(CNN) -- Argentina's Angel Cabrera won a dramatic three-way playoff on Sunday to capture his first Masters, rallying to defeat Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell.

Angel Cabrera celebrates on the 18th hole on Sunday after forcing a Masters playoff that he would go on to win.

In winning, Cabrera became the first South American to claim one of golf's most-prized crowns.

Cabrera, Perry and Campbell all finished 72 holes on 12-under par 276 to force the eighth sudden-death playoff in Masters history

The 48-year-old Perry was leading heading into the 18th hole, but bogeyed to fall even with Cabrera and Campbell. He would have become the oldest major champion in golf history.

It was the first Masters playoff since Tiger Woods beat Chris DiMarco in 2005 and the first three-man playoff since 1987, when Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman after Seve Ballesteros was eliminated on the first hole.

Woods finished in a four-way tie in sixth place at eight-under par after carding a four-under par 68 in the final round.

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Two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, paired with Woods on the final day, mounted a tremendous last day charge, going to the turn in just 30 shots -- tying the record at Augusta -- before coming unstuck with a double bogey on the 12th.

He eventually carded a five-under 67 to finish in fifth place, three shots adrift of the playoff.

Cabrera overcame a rough start in overtime, after pushing his tee shot into the woods on the right on the first playoff hole. He salvaged par on that hole and claimed the title one hole later.

"This is the Masters," Cabrera said, the green jacket snug on his large frame. "It's a course that you can do a lot of birdies, a lot of bogeys. A lot of magical things happen. It's simply the Masters."

It was his second major title after winning the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont, holding off Woods on the last day, experience that proved invaluable in the final showdown with Perry and Campbell.