Briton David Howell valiantly held off Tiger Woods to win the inaugural Champions Tournament by three strokes yesterday.
The Englishman fired a four-under-par 68 to finish on 20-under 268 in Shanghai, erasing the pain of his previous close encounter with the world No 1 at this year's US Masters.
Woods had to settle for second place in his first official tournament in China after returning a final-round 70 at the US$5 million event, the start of the 2006 European Tour.
"I'm very ambitious and winning events like this HSBC Champions tournament is the sort of stuff I want to be doing," said an elated Howell.
"I've worked so hard for this win. I'm now leading the 2006 order of merit ... plus I've got some Ryder Cup points, which we're all after, so I couldn't be happier."
Woods began the day one shot behind his Ryder Cup rival and it soon became two after Howell birdied the second.
A two-shot swing at the fifth, where Woods fluffed a three-foot par putt and watched Howell tap in for birdie, left the 10-times major winner four strokes adrift.
Howell pulverised
Howell was pulverised by eventual champion Woods at this year's Masters at Augusta National where they were paired together in the third round.
Woods shot a 65 while Howell slumped to a 76 on his Augusta debut but, though the Englishman briefly faltered by missing short par putts at the eighth and ninth on the final day in Shanghai, he kept his nerve this time.
The 30-year-old calmly sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-four 10th to forge three clear and, once Woods bogeyed 16, Howell's third European Tour victory was all but sealed.
Britain's Nick Dougherty tied for third with Australian Nick O'Hern at 14 under after an eagle at the last gave him a 69. Left-hander O'Hern carded a 73.
Fiji's world No 2 Vijay Singh shot a 69 to tie for fifth at 13 under with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, who carded a 70.
US Open champion Michael Campbell of New Zealand finished a further three strokes back in 10th place after a 73.
Howell, who had led the tournament since Friday's second round, ended a six-year wait for a second European Tour title at the BMW International Open in August.
However, his win at the Champions Tournament, which marked the start of the 2006 European Tour, was the biggest to date for the world No 19, earning him US$830,000.
(China Daily November 14, 2005)
