Stewart Cink admits he's a slow learner when it comes to the Masters Tournament.

He seems to be improving each year, and Sunday was his best finish in 11 tries, a tie with Brandt Snedeker for third place at 4-under 284.

"It's a comfort level (and) it's a little bit more maturity," said Cink, 34. "It just took me 11 years to mature a little bit."

Cink, who lives in Duluth, Ga., and was a three-time All-American at Georgia Tech, was trying to win the Masters while paired with the man who was supposed to win it, Tiger Woods.

Cink shot an even-par 72, notching four birdies and four bogeys along the way.

"Playing with Tiger on Sunday at the Masters is about the pinnacle of professional golf, and being somewhat in contention, too," said Cink, whose previous best was 10th place in 2006.

A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, Cink had kept himself in contention with solid rounds of 72, 69 and 71. He birdied the first two holes and bogeyed No. 5, then was undone by consecutive bogeys on par-4 holes 9, 10 and 11.

He couldn't catch winner Trevor Immelman, and neither could Woods, who birdied No. 18 to finish alone in second place at 5-under.

Cink was proud of how he played, calling it both a special treat and difficult to be paired with Woods on the tournament's final day.

"It's something that if you're not looking forward to it, then you're probably not in the right business," Cink said. "We weren't really trying to win the Masters on the last few holes. We were trying to kind of beat each other, and he one-upped me."

Cink joked that he had "a couple of choice words for him walking off the (18th) green; but what can you say, he's Tiger Woods."