Tiger Woods wins first tournament for two years

Tiger Woods has put his lean spell behind him to win the Chevron World Challenge in California, his first tournament victory since the Australian Masters in 2009.

Woods made birdies on the closing two holes to secure the triumph over fellow American Zach Johnson, who only managed pars. His success has also helped move Woods up from 52nd to 21st in the latest world rankings.

The 35-year-old has made steady if not spectacular progress this season after coming back from problems away from the game. He has been a contender on a number of occasions including when he held the lead at the Masters, but only in his latest tournament has he shown a glimpse of the Tiger of old.

While Woods jumped up the rankings, there is a very strong British contingent at the head of the world order. Luke Donald retains his place as the world’s number one on a total of 540.43, ahead of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in second on 399.06. McIlroy consolidated his position with a good win at the Hong Kong Open, while Lee Westwood maintains his third spot (347.58 points) with his successful defence of the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.

The man of the moment, however, is Tiger Woods who described the feeling at finally landing another win as “awesome”. He added, “It was a lot of fun coming down the stretch. Zach put a lot of pressure on me. He turned the tide [with birdie on 16], next thing I am one down playing the last couple of holes. Then I made two good putts.”

The 14-time major winner is now keenly eyeing the majors in 2012, and few would bet against one of the game’s all time greats adding to his already impressive haul.