SAN DIEGO - A new decade for Tiger Woods looks a lot like the last one — making clutch putts, letting his opponents break down and hoisting the trophy at a golf course that feels as if it’s home.

Woods holed an 8-foot birdie on the 18th hole Sunday to get into a three-way playoff, then won the Buick Invitational with simple pars as Australian rookie Nathan Green and two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal made crucial mistakes.

Olazabal played a splendid bunker shot on the par-3 16th on the second extra hole at Torrey Pines, then missed a 4-foot par putt to hand Woods a victory that was only easy at the end.

“It’s not how you want to win,” Woods said. “I had a chance to make birdie on 18 in the playoff and end it right there. You don’t ever take joy out of seeing friends do that.”

For Woods, it was the fourth time in 10 years that he won in his first PGA Tour event of the year, and he became the first four-time winner at the Buick Invitational on a course he played regularly as a kid.

The finish was reminiscent of the American Express Championship last October at Harding Park, where John Daly lost on the second extra hole by missing a 3-foot putt to give Woods the victory.

Just like then, Woods bowed his head and slowly walked over to shake hands.

It was a somber way to end a dynamic afternoon along the bluffs of the Pacific Ocean, where 12 players had a share of the lead at one point and there was an eight-way tie with six holes to play.

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Woods, who three-putted three times in his final round of even-par 72, finally made the one that mattered on the final hole of regulation en route to his 47th tour victory.

“Of all the things that happened today, I said, ’At least you have a chance.’ I shouldn’t have had that opportunity,” Woods said of his birdie on the 72nd hole. “I flipped it around, turned it into a positive situation. It felt good coming off the putter and found its way to the bottom.”

Woods turned 30 at the end of the year and is starting his 10th full season on tour, and this was an ideal place for him to get going. This is the fourth tournament he has won at least four times, the others coming at Augusta National, Firestone and Bay Hill.

Green did all he could to pull off an improbable victory in only his second PGA Tour start.

The 30-year-old rookie from Australia, who once worked in a crematorium managed by his parents, shot into the lead by holing a wedge for eagle from 77 yards on the 13th hole, held on for dear life and got into the playoff by making a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

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But he didn’t last long.

The only player to hit the fairway on No. 18 in the playoff, his 3-wood went into the grandstand. After taking a free drop, his pitch didn’t reach the green and he chunked the next one, moving it only inches and making bogey.

That sent Woods and Olazabal to the 16th, and the 39-year-old Spaniard appeared to escape trouble with a magnificent bunker shot that hopped into the first cut, then the fringe, then trickled downhill toward the cup. He had 4 feet to head to the next hole, but started walking in disgust as soon as the ball left his club.

Olazabal, whose last victory came four years ago at Torrey Pines, was the first to finish at 10-under 278 by two-putting for birdie on the 18th for a 69.

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