Tiger pounces through fog to end losing run

Tiger Woods hit a final-round, four-under 68 to claim the Buick Invitational in Torrey Pines, California, by a three-stroke margin over his American compatriots Tom Lehman and Charles Howell III, and Britain's Luke Donald.

Tiger Woods hit a final-round, four-under 68 to claim the Buick Invitational in Torrey Pines, California, by a three-stroke margin over his American compatriots Tom Lehman and Charles Howell III, and Britain's Luke Donald.

Woods, the former world No 1, clawed his way to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday's final day, finishing the fog-affected tournament on 16-under-par 272.

The victory was Woods' 41st Tour success, but only his first in strokeplay since October 2003.

Donald, who lost in a three-way play-off last year to John Daly, led with nine holes to play. But after shooting almost error-free golf all week, Donald made a mistake on the par-four 14th, and a double-bogey six ended his chances.

Germany's Bernhard Langer had a final round even-par 72 to finish fifth at 11 under, one shot in front of South Africa's Ernie Els, who was among a group of five golfers six strokes adrift.

* Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, the spectacular venue for Vijay Singh's play-off victory in the US PGA championship last August, is to host the 2020 Ryder Cup.