Bogey wins it for Weir

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A Maple Leaf grows among the towering pines of Augusta National.\nMike Weir became the first Canadian to win the Masters, making two clutch pars to force a playoff with Len Mattiace, and winning on the first extra hole with a simple tap-in for bogey.\nThe Green Jacket that Tiger Woods had hoped to slip on for a record third straight year is going north of the border.\nWeir, who only five years ago had to toil through PGA Tour qualifying school, closed with a bogey-free 68 on a dramatic Sunday at Augusta National, then let Mattiace make all the mistakes in the first Masters playoff in 13 years.\nWeir had to sweat over a 5-foot par putt on the 17th and a 6-footer on the 18th, as Mattiace waited on the practice green among chairs that already were set up for the fabled Green Jacket ceremony.\nMinutes later, Weir leaned over to tap in for his only bogey of the day, then raised his arms and embraced his longtime friend and caddie, Brennan Little.\nWhat a breakthrough -- not only was he the first Canadian to win a major championship, he became the first left-hander to win a major since Bob Charles in the 1963 British Open.\nMattiace watched a brilliant day at Augusta National crumble quickly.\nHe chipped in for birdie, holed a 60-foot putt on No. 10, and charged through the back nine on a mission to build a two-stroke lead. But Mattiace bogeyed the 18th for a 65, and he never had a chance in the playoff.\nFrom the middle of the 10th fairway, he hooked his approach wildly to the left and then chipped some 30 feet by the hole. His par putt nearly went off the green, and Mattiace wound up with a double bogey.\nBoth finished at 7-under 281, the highest winning score at the Masters since 1989.\nWeir won for the first time this year, and all six of his PGA Tour victories have been comebacks -- none more special than this.\nUntil Sunday, the most nervous he has ever felt was watching Canada win the gold medal in hockey at the Salt Lake City Olympics.\n"This was definitely nerve-racking," Weir said. "I tried to gather myself on each putt. Every putt on this golf course is tough."\nAll of them mattered until the end, when Mattiace chopped up the 10th hole and was struggling to hold back tears when he realized how close he had come.\nAll of them mattered in a nervous pursuit of the Green Jacket.\nWoods, who stumbled to a 75, slipped the coveted prize over his shoulders.\n"Thanks, Tig," Weir told him. "It feels good"