It's a good thing the Masters decided to break with tradition and televise Sunday's front nine. By the time they reached the turn, even his challengers had conceded Tiger Woods another green jacket.

The shootout so many expected at Amen Corner with the world's best golfers never came close to developing. Woods took care of that quickly, grabbing the lead with a couple of early birdies to begin his relentless march to a second straight Masters.

Woods had never lost with the lead in a major championship going into the final round. His opponents knew the math.

- Tim Dahlberg

Associated Press

Two hours before his scheduled tee time, Tiger Woods already was in combat mode.

He departed the champions' locker room in the clubhouse and headed purposefully for the driving range. A CBS cameraman wished him good luck. His response? Silence. Several patrons offered either an extended hand or an encouraging word. His reaction? Not the tiniest acknowledgment.

Not even the presence of a strikingly beautiful blonde woman standing beyond the ropes could disturb this already fabled level of concentration.

Tiger's a big boy. Now wasn't a time when he needed his nanny.

New girlfriend Elin Nordegren - formerly the baby sitter for Jesper Parnevik's children - is discovering now what every challenger already understands: Tiger is all business when the scent of a major championship is in the air. Intimidation grows from attitude as much as execution. So don't waste his time with amenities. Don't attempt diverting his focus away from the bigger picture.

- Drew Sharp

Detroit Free Press

That old devil back nine at the Masters? What old devil back nine?

Not with Tiger Woods back playing to beat the devil, which is only average for him.

Tiger not even having to get hot (71, just tepid, for him) to win his third Masters and seventh pro major.

Runaway City. One-time lead of five shots, finishing three strokes ahead of U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen after they started even.

Yes, there are dull Masters finishes, mostly made that way by the masters themselves.

That's how it was Sunday when that three-shot victory might have well have been by a dozen.

Nobody threatened Tiger.

Nobody.

- Edwin Pope

Miami Herald

Win like a hare. Win like a turtle. There are more ways than one to get the job done, so Tiger Woods won another Masters on Sunday by keeping his wits and his game, while all those around him were losing theirs.

The unflappable, unbelievable young superstar shot a workmanlike 1-under 71 over a very long, sodden Augusta National course to claim his third Masters title - and second in a row - by three strokes with a 12-under total of 276.

As strong as the power-packed leaderboard was - and it seemed to have been superimposed from the World Golf Ranking - nobody could step forward to put the heat on Woods. He took charge, breaking a tie with South African Retief Goosen at the first hole, then birdieing the next two.

Thereafter, Tiger played catch-me-if-you-can, marking time with 1-over-par golf over the next 11 holes. Nobody answered, so Woods birdied the par-five 15th to assume a five-stroke lead and let tournament Chairman Hootie Johnson get the green jacket ready.

- Jack Saylor

Detroit Free Press

Tiger came out with a little roar, and that's all it took to win his third Masters.

Tiger Woods became the third golfer to win back-to-back Masters, making birdie on two of his first three holes to open the three-shot lead he would finish with Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.

Woods, 26, joined Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) and Nick Faldo (1989-90) as winners of consecutive Masters. Along with his record-setting victory in 1997, Woods added his name with those of Sam Snead, Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player and Faldo as winners of three green jackets. Only Arnold Palmer, with four, and Nicklaus, with six, have won more.

"This year it's different," said Woods, who played 26 holes Saturday to complete the suspended second round and all of the third. "This year was more of a physical test than it was last year, being a chance to win all four major championships in a row and retain them all; that was a mental test to try and block everything out.

"This year was just a physical grind."

- Greg Hardwig

Naples (Fla.) Daily News

Perhaps a fishing rod would have been a more appropriate weapon for Ernie Els and Vijay Singh.

Not that they would have won the Masters anyway, not with Tiger Woods at the top of the leaderboard and everyone else playing with jelly arms.

But it wasn't until the 13th and 15th holes, those ultimate risk-reward par-5s, that the meltdown of Els and Singh was complete.

Both players, among the best on the world, dunked shots in the water.

Not once, but twice.

Twice. They made scores that have names like "snowman" instead of birdie.

- Michael Smith

The (Columbia) State

Last year on the 18th green here at the Masters, Tiger Woods pulled his hat over his face to hide his tears and his exhaustion as his quest for a Tiger Slam had finally ended in glory. On Sunday, after winning his third Masters by a breezy three-shot margin, Woods hugged his caddie and grinned like a happy kid.

As drained as he seemed 371 days ago, that's how fresh and ready for new triumphs Tiger appeared after crushing five of the world's best players.

Watch out. We may be on the verge of another historic Tiger tear. Somewhere on earth there must be at least one half-cracked curmudgeon who doesn't think Woods's Slam was the real thing. Or at least Woods seems to think there is. And that motivates him.

- Thomas Boswell

The Washington Post

About that great finish everyone expected at Sunday's Masters; you know, the one with all of golf's big names battling to a thrilling conclusion.

Forget it. That fairy-tale ending was just "Tiger-proofed." Faced with the challenge of Tiger Woods over 18 holes, the best of the rest of the field became Tiger's foils during his 2-under-par 70 round, an afternoon stroll around revamped Augusta National en route to his second straight Masters title.

- Bob Gillespie

The (Columbia) State