Woods triumphs at Southern Hills

Tiger Woods fought off back-nine charges by Woody Austin and Ernie Els to capture his 13th major title, firing a final-round one-under par 69 to win the 89th PGA Championship.

World number one Woods finished 72 holes at Southern Hills Country Club on eight-under-par 272 to defend his title in the year's final major, defeating US veteran Austin by two strokes and three-time major winner Els by three.

Woods moved five majors shy of matching the all-time career record of 18 major triumphs set by Jack Nicklaus. Woods now has won four Masters titles, four PGA Championships, three British Opens and two US Opens.

Woods, who began the round with a three-stroke lead, improved to 13-for-13 in majors and 40-3 in PGA events when at least sharing the lead after 54 holes.

Woods, who briefly led by five strokes after eight holes, lipped out a five-foot par putt at the par-three 14th, trimming his lead to one stroke over Austin, who had birdied three holes in a row starting at the par-three 11th.

'I was trying to get them going crazy for someone else to let him know somebody else was out here,' Austin said. 'I got back in it. It was just a great day.'

But Woods answered by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt at the 15th, pointing at the ball as he walked to the cup just as he did in 1999 after sinking a key putt to hold off Sergio Garcia down the stretch  and win his first PGA crown.

That lifted Woods to eight-under par, two ahead of Austin, and the two traded pars to the finish, with Woods taking home the $1.26m top prize.

Austin fired a 67 for his first top-10 finish in a major and Els had a 66 to take third. Canada's Stephen Ames, who began the day in second place three strokes back, soared to a 76 to finish ten strokes behind Woods.

Woods curled home a dramatic 30-foot birdie putt from the edge of the green at the par-3 eighth, following it with a flamboyant fist pump, to seize a five-stroke lead and played one-over on the  final ten holes for the victory.

Els, who began the round six behind Woods, made a determined run at his fourth major title but could not close the gap, foiled in part by birdie misses from six feet at the ninth and eight feet at  the 11th.

'I tried not to make any mistakes on the front nine. I made a lot of putts,' Els said. 'I missed a putt at nine and another at 11. That probably cost me.'

Els birdied four of the first 10 holes, including a 25-footer at the third and a 20-footer at the par-3 eighth, but took his first bogey at the 12th, then answered with birdies at 13 and 14 to reach six-under, two behind of Woods.

Yet when Woods opened the door with a bogey at 14, the South African found the left trees off the 16th tee and missed a 40-footer for par, then fell three back with Woods' birdie at the 15th, spelling doom for his victory hopes.

Winners in all seven majors staged at Southern Hills have led after 36 and 54 holes and the winner of the PGA Championship has come from the final pairing the past 12 years.

Woods sparked his strong effort with a seven-under 63 on Friday, matching the best round ever fired in a major and missing out on an unprecedented 62 when a birdie putt at the 18th curled around the cup and stayed out.

The fourth PGA Championship victory moved Woods into sole possession of third on the event's all-time win list, one shy of the all-time mark set by Walter Hagen in 1927 and equalled by Nicklaus in 1980.

Woods made a successful PGA title defence for the second time, a feat done only by Hagen, who won four in a row from 1924 to 1927 when the event used a match-play format.

Woods also became only the seventh golfer to win a major the week after winning a PGA event, the first to do so at the PGA Championship. Woods won the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational by eight strokes a week ago.

Darren Clarke (74), Paul McGinley (75) and Padraig Harrington (74) had disappointing final rounds to finish down the field.