While South African fans stayed up until the early hours of the morning to see Charl Schwartzel present Louis Oosthuizen with a green jacket, their hopes were dashed by American Bubba Watson.
Watson defeated Oosthuizen on the second playoff hole of the Masters at Augusta on Sunday.
The pair, playing together in the final round, ended tied on 10
under par, a total of 278 for the 72 holes.
The players marched back to the 18th tee after regulation play ended, and Watson teed off first and split the fairway with his drive.
Oosthuizen responded by finding the left side of the fairway, and then sneaked his approach pin-high, 12 feet from the hole.
Watson then nestled his second shot to seven feet, while Oosthuizen shaved the hole, and the American could not convert his putt to win the tournament.
With both players making par, they proceeded to the par-four 10th hole, where Watson again was first to drive off the tee.
The left-hander pulled his shot far right of the fairway, leaving the door open for the South African.
Oosthuizen looked to have followed Watson, but ended less than a metre off the short grass and in good position.
The man from Mossel Bay was first to go, and mis-hit his long iron approach short of the green.
The American was much further up, but on pine-straw and not able to aim anywhere near the green.
Watson then reeled off a shot that would have made the late Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros proud, as his hooking short-iron turned over and spun on the green to inside 20 feet of the hole.
Oosthuizen, with the pressure squarely on his shoulders, faltered as his chip was well past the hole, and he did not lose his turn to play.
He hit a good putt, playing a big left-to-right break, but had to settle for bogey.
Watson then made no mistake as he took two putts to secure an emotional win.
Speaking after the round, in a television interview, Oosthuizen commended the shot Watson hit on the second playoff hole.
“He hit an unbelievable shot there,” Oosthuizen said.
“I played well. This is not one I felt like I played badly.
“Great stuff from him. He deserves it.” Earlier, Oosthuizen began the final round two off the lead held by Swede Peter Hanson.
The 28-year-old made a routine par at the first hole.
On the second, a reachable par five, Oosthuizen hit one of the best shots in Masters history.
From 260 yards, he struck a supreme long iron that pitched on the front edge of the green, before taking the slope and curling down towards the pin and in the hole for an albatross.
It launched him to 10 under and he held the lead on his own for over three hours before he was caught by Watson on the par-three 16th hole.
The only other South Africans who made the cut trailed at the back end of the field.
Defending champion Charl Schwartzel was 18 shots off the pace and Trevor Immelman was a further five strokes behind in third-last position. – Sapa