Woods remains perfect in 2008, rallies for one-shot win at Dubai

Tiger Woods watched his 25-foot putt race down the slope and bend toward the cup, then he skipped backward and punched the desert air in celebration when it disappeared into the cup for a final birdie.

So ended his spectacular charge Sunday to win the Dubai Desert Classic in United Arab Emirates. Woods birdied his last two holes, and five of his last seven, for a 7-under 65 to start his season with two victories that looked nothing alike.

One week was an eight-shot victory at the Buick Invitational. The next week was his largest comeback in eight years when Woods rallied from a four-shot deficit against familiar victim Ernie Els with an array of impressive shots that make him look tougher to beat than he already is.

"I'm just happy to get a win out of this," Woods said.

It was the third time Woods has started his season 2-0. He now has won his last four official tournaments, and six of his last seven dating to the Bridgestone Invitational in early August. Woods also won his unofficial Target World Challenge by seven shots in December.

Woods finished at 14-under 274 for a one-shot victory over Martin Kaymer of Germany. Woods had already posted his score when Kaymer, who won two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi, closed birdie-birdie-eagle for a 66.

But the real victim was Els.

He started the final round with a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson and was four shots clear of Woods. The 38-year-old South African missed par putts inside 5 feet on the 11th and 12th holes to lose the lead, but he still had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Instead, Els hit 5-wood that came up well short and ended up in the water.

PGA Tour

J.B. Holmes came back from the brink of defeat to win the FBR Open for the second time in three years, beating Phil Mickelson on the first hole of a playoff in Scottdale, Ariz.

Holmes birdied the 18th twice in a matter of minutes, first with a 13-foot putt to force the playoff, then with an 8-footer after a monster, 359-yard drive.

Holmes, whose victory as a rookie at the FBR in 2006 is his only other PGA Tour win, had blown a four-stroke lead and was one shot behind going in to the 18th. But the 25-year-old Kentuckian smashed a 350-yard drive that landed near a fence far left of the fairway. He was awarded a drop, then hit his second shot out of the rough 13 feet from the pin to set up the putt that put him at 14-under 270 and forced the playoff with Mickelson.

-- The Associated Press