GOLF:THE GREEN JACKET, for a golfer, is the ultimate status symbol. It signals a man's arrival into an elite club of champions; and, as history has shown us, only those who demonstrate fortitude of mind and body get to savour the moment of glory.

Yesterday's final round of the 72nd edition of the US Masters at Augusta National proved to be no exception. Although played under clear blue skies, a stiff wind - gusting up to 30 miles per hour - whistled through the towering cathedral pines and left the course asking tough questions of those in pursuit of the great prize.

And as Tiger Woods showed he was a mere mortal and was left, it appeared, to write off his personal chase for the Grand Slam, starting the day six shots adrift of 54-hole leader Trevor Immelman, a fascinating dogfight developed on the perfectly manicured course as the South African - seeking to claim his first major title - stuck doggedly to his task, in the face of all those stern questions posed by the conditions.

However, Miguel Angel Jimenez did show that the course could be conquered, completing his final round with a 68 - albeit with two hole outs, one for an eagle with a seven-iron approach on the seventh and another with a greenside chip-in on the 18th - to finish on 287, one-under, and earn a place in the top-10.

The vagaries of the course, and the conditions, were exemplified by the misfortunes of two English players. Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, especially, had entered the final round with major ambitions. It didn't take long for reality to bite! Poulter, who had moved to four-under with birdies on the first two holes, became an also-ran with a nightmare run of three successive double-bogeys from the fifth hole, while Casey's woes were exasperated by a one-shot penalty which was incurred on the sixth when the ball moved after he had addressed his putt. That incident followed a run of double bogey-bogey. His challenge, too, had gone.

Nick Dougherty, who bogeyed the last two holes en route to a 76 for 293, explained the challenge: "You need patience and acceptance . . . today I got a lot of bad breaks and I think a lot of it is karma. It's a very clever golf course and you need to feel right. If you get bad breaks and start to beat yourself up it seems to keep happening."

Padraig Harrington, the British Open champion, whose third round 69 moved him to tied-seventh going into the final round, emerged as the principal European challenger but failed to get close to the pace set by Immelman, who numbered the legendary Gary Player among his supporters in the gallery.

Indeed, Immelman - who at one stage moved into a four-shot lead on the front nine - had awoken yesterday morning to a voicemail left by Player. It said: "take your time and keep your eyes on the ball for an extra second . . . there will be bad breaks, and I know you are going to win."

For Immelman, who first met Player as a five-year-old growing up in South Africa, it was an inspiring message. The South African, a player who lost 20lb due to a parasite last year and then had to undergo surgery on a rare tumour on his diaphragm that left him with a seven-inch scar on his back over the winter, the journey into Amen Corner was one he took with a two-shot lead over American Steve Flesch, while Brandt Snedeker dropped three shots over the front nine and trailed by four strokes at that juncture.

Immelman - a player with a DVD of every major championship played since 1984 in his library - remained the man chasing his own destiny, attempting to fulfil his dream and add the most cherished video of them all to his collection.

Prior to going out, Harrington had explained his gameplan would be one of patience. "On this golf course, you can't automatically say I'm going all-out with any pin position. You have to wait and see where you are, what club you have and whether you feel good about the shot. You've got to choose the right shots at the right time.

"As regards results, I have no interest in finishing anywhere else in the field but first," said Harrington, who played the front nine as well as anyone. Birdies on the second (from six feet) and the third (from five feet) were followed by a run of five pars, until he reached the ninth where his approach spun back down off the green. It was the first bogeye of his round, and was followed by another on the 11th - the hardest hole statistically on the course - to slip back to where he had started the day, on two-under.

Of how he prepared, Harrington had claimed: "I can't ask for anything more from myself in terms of preparation. Okay, thing's mightn't have been A-1 all the time. My putting on the first day, for one. Things like that. But that happens. If I could predict my putting to be top-notch every day of the week, it would be fine."

Woods went into the final round attempting to change history. The world's number one, with 13 majors to his name, had never managed to win from behind going into the final round. In each of those wins, he had either held or shared the lead going into the last day.

Like almost every other player in the field, with the wind accentuating the challenge, Woods found it difficult to make any impact on the course. However, a birdie putt on the 11th moved him back to level par for the day - five-under for the tournament - and back within five shots of Immelman.