Zach Johnson has broken through for his first major, and just his second US PGA Tour victory, courtesy of a brilliant back nine at Augusta National which propelled him to a two shot-win over South African pair Rory Sabbatini and Retief Goosen and world No.1 Tiger Woods in the US Masters. Any one of six players could have won the year&aposs first major on the back nine, including four-time winner Woods, and Australia&aposs overnight leader Stuart Appleby, who would finish on +5 and in a tie for seventh. But it was Johnson who secured the Green Jacket with three birdies in four holes from the 13th. He finished on one-under after an excellent closing 69. Woods could not put together the birdies over the final few holes to seriously challenge Johnson, and signed for an even-par 72 and three-under overall. Sabbatini and Goosen had matching 69s, but never seriously threatened the eventual winner down the stretch. Jerry Kelly and Justin Rose finished tied for fifth on four-over, with Kelly signing for a 71 and Rose a 73. Appleby was one further back, along with Padraig Harrington, while David Toms (+6) was alone in ninth. Johnson, the world No.56 prior to this week, won the 2004 BellSouth Classic, while runners-up efforts at that tournament and the Memorial last year secured him his second Masters start. Paired with good friend Vaughn Taylor on the final day, the 31-year-old from Iowa showed excellent composure to secure the biggest success of his burgeoning career. His previous best effort in a major was a tie for 17th in the 2005 US PGA. After carding three birdies and two bogeys in his first 12 holes, he took the lead with a birdie on 13, stretched it to two with another on 14, and while he just missed a long chance on the 15th, gave himself a three-shot buffer with another birdie on his very next hole. His heart fluttered briefly when he bogeyed the 17th, but an excellent chip on the 18th set up par and a score at +1 for those to follow. Rose had birdied the 15th and 16th to get within one shot with two holes to go, but his hopes were sunk on the 17th, went he found trouble with his drive. He finished with a double-bogey, his third of the day. Woods looked to have made his move on the 13th, closing within two shots of Johnson after a sensational approach shot, which rolled back down the green and set up an eagle. But he lost his momentum when he put his second shot in the water when trying to reach the par-five 15th. A clever scramble secured a par, but despite an excellent tee-shot on the par-three 16th, he was unable to sink a 15-foot birdie putt to close within one. His challenge evaporated when he came up short in a bunker on the 17th. Appleby&aposs hopes were sunk on the 12th hole. A joint leaders with Johnson, Goosen and Sabbatini, Appleby failed to clear the water on the par-3, dropping him three shots off the pace. While he held his nerve down the remainder of the back nine, parring the final six holes, he never looked like getting back among the mix. It was nonetheless a successful week, despite a two-over finish of 74. Of the other Australians, an 81 on Saturday kept Geoff Ogilvy from being on the pace on the final day, but a one-over round of 73 saw him complete his second US Masters on +11. A roller coaster round from the Victorian contained six birdies, four bogeys and a triple bogey on the 12th. Adam Scott had his best round of the week, recovering from a poor start to sign for an even-par round of 72. He double-bogeyed the first, before two birdies and two bogeys on his way out. Two birdies and a bogey on the way home saw him complete the week on a creditable +12. Rod Pampling&aposs form on the final day reflected a consistent but unspectacular week. He finished on +14 after a 76 which contained six bogeys and two birdies. Aaron Baddeley had a disappointing finish to his week with a final round of 80 for an overall score of +19 and equal 52nd overall. Baddeley had four bogeys and two birdies on his outward nine, and then lost his way with doubles on 11 and 13. Bogeys on 14 and 17 capped a tough week for the Australian, but he was delighted to see one of his great friends, win the Green Jacket. US Masters, Final Results +1: Zach Johnson 71 73 76 69 +3: Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 73 76 73 69, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 76 76 70 69, Tiger Woods 73 74 72 72 +4: Jerry Kelly 75 69 78 70, Justin Rose (Gbr) 69 75 75 73 +5: Padraig Harrington (Irl) 77 68 75 73, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 75 70 73 75 +6: David Toms 70 78 74 72 +7: Paul Casey (Gbr) 79 68 77 71, Luke Donald (Gbr) 73 74 75 73, Vaughn Taylor 71 72 77 75 +8: Ian Poulter (Gbr) 75 75 76 70, Vijay Singh (Fij) 73 71 79 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 71 80 74, Jim Furyk 75 71 76 74 +9: Stewart Cink 77 75 75 70, Tom Pernice 75 72 79 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 76 77 72 +10: Mike Weir (Can) 75 72 80 71, John Rollins 77 74 76 71, Mark Calcavecchia 76 71 78 73, Lucas Glover 74 71 79 74 +11 Stephen Ames (Can) 76 74 77 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 75 70 81 73, Phil Mickelson 76 73 73 77 +12: Adam Scott (Aus) 74 78 76 72, Davis Love 72 77 77 74, KJ Choi (Kor) 75 75 74 76 +13: Robert Karlsson (Swe) 77 73 79 72, Fred Couples 76 76 78 71, Yang Yong-eun (Kor) 75 74 78 74, Charles Howell 75 77 75 74, Scott Verplank 73 77 76 75, Dean Wilson 75 72 76 68, Lee Westwood (Gbr) 79 73 72 77 +14: Angel Cabrera (Arg) 77 75 79 71, Tim Herron 72 75 83 72, JJ Henry 71 78 77 76, Brett Wetterich 69 73 83 77, Rod Pampling (Aus) 77 75 74 76, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 75 76 79 +15 Sandy Lyle (Gbr) 79 73 80 71 +16: Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 79 72 80 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 79 73 76 76, David Howell (Gbr) 70 75 82 77, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 75 78 77, Bradley Dredge (Gbr) 75 70 76 83 +17: Jeff Sluman 76 75 79 75, Craig Stadler 74 73 79 79 +18: Brett Quigley 76 76 79 75 +19: Carl Pettersson (Swe) 76 76 79 76, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 79 72 76 80 +20: Rich Beem 71 81 75 81 +21: Ben Crenshaw 76 74 84 75, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 74 77 81 77, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 77 75 77 80 +22: Arron Oberholser 74 76 84 76 +23: Billy Mayfair 76 75 83 77 +25: Fuzzy Zoeller 74 78 79 82