Woods switches on style to win comeback tournament

Tiger Woods, playing for the first time since knee surgery on 12 December, quickly put aside any questions about his leg, his game or his dominance over Phil Mickelson by winning the Buick Invitational yesterday in another runaway.

In an electric atmosphere more suited to a prize fight, Woods delivered an early knockout and closed with a four-under-par 68 for a four-stroke victory. "I got better each and every day," Woods said. "That's just getting back into the competitive spirit."

It did not take him long. The two-month lay-off was the longest of his career, but it looked as though he was never gone. Carl Pettersson, of Sweden, had a 69 to finish four strokes behind, although he was never a factor on a sunny day at Torrey Pines. Brad Faxon was the only challenger until he ran into problems off the tee. He shot 72 to finish third at 277.

Woods won for the 35th time on the PGA Tour, and it was his 11th tour victory by at least four shots. He improved his record to 27-2 when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead, and this was as easy as any. The defining shot came at the 231-yard 11th, when his four-iron halted three feet from the cup.

"I haven't hit too many money shots. At least not this kind of money," said Woods, whose 16-under-par aggregate of 272 and earned dlrs 810,000 (£490,000).

It was the 26th time Woods has won a PGA Tour event with Mickelson in the field, while his left-handed rival has won only six of those tournaments. Mickelson was never a threat and shot 72 to tie for fourth, along with Briny Baird and Arron Oberholser. "He's obviously a very impressive player," Mickelson said. "He played some exceptional shots in the wind. It would have been tough to catch him."

Mickelson said he and Woods cleared the air over his comments that the world No 1 played with inferior equipment. He said: "I enjoy playing with him. I always have. My success rate isn't that great, but I enjoy the challenge."

Woods holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the second hole, while Mickelson missed from 15 on the same line. Woods hit fairways, Mickelson hit a police officer in the ankle, the ball bouncing down a hill and into swampy ground.

Mickelson was some 20 yards beyond Woods on the sixth, but while Woods just missed the green in a bunker left and easily got up-and-down for birdie, Mickelson went well to the right and had to settle for par. That left him five strokes behind...

BUICK INVITATIONAL (La Jolla, Ca) Leading final scores (US unless stated): 272 T Woods 70 66 68 68. 276 C Pettersson (Swe) 69 68 70 69. 277 B Faxon 70 64 71 72. 278 P Mickelson 69 68 69 72; B Baird 70 65 72 71; A Oberholser 65 70 72 71. 279 M Dawson 68 66 76 69; M Calcavecchia 71 68 71 69; C Howell III 74 68 68 69; L Donald (GB) 69 70 71 69; J Kaye 68 67 72 72. 280 T Clark (SA) 70 70 73 67. 281 C Perks (NZ) 70 71 69 71; D Paulson 68 67 73 73; B Crane 71 68 70 72; F Couples 69 68 70 74. 282 S Alker (NZ) 69 67 70 76. 283 J Sindelar 70 71 73 69; C Beckman 68 74 72 69; S McRoy 67 71 72 73. 284 B Geiberger 72 69 72 71; S Maruyama (Japan) 73 70 70 71; J Haas 73 69 70 72; T Lehman 71 71 69 73; S Kendall 66 73 72 73; P-U Johansson (Swe) 72 68 75 69; D Stockton Jnr 72 69 70 73. Selected: 286 A Cejka (Ger) 73 70 70 73; 289 J Morgan (GB) 67 72 74 76; T Levet (Fr) 69 72 74 74. Disq: D Clarke (GB).