Tiger Woods birdied his last two holes Sunday to rally from a four-shot deficit and win the Dubai Desert Classic, starting his season with two victories that looked nothing alike.
One week after winning the Buick Invitational by eight shots, Woods had to birdie five of his last seven holes for a 7-under 65, then wait to see if Ernie Els could catch him.
Needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to force a playoff, Els hit his tee shot into the water and made bogey.
"To go 2-for-2, it's a pretty good start, isn't it?" Woods said.
This is the third time he has started a season with two straight victories, and it was another sign that the world's No. 1 player could be headed for a big year. Woods now has won his last four official tournaments, and six of his last seven dating to the Bridgestone Invitational in early August.
He also won his unofficial Target World Challenge by seven shots in December.
Woods birdied his last two holes for a 14-under 274 and a one-shot victory over Martin Kaymer of Germany. Woods had already finished when Kaymer, who won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship two weeks ago, closed with a birdie-birdie-eagle for a 66.
It was a devastating blow to Els.
The 38-year-old South African, who has finished runner-up to Woods more times (seven) than any other player, is in the middle of his three-year plan to become No. 1 in the world. He said recently he needed to start winning, and this was the perfect occasion. Instead, the Big Easy closed with a 71 and tied for third at 276 with fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen. It was the second time in three years that Els hit into the water on the 18th at Dubai and lost to Woods. In 2006, it happened during a sudden-death playoff.
Woods lost momentum withbogeys on the sixth and ninth holes, but he poured it on along the back nine with seven birdies to capture the Dubai Desert Classic for the second time.
It was his 72nd career victory, 62 of those on the PGA Tour.
274 Tiger Woods (USA) 65 71 73 65
275 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 73 69 66
276 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 72 65 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 73 69 69 65
278 Graeme McDowell 67 72 69 70
280 Soren Hansen (Den) 68 72 70 70, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 71 72 65, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 70 70 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 70 68 74
281 Ross Fisher 69 70 71 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 72 71 70 68, Lee Westwood 69 71 68 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 67 71 72 71
282 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 68 72 70, Gary Murphy 67 72 71 72, Scott Hend (Aus) 67 72 72 71, Paul McGinley 71 72 69 70, Bradley Dredge 73 72 68 69
283 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67 76 69 71, Anthony Wall 73 72 68 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 70 73 70, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 69 70 72 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 71 70 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 73 70 71
284 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 72 69 75, Brendan Jones (Aus) 71 71 74 68, David Frost (Rsa) 72 69 69 74, Simon Dyson 67 77 67 73, Paul Broadhurst 70 71 69 74
285 Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 75 72 70, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 73 71 72 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 68 73 70 74
286 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 74 71 72, Miles Tunnicliff 69 74 70 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 75 70 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 70 73 72, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 75 71 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 67 74 75 70
287 Mark O'Meara (USA) 70 74 73 70, Ian Poulter 70 71 70 76, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 73 72 72 70, Phillip Archer 72 72 74 69, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 67 74 73 73
288 Damien McGrane 68 69 72 79, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 71 68 75, James Kingston (Rsa) 68 74 75 71, David Howell 68 75 72 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 67 74 71 76, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 72 71 74, Stephen Gallacher 70 73 71 74, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 74 70 73 71, James Kamte (Rsa) 74 71 71 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 71 72 73
289 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 75 71 75, Steve Webster 73 71 71 74, Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 71 71 76, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 72 72 71 74, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 74 73 75, Simon Khan 72 73 70 74, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 74 73 72
290 Anders Hansen (Den) 70 74 72 74
291 Benn Barham 68 74 74 75, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 71 74 74 72, Graeme Storm 69 72 75 75
292 Colin Montgomerie 72 72 73 75, Andrew Coltart 69 71 72 80
295 Stephen Dodd 73 72 73 77
296 Garry Houston 68 77 78 73
299 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 77 75 79
