BBC SPORT | Golf | US Masters | Tiger's shock at easy win

Tiger Woods said he was "surprised" by the way his main competitors fell away during the final round of the US Masters at Augusta.

Woods shot a modest one-under-par 71 on Sunday's fourth round, but no-one at the top was able to make any ground on him after his two early birdies gave him the outright lead.

Indeed, his main challengers at the start of play, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh, both had poor rounds, shooting 74 and 76 respectively.

"I was kind of surprised to see what was happening ahead of me, there is no doubt about it," said Woods after clinching the first back-to-back US Masters wins since Nick Faldo in 1990.

"But that does not deter me from getting on with my concentration. I still had to execute my shots."

Woods admitted that he felt his consistency was the key to success.

"The game plan was to shoot under par on both nines. I figured if that would happen that would eliminate some of the other guys out there," he said.

South Africa's Retief Goosen saw his challenge fade
Retief Goosen never seriously threatened Woods' supremacy

"Obviously Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh were ahead of me, so I could answer whatever they were doing, while Retief Goosen alongside me was struggling, so I could pressurise him."

Woods added that the apparent ease of his victory did not diminish his feeling of achievement of joining Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win successive Masters.

"It's awfully special to win back to back here," he said.

"For some reason, this year just seemed a little bit harder - maybe because we played 27 holes on Saturday."

And Woods also paid tribute to the crowds who lined the Augusta course, and gave him a standing ovation as he walked to the 18th green on the fourth round.

"I can't say enough about the fans. They have been so good all week."


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