The Masters Tournament begins on the back nine on Sunday, people say, but it ended for some where it has so many times in the past.

No. 11.

The gateway to Amen Corner is where the Masters dreams of several players on the leaderboard died during Sunday's final round. Dubbed White Dogwood, the Augusta National Golf Club's 455-yard par-4 11th ranked as the most difficult hole Sunday, yielding only three birdies to the 47 players who teed up in the final round.

While Tiger Woods birdied No. 11 on his way to his fourth consecutive major championship and second Masters crown, bogeys at 11 by Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els and a quadruple-bogey by Brad Faxon further dimmed their hopes of winning the green jacket.

For Mickelson, the two-stroke swing that resulted from his fateful bogey at 11 and Woods' birdie was a backbreaker. Playing with Woods in the final group, he stepped up to the 11th tee at 13-under par, just one stroke behind Woods.

After Woods hit a solid drive at 11, Mickelson's tee shot went left and struck a tree and landed in the rough. He was short of the green with his second shot, stuck a wedge to within 8 feet of the pin with his third shot, then missed his par putt.

Meanwhile, Woods hit an unbelievable second shot, nearly holing it from 149 yards out. He had a tap-in for birdie, which gave him a two-stroke lead over Mickelson.

``I didn't feel as though 11 was that big of a deal, although I lost two shots'' said Mickelson, who finished in third place at 13-under for the tournament. ``I hit a poor drive. I tried to hit a sling hook around the corner and hit it right into the tree. I had a chance to make par and just missed the putt.''

As for Faxon, he only can wonder what would have been if not for his disaster at No. 11. He had just made birdie at No. 10 to go to 9-under, putting him just three shots back of Woods and Mickelson.

Faxon boomed his drive but pushed his second shot from 145 yards right of the green. He chipped over the green and into the pond fronting the left of the putting surface. He took a drop from the same spot, chipped up and then three-putted.

``If I didn't do that I don't know what would have happened,'' said Faxon, who finished at 8-under for the tournament. ``I was playing so well. I don't know what happened. I probably played the wrong club there. It was the wrong distance. But that's easy to say when you miss the green.''

The 11th hole traditionally has been one of the most difficult holes in the Masters. Entering the 65th Masters, it ranked as the fifth-hardest hole since 1942.

If it's any consolation to Faxon, his quadruple-bogey won't enter the record books as the highest score at No. 11 in Masters history. That dubious distinction belongs to three players - Dow Finsterwald (1956), Bo Winninger (1958) and William Moody III (1980) - who each posted a nine at No. 11.

``It was the hardest thing in the world,'' said Faxon, referring to how he felt as he walked off the 11th green. ``Any chance you have is gone. You just have to hang in there. You don't have a choice.''