It was a two-man race between Woods and Singh, the duel everyone wanted. Two years ago, Singh and Woods went toe-to-toe in the final group with the Fijian winning by three to end Woods’ five-year reign atop the world ranking.

No one expected such a sudden role reversal, especially with Singh coming off a career-best 61.

“Vijay played one of the great rounds of golf yesterday,” Woods said. “I figured one of the hardest things to do is follow a great round with another one.”

This time, it was Woods who fired at the flags and never took his foot off the gas until he settled for par on the last hole for a 63.

Woods twice shot 63 in the final round at the Byron Nelson Championship and once at Disney, but this was his lowest final round in a tournament that he won.

It also was his largest comeback in the final round since he overcame a five-shot deficit at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2000, which he won for his sixth straight victory. Woods made up seven shots over his final seven holes.

This rally came early, and it was spectacular.

After missing a 6-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, Woods hammered his driver over the bunkers, leaving him a 7-iron into the green on the par-5 second hole and making the eagle. He covered the flag with his next shot on the par-3 third, making a 15-foot birdie putt to tie Singh for the lead. And when he rolled in a 25-footer on the fifth, Woods was in the lead.

Justin Rose started the day tied with Woods, and imagine his disgust when he saw the leaderboard.

“I was 4 over through five holes, he was 4 under through five,” Rose said. “Obviously, it was ’Game Over’ for me.”

Singh didn’t go away that easily.

Woods’ second eagle was better than the first one. From 266 yards away and the wind in his face, he hit a bullet of a 3-wood that never got more than 15 feet off the ground. It pounded the bank fronting the green and climbed up to 10 feet.

Singh followed with his great bunker shot, and there was a chance he would escape without losing a shot.

“He hits a great shot,” Woods said. “So if I make my putt, I take all his momentum away from him. And I knocked it right in there.”

Woods turned toward his caddie and lightly pumped his fist, although Steve Williams was far more animated, shaking his fist twice. It was a big putt, giving Woods a two-shot margin, making it that much more difficult for Singh to recover.

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