AUGUSTA, Ga. – They say the Masters doesn't truly begin until the back nine on Sunday.

This one? Epic nuttiness.

So many lead changes you needed motion sickness pills to watch the scoreboard. A meltdown that makes Greg Norman's heartbreak look good. And madness that went on right to the very end, until Charl Schwartzel made four straight birdies to end the hopes of all those players who'd had a chance to win it in the final two hours.

"There were so many numbers going up and down. It must have looked great on TV," said Jason Day, who finished two strokes behind Schwartzel. "It was exciting stuff, it really was."

For those who lost track of the leaderboard, here's a rundown of some of the wackiness:

THE RUSH TO BUTLER CABIN: Rory McIlroy had a 1-stroke lead as he walked to the 10th tee. All he had to do was make pars, and the green jacket would be his as a mere 21-year-old. But McIlroy, pulled his tee shot into the trees left of the fairway, and the ball apparently ricocheted between two of the club's famous cabins. McIlroy had no choice but to punch it back out, but then yanked his approach shot left of the green, near a scoreboard, before banging a shot off a tree limb.

TIGER'S ROAR:  Tiger Woods reeled off four birdies and an eagle for a 31 on the front nine. But Woods isn't quite his old self yet. A 3-footer for par should have been a gimme, but Woods banged it off the back of the cup for a bogey on No. 12. With a chance to take the outright lead on the par-5 15th, he missed another short putt for an eagle. He would play his last three holes at par, and didn't even bother sticking around for the finish.

BIRDIE STRING: Schwartzel running off four straight birdies was bigger, because they got him a green jacket. But Geoff Ogilvy made five in a row on Nos. 12 through 16 to jump to the top of the leader board.

THE AUSSIES: Adam Scott grabbed the outright lead for the first time with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 14th, giving all of Australia hope that its oh-fer at Augusta National might finally be over.

No way any lead was going to hold up for four holes on this day, however, and, sure enough, Scott's second shot on 15 rocketed behind the grandstand. He managed a par, then stuffed his tee shot to 2 feet on the par-3 16th to take back the lead.

Meanwhile Day, his playing partner and fellow Aussie, had been stuck at 10-under for what seemed like an eternity on a day when the leaderboard was on spin cycle. (It was only three holes, actually.) But he made a long putt for a birdie on 17, then rolled in an 8-footer for another on 18. Suddenly he, too, was at 12 under with Scott.

But they were out of holes, and Schwartzel had just made a 10-footer to take the lead by himself. When the South African put his approach shot to a mere 20 feet, leaving him two shots to win the green jacket, Scott, Day and all of their fellow Aussies could only shake their heads again.

"I hung in there as long as I could," Scott said. "Obviously, I can't control Charl. When you birdie the last four holes at the Masters and you're around the lead, that usually wins."

It did.

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