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Monday, Apr. 12 5:03pm ET Olazabal earns second green jacket 
Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The only redemption Sunday belonged to Jose Maria Olazabal.
Unable to walk three years ago and fearing his career had ended, Olazabal stole the thunder from Greg Norman and won The Masters for the second time.
Just when it appeared Norman might finally redeem himself from three past failures at Augusta National by making a 30-foot eagle on the 13th hole to take the lead, Olazabal rammed home a birdie
putt to tie.
The rest of the day belonged to the 33-year-old Spaniard, who survived the frightening conditions by not making a bogey over the final 13 holes. He finished his 1-under 71 with a 4-foot par putt
and pumped his fist.
"When I was at my lowest, I never thought about this happening again," said Olazabal, the only player to win two Masters in the '90s. "I thought I would never play golf again. To stand before you in a green jacket is an achievement I didn't even think about."
Then he covered his face and wept.
"I will embrace my family, for sure," he said between sobs.
He won by two strokes over Davis Love III with a 280, the highest winning score in The Masters in 10 years. Norman, playing in the final group at a major championship for the eighth time, finished third at 283.
When Olazabal won in 1994, the gallery was pulling for Tom Lehman. Once again, the cheers belonged to someone else -- Norman, the sentimental favorite.
As usual, the groans also followed Norman.
This wasn't nearly as shocking as his collapse in 1996, when Norman squandered a six-stroke lead to Nick Faldo in the final round. Norman simply didn't make the shots that Augusta requires of
its champions on the final holes.
Norman three-putted from 40 feet off the fringe for a bogey on the 14th, then effectively ended his chances on the par-5 15th, when his sand wedge from 98 yards away missed its target by 40 feet
and he took another bogey.
Olazabal was asked if he was wearing the same jacket that he received when he won The Masters in 1994.
"Yep, it's the same one," Olazabal said with a smile.
How did he know?
"Because the name is still misspelled inside," he said.
Sure enough, it was spelled "Olazabel."
Olazabal closed it out in fashion with a 3-foot birdie putt on the 16th, then two more pars in which his brilliance with the short game was on display.
The limp gone, he marched up to the 18th green to a gallery that finally gave him his due.
"I reached a point that I really had serious doubts about not just playing golf but the quality of my life," Olazabal said. "To be here at this moment, it's very emotional."
Norman, who missed most of last year because of shoulder surgery, had to take yet another walk up the final fairway, waiting for someone else to be crowned once again.
"I said to myself, 'It could have just as easily been me,' " Norman said.
Olazabal becomes the 11th European winner of The Masters in the last 20 years and now has as many green jackets as his mentor, Seve Ballesteros.
Bob Estes and Steve Pate tied for fourth at 284. David Duval had the best round of the day, a 2-under 70, and was in a large group at 285 that included Nick Price, Phil Mickelson Carlos Franco and Lee Westwood.
Not even Olazabal could have imagined this moment three years ago, when foot problems that later were traced to his back left him confined to his couch in Spain, having to watch the '96 Masters on
television.
One of the many notes he received during his 18 months away from the game was from Norman. They became close friends when Olazabal returned the favor last year as Norman was recovering from shoulder surgery.
On Sunday, Olazabal had almost as much to do with Norman's fate as the Shark himself.
They were tied at 5-under going to the 10th tee, and then produced drama as compelling as 1975, when Jack Nicklaus held off Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf.
"It was a successful week, and a sad week, all rolled up in one," Norman said. "It's not a heartbreak. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill on this one."
Olazabal, who had bogeyed three straight holes earlier to fall from the lead, got it back with a 15-foot birdie putt up the slope on No. 10, one of only three players to make par there on Sunday. Norman responded with a 30-foot birdie on the 11th, the hole that doomed so many other contenders.
Back and forth they went through Amen Corner, the gallery holding its breath with hopes that destiny might finally be on Norman's side.
Norman took bogey on the par-3 12th when his ball just stayed up on the shaved slope that leads toward Rae's Creek. Olazabal made par to take the lead again with perhaps his best shot of the day, a blast from the back bunker that stopped 3 feet from the hole.
The turning point came on the par-5 13th.
Norman hit a 5-iron from 198 yards into about 30 feet, while Olazabal laid up and hit his third shot into 25 feet. Norman stared down the eagle putt, took three steps and looked to the heavens when it dropped.
Up ahead on the 18th, when the leaderboard was changed to show Norman at 7-under, the gallery stood and applauded -- and so did Price, Norman's close friend.
The lead didn't last long.
Olazabal made his birdie putt on top of Norman's to rejoin him in the lead. Norman looked over at him and smiled in disbelief. Olazabal winked and pointed his finger at him.
"I said to myself, 'Just make sure you make yours,' because I didn't want to go one shot down," Olazabal said. "It was an important boost."
Three holes later, Olazabal had a three-stroke lead and was on his way to winning The Masters.
Through the first three rounds, Norman never made worse than par on the final five holes. But that changed when it mattered the most -- on Sunday.
Even on Friday, when he took the lead with a 6-under 66, Olazabal predicted that this Masters would come down to the final nine holes, as it so often does. Only Olazabal seemed prepared for conditions so brutal that only seven players broke par.
"It's a chamber of horrors out there," said Tom Lehman.
The Sunday pressure doubled the difficulty for those who walked cautiously to the back nine as the curtain raised on the drama. Five players were tied for the lead at one point as the leaders made their way down the valley toward Amen Corner.
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Harig: Love lost
Jose Maria Olazabal is proud of what he's done.