A day removed from setting a Masters Tournament record for most consecutive birdies, Steve Pate was a model of consistency for most of Sunday's final round.

Beginning play two shots off the lead, he parred his first 10 holes to remain in the thick of the battle, actually sharing the lead at one point during the day.

After bogeying the 11th, he rallied with birdies on the back-nine par-5s. But two more bogeys coming in, at Nos. 16 and 17, killed any chance he had of winning.

``The way it turned out I'm not feeling too good right now,'' Pate said after his closing 73 left him four shots behind winner Jose Maria Olazabal.

Pate's 7-under-par 65 in the third round, which featured seven consecutive birdies from Nos. 7 through 13, was the lowest of the tournament. The birdie binge broke the record of six shared by Johnny Miller, Mark Calcavecchia and David Toms.

His tie for fourth was his best showing in the Masters Tournament since a tie for third place in 1991. He also finished in the top 10 in 1992.

``This is the third time I've played well at Augusta,'' he said. ``Maybe one of these times I'll do it.''

Pate was noted for his fiery temper before the injury bug bit him. At the 1991 Ryder Cup, he had to be scratched after being injured in a limousine accident.

But the worst came in 1996, when he had a wreck while driving from a tournament in San Diego to Phoenix. Later that year, he broke his left wrist when he tripped on a dock. Also that year, a startled deer ran into Pate while he was sitting on a bicycle in his driveway.

After sitting out most of 1996, Pate resurfaced in 1997 and slowly regained the form that had produced five PGA Tour victories. In 1998, he improved his place on the money list and won the CVS Charity Classic.

Prior to the Masters, Pate had amassed five top-15 finishes in his nine starts on the PGA Tour this year. Those included a fourth-place finish at the Andersen Consulting World Match Play Championship and a second at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which he lost to David Duval's final-round 59.

``I expected to play well because I was playing well coming in,'' he said. ``I'm not surprised how I played.''