Tiger Woods wins Chevron World Challenge

Tiger Woods finished with two straight birdies to win the Chevron World Challenge by a single shot from Zach Johnson. It was Tiger's first victory for more than two years.

Woods began the final round one shot behind Johnson and that was still the case when he stood on the 17th tee. But the former World Number 1 holed from 15 feet on the penultimate hole to push himself into a tie for the lead. Then, on the 18th, Woods fired in a 9-iron approach that ended six feet from the cup. After Johnson missed, Woods faced a putt to win the tournament and, in typical Tiger fashion, he calmly rolled it home to take the title.

"It just feels awesome," he said. "I've been in contention twice this year, which is not very often," Woods said. "So that's my third time with a chance to win it. I pulled it off this time."

It was the fifth time Woods has won this, his own, event and the victory propelled him from 52nd to 21st on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Zach Johnson certainly made things difficult for Tiger during the final round. When he scored a birdie at the 16th hole to take the lead, it looked as though he might go on to win. But, on both the 17th and 18th holes, Johnson's birdie efforts narrowly missed while Tiger's found the bottom of the cup. Although disappointed, Johnson was magnanimous in defeat and full of praise for Woods.

"If the man is healthy, that's paramount," he said. "I mean, he's the most experienced and the best player I've ever played with. In every situation, he knows how to execute and win."

England's Paul Casey finished in third place. After a poor first round of 79, he fought back well with three rounds in the 60s to finish on a 72-hole total of five-under-par.

Chevron World Challenge Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California Dec 1-4, purse $5,000,000, par 72

1   Tiger Woods (USA)      69   67   73   69   278 2   Zach Johnson (USA)      73   67   68   71   279 3   Paul Casey (Eng)      79   68   67   69   283    T4   Hunter Mahan (USA)      72   68   73   71   284 T4   Matt Kuchar (USA)      72   67   74   71   284    T6   Jim Furyk (USA)      71   74   73   69   287 T6   Martin Laird (Sco)      77   74   66   70   287 T6   Rickie Fowler (USA)      71   70   75   71   287 T6   Bubba Watson (USA)      75   70   70   72   287

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage