"You could say that we were surprised," Irvine admitted.Where McLaren went for speed over reliability and paid the price Down Under, Ferrari were deliberately cautious. For three years Ferrari has been predicting world championship success, only to be outgunned either by Williams or, latterly, by McLaren. Patience and psychology is wearing thin, which serves only to increase the pressure the team are working under. And it is 20 years since Jody Scheckter rode a Prancing Horse to a world title.Hiring Schumacher - a man whose salary could take a chunk out of third- world debt - has been the most costly undertaking in the Scuderia's illustrious history and there are people who want to see a return on the staggering investment. This fragile psychology must drive the team's pragmatists, such as the technical director, Ross Brawn, and sporting director, Jean Todt, to distraction, for it is like a jack-in-the-box perpetually coiled, ready to spring forth the moment anyone lifts the lid to peep inside. The underlying problem for the sport's most charismatic team is that this is the third consecutive season in which their pre-season optimism has been shattered in the first race. Last weekend in Brazil their mood went up and down faster than inflation in Sao Paulo, but after Michael Schumacher's strong drive to second place a new mood of optimism pervaded the camp.
The sheer speed of the McLarens had so stunned the team that the less psychologically strong members had already sunk deep into typically Italian doom and gloom. IF YOU believed the pessimists in Interlagos last Thursday, Ferrari's chances of winning the world championship had long been sluiced away in the Australian Grand Prix, even though Eddie Irvine won that race. 11 R Karlsson (Swe) 2,322.57; 12 P Sjoland (Swe) 2,154.37; 13 J Sandelin (Swe) 2,090.15; 14 S Webster (Eng) 1,978.50; 15 J Bickerton (Eng) 1,973.09; 16 P McGinley (Rep Irl) 1,715.53; 17 P Lawrie (Sco) 1,611.48; 18 M James (Eng) 1,600.27; 19 P Fulke (Swe) 1,570.11; 20 P-U Johansson (Swe) 1,539.28.. I came in playing well and thinking well, but I failed to put it all together."THE EUROPEAN MASTERSJose Maria Olazabal's victory on Sunday night was the 11th by a European player in the event over the past 20 years.The parade of champions is:1980 - Seve Ballesteros1983 - Seve Ballesteros1985 - Bernhard Langer1988 - Sandy Lyle1989 - Nick Faldo1990 - Nick Faldo1991 - Ian Woosnam1993 - Bernhard Langer1994 - Jose Maria Olazabal1996 - Nick Faldo1999 - Jose Maria OlazabalFINAL SCORES FROM AUGUSTAF Couples 74 71 76 71(US unless stated; *denotes amateur)280J M Olazabal (Sp) 70 66 73 71282D Love 69 72 70 71283G Norman (Aus) 71 68 71 73284B Estes 71 72 69 72S Pate 71 75 65 73285D Duval 71 74 70 70P Mickelson 74 69 71 71L Westwood (GB) 75 71 68 71N Price (Zim) 69 72 72 72C Franco (Par) 72 72 68 73287B Langer (Ger) 76 66 72 73S Elkington (Aus) 72 70 71 74C Montgomerie (GB) 70 72 71 74288B Jobe 72 71 74 71I Woosnam (GB) 71 74 71 72J Furyk 72 73 70 73L Janzen 70 69 73 76289B Chamblee 69 73 75 72J Leonard 70 72 73 74B Glasson 72 70 73 74T Woods 72 72 70 75S McCarron 69 68 76 76290L Mize 76 70 72 72291V Singh (Fiji) 72 76 71 72P-U Johansson (Swe) 75 72 71 73B Faxon 74 73 68 76292R Mediate 73 74 69 76S Cink 74 70 71 77E Els (SA) 71 72 69 80293S Maruyama (Japan) 78 70 71 74T Lehman 73 72 73 75B Watts 73 73 70 77J Sluman 70 75 70 78M O'Meara 70 76 69 78294A Magee 70 77 72 75J Huston 74 72 71 77295M Brooks 76 72 75 72*S Garcia (Sp) 72 75 75 73B Andrade 76 72 72 75R Floyd 74 73 72 76C Stadler 72 76 70 77S Stricker 75 72 69 79297J Haas 74 69 79 75*T McKnight 73 74 73 77T Herron 75 69 74 79S Hoch 75 73 70 79298C Parry (Aus) 75 73 73 77S Lyle (GB) 71 77 70 80299*M Kuchar 77 71 73 78C Perry 73 72 74 80300B Tway 75 73 78 74P Stewart 73 75 77 75O Browne 74 74 72 80J Daly 72 76 71 81305*T Immelman (SA) 72 76 78 79Leading positions in the European Ryder Cup table after the Masters: 1 C Montgomerie (Sco) 6,480.84pts; 2 J M Olazabal (Sp) 6,173.54; 3 L Westwood (Eng) 4,216.08; 4 M A Jimenez (Sp) 3,819.81; 5 D Clarke (N Ire) 3,485.49; 6 S Struver (Ger) 2,660.40; 7 A Cejka (Ger) 2,634.94; 8 D Howell (Eng) 2,608.80; 9 B Langer (Ger) 2,347.53; 10 A Coltart (Sco) 2,328.93. I'd take the field against your player and I'll win more often, even if you pick me. I have to admit my stomach was in knots."From tee to green Woods coped well with a course that was meant to be Tiger-proofed but he had even less luck on the greens than Montgomerie usually has, which is saying something. The other man whom all the build up was about, the world No 1, David Duval, did make a last-day charge.
His 70 was the lowest score of the day but, after going in the pond at 11, he could not quite set a target to trouble the leaders.Asked if the expectations had been too high at the start of the week for a man who had won the previous two tournaments, Duval replied: "No, but it is never a good bet to pick one player to win. Obviously, the 10th, 11th and 12th were disappointing but to be two-under from there on was pleasing I enjoyed every minute of it out there. They say the Masters does not begin until the back nine on Sunday and you don't realise how true that is until you stand on the hill at 11 overlooking Amen Corner. That he immediately dropped four shots on three of the hardest holes on the course was partially compensated by his finish. A round of 71 meant he outplayed partner Tiger Woods by four strokes and left the 25 year old tied for sixth."There is no doubt in my mind after today that I can win a major," Westwood said.
"It was nice to get into a position to win for the first time. While it has absolutely no significance regarding Europe's chances in the Ryder Cup in Boston in September, the tournament has had an effect on the European qualifying table.Ollie should not need to be picked as a wild card as he has so often in the past, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam picked up useful points and Lee Westwood went a long way to joining Colin Montgomerie as a guaranteed qualifier.In getting himself into a share of the lead as he stood on the 10th tee, Westwood can now be said to have contended for a major for the first time. "He looked at me with those eyes of his and kept saying that I needed to believe in myself. The determination in his words and the way he said them helped me a lot."Olazabal's victory was the first in a major by a European for three years. "I was impressed when he waited for me to share the walk up the 18th and it was nice what he said afterwards," Norman said "Jose is a good person. He cares about the people around him."Olazabal has, however, sometimes lacked confidence in his own abilities, although his precise iron play and magical short game have given him a superb record at Augusta. But he only really believed in himself when Gary Player took him aside at last Tuesday's champions' dinner.