updated 5:21 p.m. ET Nov. 15, 2009

MELBOURNE, Australia - Tiger Woods gave the record crowds at the Australian Masters everything they could have wanted with his victory Sunday, except a definitive answer when he would return.

“I promise it won’t be as long,” Woods said to yet another warm ovation.

Woods took the lead for good with a 7-iron to within four feet for birdie on the fifth hole, and he hardly missed a shot the rest of the way for a 4-under 68 and a two-shot win over Australia’s Greg Chalmers.

He won for the seventh time this year, and the 82nd time worldwide in his career. Woods now has a trophy from every continent where golf is played. Australia, the 13th country where he has won an individual event, had been the missing link.

“I’ve never won down here, so now I have won on every continent, except for Antarctica,” Woods said. “I haven’t played the Antarctica Four-Ball yet. But to have won on every playable continent, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. And now I’ve done that.”

It had been 11 years since Woods last competed in Australia, at the 1998 Presidents Cup. Since then, he has won 13 majors and 72 times around the world, becoming the face of golf and one of the most famous athletes in the world.

More than 100,000 fans who passed through the gates of Kingston Heath gave him rock-star treatment.

Woods put on quite a show.

One day after he lost his swing and nearly fell out of contention, Woods hit every fairway and only ran into trouble when a photographer standing too close clicked twice in the middle of his swing, leading to his lone bogey.

Starting the day in a three-way tie for the lead, Woods began his final round with a 3-wood to the par-5 first hole that landed next to the hole and rolled 30 feet away, producing the first of many roars from thousands of fans surrounding the green, some of them perched in trees.

After his birdie on the fifth, he followed with his most exquisite shot of the day — from 82 yards away to a firm green just over a ridge, the pin on a slope feeding toward a deep bunker. Playing a 56-degree wedge for a flatter shot, it bounced 30 feet from the flag, checked slightly and trickled down the slope to 2 feet.

“It came off perfect,” he said.

Chalmers, who hasn’t won on his native soil since 1998, found consolation in his runner-up finish. It was one of the biggest weeks of golf in Australia, energy not felt since the glory days of Greg Norman.

He stayed within range of Woods on the back nine, but failed to convert a couple of good birdie chances and shot 70.

“It was like a football crowd brought to the golf, and for us as players, I have only experienced that a handful of times, and I’ve never experienced it in Australia at all,” Chalmers said. “That was special. It really was very exciting, and it made you play better. Even though I finished second, I’m thrilled that he’s here. I wish he would come every couple of years. I’m sure we all do.”

Asked on live television, the closing ceremony and in his press conference about returning, Woods only said, “I would love to.”

“I want to come back, no doubt,” Woods said.

He said he would go over his 2010 schedule during the holidays, although Australians are assured of at least seeing him in two years at Royal Melbourne for the Presidents Cup.

Woods received a $3 million appearance fee to play in the Australian Masters. Half of that fee was paid by the Victorian government, which estimated the economic return at $20 million.

“He over-delivered,” said Ian Baker-Finch, the former British Open champion helping out with local TV analysis.

Woods wasn’t too shabby on the golf course, either.

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