Truly great champions have a way of dictating their own destiny. "Destino," Seve Ballesteros used to call it; and Ben Hogan talked of "out-working, out-thinking and intimidating" challengers.

Whatever it is, Tiger Woods has it - and, yesterday, in the 66th US Masters, on an Augusta National course softened by rain and playing longer than at any time in its history, the world's number one became only the third player to successfully defend the title.

In a remarkable final round, where one likely pretender after another to his crown fell by the wayside, Woods proved, yet again, that he can map out his own destiny. Only Jack Nicklaus in 1966 and Nick Faldo in 1990 had previously retained the Masters, but Woods joined their exalted company by turning the final day into a futile chase for his pursuers.

Starting the final round tied with US Open champion Retied Goosen, and two clear of Vijay Singh, Woods got the early impetus when Goosen bogeyed the opening hole. It gave him a lead he was never to subsequently lose.

All the aces were in Woods's hand, however. And so was history. In each of his six previous major wins, Woods was either tied or in the lead going into the final round and, on the US Tour, 22 of 24 tournament wins came after he either led or shared the lead after the third round. And, in each of his two previous Masters win - in 1997 and 2001 - he had led going into the final round.

And, yet, as Woods glanced over at the giant white leaderboard close to the 18th green as he made his way to the first tee on his march to destiny, he would have seen that the men in the chasing pack represented one of the strongest in modern championship history. Only one from the world's top seven - David Duval - was missing from the elite company.

Their respective challenges failed to materialise, however, and it became an all-too-easy stroll on quite sudden fairways - which were not mown prior to play so soft were they after the rain of recent days - for Woods. And, in the great scheme of things, the 13th hole became a crucial player.

Ernie Els, who had birdied the opening two holes, was nine-under-par for the championship standing on the expensive piece of real estate bought from the adjoining Augusta Country Club.

But Els's challenge came to considerable grief. His tee-shot was hooked into the trees, and then he compounded matters by putting his second into Rae's Creek. After receiving a penalty drop, the South African proceeded to put his fourth shot into the creek again. He ended up with a triple bogey eight and, in that 10 minutes of madness, hie championship aspirations had evaporated.

There followed further drama at the hole when, in the next pairing, Singh - who had emerged as Woods's principal challenger, three behind Woods at that juncture - also put his approach into the creek, but he at least salvaged a par.

All of which made Woods's play of the 13th lack any risk. After putting his tee-shot into the trees, he took the safe option and chipped out leaving himself an 81 yards lay-up shot.

A comfortable par made, Woods walked to the 14th with none of the demons in his head that were swirling around those of his supposed challengers.

Goosen's demise was probably the least expected of all. He has won more tournaments around the world than any other player in the past year - but three bogeys on the front nine led to him losing his way.

Likewise, Phil Mickelson - who started with two birdies but showed his unpredictability by then incurring back-to-back bogeys at the following two holes - stayed still.

Harrington's chances were terminally wounded on Saturday. While the likes of Woods - who had to set an alarm call for 4.30am - ended up playing 26 holes after the carry-over of play due to Friday's rainstorms, the Dubliner just had one round to negotiate.

For the most part, it was a struggle. To his credit, he held in and three birdies in four holes from the 13th meant he was still in contention until playing the 18th.

Ranked number one in difficulty. Harrington's drive finished in trees. But there was a gap, and he went for the green.

His four-iron approach was pulled slightly left, it kicked off a bank and left him with devilishly difficult chip. "I didn't execute it anywhere near as good as I needed to," he later admitted.

The ball pitched too high into the bank, and it rolled off the front of the green. A double-bogey six followed, and the two shot loss effectively put him out of reach of the leaders. "That's Augusta," remarked Harrington, "every time you play a shot here, you are still learning."

He was still learning yesterday, and stubbornly chasing a top-five finish. After parring the first four holes, the Dubliner bogeyed the fifth but birdied the seventh to turn in level par, remaining five-under for the championship.

He then dropped a shot at the 10th and was really struggling when also bogeying the 10th - but he showed his mental fortitude getting birdies at the 13th, 15th and 17th holes.

For Paul McGinley, however, it proved to be a relatively rewarding day. He shot a final round 71 for level par 288 which gave him a top-20 finish - "That was my target at the start of the week," he confessed - while Darren Clarke's Masters challenge turned out to be disappointing.

The Ulsterman finished with a 72 for 289. "My short game was not as sharp as it needed to be," said Clarke.