MELBOURNE:Tiger Woods won the Australian Masters by two shots after dominating the final round at Kingston Heath here on Sunday.

The peerless World No 1 carded a closing round of four-under 68 to finish the European Tour co-sanctioned tournament at 14-under 274. The 14-time major winner beat Australian Greg Chalmers (68-69-69-70) on 12-under 276 with Frenchman Francois Delamontagne (71-70-68-69) and American Jason Dufner (70-67-71-70) joint third on 10-under 278.

It was Woods’s 93rd career title, his seventh of the year and his first tournament win since the BMW Championship in Illinois in September, four tournaments ago. Woods, 33, became the third American to win the Masters’ golden jacket following wins by Gene Littler (1980) and Mark O’Meara (1986). His last event of the year will be the Chevron World Challenge at Thousand Oaks, California, from December 3-6.

It was far more concentrated Woods than his indifferent even-par third round and he controlled the final round with four birdies to keep his rivals at bay. He had a tap-in birdie at the par-5 opening hole after his eagle putt was just wide.

Woods had back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes with two gem pitch approaches to a matter of feet from both pins. He holed a pressure 10-foot par putt at nine, before he slammed a three-wood 260 metres to within 15 feet at the par-5 12th and had a tap-in birdie to extend his lead to three.

Woods gave up his only shot of the day when he missed a downhill six-footer at the 13th for his fourth bogey of the tournament. He virtually clinched the title with his fifth birdie at the par-3 15th to hold a three-stroke advantage heading into the final three holes.

He hit a super iron to within six feet of the 16th pin but was disappointed to miss the birdie putt to consolidate his lead. Woods parred his closing three holes and held a two-stroke margin over Chalmers, who needed an eagle two at the last, but he finished with a par four to take second place.