The man who has helped Tiger Woods return to the top in golf has no wish to share the limelight.

''Who am I to tell Tiger Woods how to play golf?'' said Hank Haney following yet another electrifying Masters at Augusta.

''I don't even consider myself his coach. I consider myself a teacher and I wouldn't overstate my contribution. I help with his swing, but there's so much more to Tiger Woods. The guy is unbelievable.''

Woods came in for some fierce criticism during the gap between his eighth major title at the 2002 US Open and his ninth victory, including from former coach Butch Harmon, who was dropped from his team three years ago.

But now, after a 15-foot birdie putt at the first hole of a play-off against unlucky Ryder Cup team-mate Chris DiMarco, Woods has a fourth Masters, is back as world No 1 and is halfway towards his ultimate target - Jack Nicklaus's 18 majors.

At his current strike rate Woods will get there in 2013. He would be only 37, with huge power to add. Nicklaus, after all, won his 18th at Augusta when he was 46.

First, though, there is the rest of this season. And for the fourth time in his career Woods will go into June's United States Open with his Grand Slam dream still alive.

Pebble Beach would be his venue of choice for that, but Pinehurst in North Carolina comes close behind. He was third there in 1999. And then, of course, comes the Open at St Andrews in July.

That is Woods' favourite course, the one on which he triumphed by eight five years ago.

Until they come around the 29-year-old is simply going to savour ending his barren run, especially with his father Earl battling prostate cancer.

''Maybe it'll give him a little hope, a little more fire to keep fighting. I can't wait to see him to give him a bear-hug,'' said Woods, breaking down at the presentation ceremony.

''This is for dad. He's struggling - his health has been pretty bad all year and it's one of the reasons why Doral (the tournament he won in Florida a month ago) was so big when I shot 63 on his birthday.

''He's hanging in there, but he wasn't able to make it to the course this week and unlike my other wins here I wasn't able to hug him coming off the 18th. That's why it meant so much for me to be able to win this tournament.''

Woods then turned to Haney's role and their work in progress on his swing. His third swing and, almost certainly, not his final swing.

''I don't think you're ever there,'' he said. ''If you ever arrive you might as well quit because you can't get any better. You're always trying to get better.

''More than anything this is validation of all the hard work. Hank and I have put some serious hours into this.

''I read some of the articles of him getting ripped and I'm getting ripped for all the changes I'm making and to play as beautifully as I did this entire week is pretty cool.''

The ''entire week'' is stretching it a bit. Did he not putt into Rae's Creek and hit a 100-yard drive on day one? And of the 50 players who make the halfway cut Woods was ranked 49th in driving accuracy.

As always, though, Woods had powers of recovery like nobody else and, as always, once he was in the thick of things nobody expected anybody else to come out on top.

He has now taken a lead or the share of the lead into the final round of nine major championships and won them all, never scoring higher than 72. He has won his last seven play-offs as well.

''Tiger has the greatest mind out here,'' said America's Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman.

DiMarco was four clear going into Sunday but he and Woods still had nine holes of their third round to play and that stretch proved to be one-way traffic.

DiMarco came home in 41, while Woods equalled the Masters record with seven successive birdies and, despite following with two bogeys, he established a three-stroke lead.

''Twelve under is usually good enough to win,'' said DiMarco after his final round of 69. There have indeed been only eight lower winning scores in 69 Masters