No shots holed from the fairway, no improbable comeback from six shots down.

Sunday's final round of the Masters Tournament held a lot of promise for the world's top-ranked player. But in the end, there would be nothing but disappointment for Woods, the pre-tournament favorite.

Woods got the start he needed, making four birdies en route to a front-nine of 33. At one point he had shaved off three of the six strokes Vijay Singh had on him going into the final round.

But missed opportunities - birdie putts of 20 feet on No. 10, 15 feet on No. 11 and eight feet on No. 13 - did Woods in. After making birdie on the par-5 15th, Woods' foot slipped on his tee shot on the next hole and he made bogey. His tournament chances were gone.

Woods, who blitzed the field by 12 strokes in winning the Masters in 1997, wanted this one. A writer asked him if it was possible to want something too much.

``Not really,'' said Woods, a faraway look in his eyes.

His final round of 68 elevated Woods to a fifth-place finish, his best at Augusta National Golf Club since his victory three years ago.

In reality, Woods lost this tournament with his play on the back nine all week. In Thursday's opening round, he took a double bogey and a triple bogey on the back nine en route to an opening 75. On Friday, he made four bogeys to shoot 38 on the back. And Sunday, he failed to make more than one birdie on the back. The lone bright spot came Saturday, when Woods played the finishing nine in 2-under 34.

``The first couple days, I didn't play No. 10 that well,'' he said. ``And then obviously I had the triple on 12 on Thursday. So obviously that doesn't really help your score too much.''

Entering this year's Masters, Woods was a 2-to-1 favorite to win - almost unheard of. And bookies had lowered the odds on Woods pulling off a modern grand slam, winning the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in the same year.

All that's out the window now. Woods will take time off and begin tuning up for the next major, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in June.

``I knew that going into this week and I know that going into every time I play that this game is very fickle,'' Woods said.

Woods set the sports world on its ear by winning six straight PGA Tour events over the 19992000 seasons. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February in memorable fashion, holing a shot from the fairway for eagle and coming from seven strokes back on the final nine.

Late Sunday, though, Woods tried to put a positive spin on his finish.

``Even though I didn't get off to a good start on Thursday, I still had a chance,'' Woods said. ``I'm proud of that, the fact I got back in this tournament and had the chance going into the back nine on Sunday.''