Angel Cabrera and the 73rd Masters Tournament lived a charmed life.

Angel Cabrera hits out of the bunker on #3 during the final round of the Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club Sunday April 12, 2009. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

The Argentine admitted a fortunate bounce at a crucial time helped him become the tournament's first South American winner.

And Augusta National Golf Club avoided the cold and wet weather that has plagued recent tournaments. Combined with an easier course setup, the back-nine excitement that had been missing since 2005 returned.

A golf tournament adage states that the winner has to get a few good breaks to win. Cabrera got his on No. 18, the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell.

After slicing his tee shot in the right woods, Cabrera's second shot hit the base of a pine tree and bounced back into the fairway at a 90 degree angle, leaving him 110 yards from the hole.

From there, he hit the green and made a 6-foot par putt to stay alive in the playoff with Perry. Had Cabrera missed the putt, Perry would have been the Masters champion because Campbell made bogey.

Cabrera won it on the next hole, which was No. 10 in the playoff rotation, with a par, ending Perry's hopes of becoming the oldest Masters champion.

Perry was at the other end of the luck spectrum in the playoff; his tee shot on the 10th hole picked up mud and led to a poor second shot.

When Cabrera hit his second shot on No. 18 in the playoff, he said he heard the ball hit the tree but didn't know what direction it caromed.

"It was a very short moment," Cabrera said. "I asked my caddie and he quickly said, 'We're fine. It's in the fairway.' " ... You need luck sometimes in this game.

"It's the Masters," Cabrera said. "... A lot of magical things happen. It's simply the Masters."

Good weather and pin placement enhanced the Masters Tournament's final round. "The golf course was unbelievable," second-place finisher Kenny Perry said. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

Cabrera, who closed with 1-under-par 71, wasn't mentioned among the pre-tournament favorites. His scores might not have showed it -- he missed the cut in his previous two PGA Tour events -- but he was ready to add a second major championship to his 2007 U.S. Open title.

"He was playing well the last few weeks," said Ruben Yario, who is Cabrera's caddie. "We expected something to kind of happen. We like it that it was this week."

Cabrera, Perry and Campbell shot 12-under 276, matching the lowest winning total since 2005.

The weather and the course setup had much to do with that. When Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman Billy Payne introduced honorary starter Arnold Palmer on the first tee on Thursday, he said he hoped everyone "would have fun" this week.

The players did. The scoring average for the week (72.606) was more than a stroke lower than 2008 (73.791); there were 219 more birdies (977 vs. 758) and 15 more eagles (34 vs. 19).

And in the final round, which had lacked excitement the past two years because of a tough course and conditions, there were 14 more scores in the 60s (16 vs. two) and 21 more under-par scores (25 vs. four) than in 2008.

"The golf course was perfect, but the weather helped. The weather was great. We had a combination," Perry said. "We had some blustery winds a couple of rounds that kind of separated the field, but the staff, they set the pins in great spots. They give us chances to actually get after them a little bit and to actually make birdies. The greens were perfect and the fairways were perfect. It was a great week of golf."

Perry, who was attempting to become the oldest Masters champion at 48, was the people's choice in the final pairing with Cabrera.

"I think I lost my hearing on a few holes they were screaming so loud," he said. "You get right next to them; they were having a lot of fun out there."

When Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, who were seven shots off the lead after 54 holes, went off an hour before the leaders and started lighting up the course, the tone was set for the shootout that followed.

"I think the tournament needed to inject a little bit of drama back into Sunday afternoon, and I think they have done that," said Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who tied for 17th and was the low European. "It's supposed to be entertaining for the crowds; that's what these people come to see. It's nice to see the guys making birdies and eagles."

"It is sure nice to hear the roars coming back out there," said 50-year-old Augusta native Larry Mize, who finished in a tie for 30th in his best Masters in nine years. "That's what you love about this place; the roars and excitement."

It wasn't just the roars that were louder, Mickelson said.

"The crowd made the highs even higher, and the moans made the lows even lower," he said. "It was just an emotional day."

The loudest roars came from the Mickelson-Woods group. Winners of six green jackets between them, the two were so far back they needed to make a move, and quickly. They did, combining for 12 birdies and an eagle.

"It was great," said Hunter Mahan, who tied for 10th place. "This is what you want when you come out here: to hear the roars and the birdies and the eagles and balls going in the water."

"It was fun to be out there and to be a part of it and kind of take it all in, because it was crazy the way Phil and Tiger got off to such a great start, especially Phil," said Stricker, who tied for sixth place. "So you knew it was out there when those guys were doing that."

When Mickelson tied the course record with 6-under-par 30 on the front nine, he had pulled to within a shot of Perry. But Lefty shot 37 on the back after rinsing his ball on No. 12 and making double bogey. He still got the better of Woods, who leads in their head-to-head pairings. Mickelson had 67 to finish fifth, while Woods, who shot 33-35 for 68, tied for sixth place.

"It was fun," Mickelson said. "We've had some good matches in the past. I'm usually on the wrong end of it, but it was fun playing with him. I've always enjoyed it."

The return of the roars and thrills Sunday changed the demeanor of many of the golfers after the tournament ended. Normally, they are mentally drained by the grind. Not this year.

"It's almost hard to go home; I want to stay here and play more rounds," said former Georgia golfer Ryuji Imada, who tied for 20th in his Masters debut.

Perry, whose best finish in eight starts before this week was a tie for 12th, is also ready to come back, despite the disappointing finish.

"The golf course was unbelievable," he said. "I just wish I had paid more attention earlier in my career when I came here and worked as hard on the golf course as I did before I got here this week. I would have been ahead of the game a lot quicker."

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.