Golf Correspondent NICK RODGER reports on a dramatic finale at Augusta

It looked like it would be a case of G’Day but in a furious finale it seemed it would be Great Scott. Then a man from Argentinean called ‘the duck’ waddled in and sent everyone quackers.

Masters Sunday reached another astonishing conclusion at Augusta National last night.

Australian players have finished second on eight occasions in golf’s opening major of the season down the years. They have been left green with envy as others carted off the bounty but a green jacket is finally winging its way down under as Adam Scott claimed a play-off victory over Angel Cabrera.

Greg Norman’s excruciating collapse in 1996, when the Great White shark imploded on the last day having held a six shot lead, has cast a huge shadow over the new generation, but they have made a concerted to effort to emerge from it here and Scott took his chance to capture a maiden major.

“Greg Inspired a generation of Australian golfers,” said Scott, who holed a curling birdie putt on the second extra-hole to thwart Cabrera’s bid. “He was an icon, the best in the world and a big part of this is for him.”

For a spell it looked as though Jason Day, another Aussie, would embrace his day with destiny. He was playing catch up on the burly Cabrera as events built to a grandstand finish and the big swing came as they neared the closing stretch. Cabrera, the 2009 champion, got too aggressive with his approach on the 13th, dumped it into the water and took a bogey. Up ahead on the 15th, Day’s clatter off the tee smacked a tree and ricocheted back into the middle of the fairway from where he set up an eagle opportunity. A birdie was the eventual outcome and he hauled himself to the front but, like his third round on Saturday, there would be late anguish.

Day missed the green on the par-three 16th and took three to get down before he found the sand with his approach on the 17th and leaked another vital stroke.

When a raking bride attempt on the last dribbled by the cup, Day knew his hopes were now out of his hands as he signed for a 70 and a seven-under 281.

Cabrera, meanwhile, was back in the hunt after draining a long one on the 16th to claw himself to the summit again.

The weight of a nation’s expectations now rested on Scott and he rose to the occasion. Last July, he crumbled to four bogeys over his closing four holes to let the Open at Lytham slip from his grasp.

The 32-year was rock solid last night. A rousing birdie putt of 20 feet on the 18th grabbed the hole and dropped in to the cup, sparking roars that could have been heard in his native Adelaide.

Scott, with a three-under 69 for a nine-under 279, had one arm in the green jacket, but Cabrera is made of stern stuff. Needing a birdie to force the play-off, the former US Open champion launched a quite majestic approach to within a couple of feet and made a sensational three. Scott was left simply scunnered.

In the gathering gloom of a rainy day in Georgia, the 77th Masters headed for a play-off in which Scott would succeed.

“I found my way today,” said Scott, who watched on with pumping heart as Cabrera almost chipped in at the first extra hole. “On that final hole in regulation I was pumped. I had to seize it and put pressure on the guy down the fairway. I had a chance and I took it.

We knew it was going to be good day from the off. With the usual Sunday pin placements, a new layer of menace was added with a steady trickle of rain which made the pursuit of perfection with the putter even more challenging. Cabrera had to be quick out of the blocks as those around him were making early bursts.

Brandt Snedeker, the joint leader overnight, notched a birdie on his first hole while Day, one shot off the pace after 54 holes, mounted a purposeful raid with a birdie and an eagle on his opening two holes.

Scott, the joint runner-up in 2011, also made an early gain to keep things as tight as the duck’s proverbials at the sharp end of affairs.

Bernhard Langer, the German veteran who has played superbly in this, the 20th anniversary year of his second Masters win in 1993, showed just what could be achieved as he birdied his first three holes to barge his way on to the leaderboard for a spell while the Danish debutant Thorbjorn Olesen, who began his campaign with a 78, continued his astonishing salvage operation by romping home with a 68 to barge his way into the fringes of the top-five. It was eventful stuff.

And what about the Tiger? Shrouded in controversy following the high profile rules incident which led to a two-stroke penalty, Woods slithered off the board with a lacklustre opening, but birdies at nine, ten and 13 hinted that the embattled four-time champion was sharpening his fangs, licking his chops and preparing for an ambush of the unsuspecting pack again.

He signed off with a 70 for a 283 and had to settle for a share of fourth with another Australian, Marc Leishman. Woods had experienced enough drama over the weekend. Up at the top, there was plenty of it to come.