“That was my plan,” Woosnam said. “I wanted to take the trouble (the fairway bunker) out of play, which I did.”

He had a blind second shot and being 5-foot-4 1/2 didn’t help him as he jumped up and down, straining to see the green. His eight-iron second shot landed on the fringe of the green.

Woosnam then rolled a long putt to about eight feet to the side of the cup. And, after Watson’s first putt from 30 feet above the hole slid six feet past, Woosnam knocked in his par putt to get fitted for the Masters green jacket.

It was anticlimactic when Watson then missed his comeback putt, dropping him from a tie for second with Olazabal to a tie for third.

“I dreamed of making a putt on the 18th hole of eight feet and I did,” Woosnam said. “I will remember it for a long time.”

Woosnam said he had been under too much pressure in previous major tournaments, adding that his victory here will help him in the future.

“I’ve known Tom for quite a while,” Woosnam said. “He’s a great competitor and never gave up. He played great, but he just didn’t putt very well.”

Although Watson was disappointed, he also made a prediction.

“In the past when I had a letdown, I usually come back and win,” he said.

For this year, though, the green jacket fits only Woosnam--size 40 short.

Golf Notes

Nick Faldo shot a two-under par 70 and, at 282, finished five shots behind Ian Woosnam. Faldo didn’t seem depressed that he wasn’t able to win a third consecutive Masters. “I think I coped with it all right. I just couldn’t score the first few days,” he said. . . . Sunday’s final round was played in humid, 82-degree weather. . . . Steve Pate had five birdies and a eagle, at the par-five eighth hole, when he hit a three-wood to within five feet of the cup.

The winning score of 277 was the best since Ben Crenshaw’s same total in 1984. Jack Nicklaus and Ray Floyd hold the record, 271. . . . San Diego’s 20-year-old Phil Mickelson was easily the top amateur, completing his first Masters at 290, two over par. . . . Hale Irwin shot 30 on the back nine, tying the Masters record.