AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Trevor Immelman wasn't going to back down, not now. He had been the leader since the first day of the 72nd Masters, and he wasn't going to crumble into tiny little pieces and get scattered like pine needles about the Augusta National Golf Club.

Not when his tee shot at the par-3 16th hole landed in the water. Not when his approach at No. 17 found a greenside bunker. Not when his tee shot at the final hole stopped in a divot.

On this day, not even a gusting wind could cause a ruffle in Immelman, who was unflappable all week.

"When he got in trouble, he got right out of it," Brandt Snedeker said.

When it was all over yesterday, Immelman became the first South African since his idol, Gary Player, to win the Masters, shooting 75 on a blustery day at Augusta National to keep Tiger Woods at arm's length and win his first major championship.

Immelman, 28, finished at 8-under 280, three shots ahead of Woods, despite tying Arnold Palmer for the highest final-round score by a champion. What's more, he became the first wire-to-wire winner since Seve Ballesteros in 1980.

"It was a tough day out there," Immelman said. "When I woke up and peeked outside and saw the trees moving around, I knew it was going to be tough out there for us. I knew I would have to stick to my game and stick to my game plan and be tough. I'm proud of myself that I did that."

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Immelman had missed four cuts in eight starts this year on the PGA Tour and his best finish in a stroke-play event was tied for 40th in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship at Doral.

What's more, he came to Augusta National ranking, statistically, as one of the worst putters on the PGA Tour (202nd out of 204 players in putts per greens in regulation). But there he was, ranking fourth in putts per hole (1.544) and three-putting only twice in four days at the Masters.

But, with a swing as efficient as a Maserati, Immelman led the field in driving accuracy (85.7 percent), was second in greens in regulation (70.8 percent) and finished fourth in driving distance, averaging 287.5 yards.

"Here I am, after missing the cut last week, Masters champion," Immelman said. "It's the craziest thing I ever heard of."

Immelman withstood wind gusts of 15-25 mph that sent the scoring average to 74.666, highest in four days, and produced just three sub-par rounds.

The victims were scattered everywhere:

Snedeker, who began the round two shots behind Immelman, shot 77 after briefly tying for the lead with an eagle at No. 2 and finished at 284, tied with Stewart Cink.

Steve Flesch, who had made just one bogey in 46 holes, shot 78 and finished at 286, tied with Phil Mickelson and British Open champ Padraig Harrington.

Paul Casey, who was two shots from the lead after three holes, shot 79 and finished eight shots back.

The collapse by Snedeker, 27, the PGA Tour's rookie of the year in 2007, was too much for him to handle.

"It was a rough day out there," Snedeker said, fighting tears. "It's hard to put so much effort into something and get so little out of it. It's part of life, part of growing up. I need a lot more of that. It's tough right now."

That allowed Woods, who birdied the final hole to shoot 72, to finish in second place, the second year in a row the world's No. 1 player has been runner-up without seriously contending.

"That's just the way it is," Woods said. "You have some bad weeks, you have some good weeks. This was not one of my best."

Woods, who began the day six shots from the lead, never made enough of a move to put a scare into Immelman, or at least produce a roar to make him start to tremble in his socks. The lone exception was when Woods made a 75-foot birdie at No. 11, the first leg of Amen Corner, generating a thunderous noise that Immelman most certainly could hear standing on the 11th tee, though he said he didn't.

Woods had another opportunity after that, and it was a good one: He spun a wedge into 6 feet at No. 13 after having to lay up from the pine straw. But Woods squandered the chance, tugging a putt that would have sent reverberations tumbling through the valley.

When he bogeyed the next hole with a three-putt from 45 feet, Woods could only stagger to the clubhouse, his chance at a fifth green jacket dashed by another first-time winner. He finished with a 12-foot birdie at the final hole, but he gave a disgusted wave when the ball dropped into the cup because it was too little, too late.

"I didn't make any putts all week," Woods said. "I hit the ball well enough to contend, definitely well enough to contend with Trevor, but I didn't make any putts. All week I struggled with dragging the blade through. If you can't start the ball on line here, you're going to pay the price."

Flesch was hanging around the leader board, mainly because he had made only two bogeys in a span of 47 holes -- a remarkable string given the difficulty of Augusta National in gusting conditions. But, at the par-3 12th, where the wind dances and swirls through the pines, his 8-iron tee shot caught a gust and ended up in Rae's Creek, leading to double bogey.

The gaffe dropped him four shots behind Immelman, and he never recovered.

"When I was over the ball, there was not much wind," Flesch said. "I hit it solid, but halfway through the flight it stood straight up in the wind. I could tell halfway there it wasn't going to make it."

Snedeker wasted little time making a move, making a 30-foot eagle at the second hole to jump into a tie for the lead with Immelman, who bogeyed the first hole. But, for Snedeker, 27, a former U.S. Public Links champion, his moment was short-lived.

Snedeker bogeyed the next hole, then closed the front nine with three in four holes. When he three-putted the par-4 11th for bogey, he dropped five shots behind Immelman, who made a 15-footer to save par at the same hole.

But he wasn't finished.

When Snedeker jammed a breaking 40-footer into the hole for birdie at No. 12, and Immelman bogeyed from the pine straw behind the green, the lead was down to three. But, as he did in the third round, Snedeker hit his second shot from 195 yards into Rae's Creek at No. 13 and made bogey.

Meantime, Immelman laid up and wedged his third shot to 2 feet for birdie.

"If somebody could tell me how to play that second shot, I'd like to know," said Snedeker, his voice still quivering.