Tiger Woods wins his second straight Match Play title with a decision over Davis Love III.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) – Tiger Woods simply has no match.

Spraying his tee shots all over the course, Woods went 25 holes before he finally took the lead Sunday, then roared past Davis Love III with key putts to win the Match Play Championship for the second straight year, 3 and 2.

“I was in quite a few places where I was in trouble,” Woods said. “The good ol’ flat stick is the great equalizer.”

Woods won for the 40th time on the PGA Tour in just his 149th start, the quickest anyone has reached that milestone. Jack Nicklaus played 221 events before he won his 40th tournament.

Woods earned $1.2 million, the biggest prize to date on the PGA Tour, and reminded everyone who’s No. 1 in the world – and who’s the best when the world gets together.

He won for the eighth time in the 14 official World Golf Championships he has played.

Even more impressive is his back-to-back victories in the Accenture Match Play Championship, the most unpredictable format in golf because of the five 18-hole matches required to get to the finals.

Woods thrives on this format.

“Right from the first tee, it’s eyeball-to-eyeball,” he said. “That to me is a great rush.”

His amateur record was among the best ever – three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs, followed by three straight U.S. Amateur titles. His professional record is starting to catch up, now 20-3 in this event.

His game wasn’t sharp Sunday, but Love helped make sure that wasn’t a factor by missing a half-dozen putts inside 10 feet and failing to answer once Woods finally took the lead.

“He was missing fairways the first 18 holes, and I let him get away with it,” Love said. “I played pretty good. I just didn’t have it on the greens.”

He also had to deal with a heckler who let out a “Whoop!” when Love missed a par putt on the 20th hole that squared the match.

The fan started saying, “No Love!” as Love stepped to his ball on the fifth tee. He sought out the fan and said, “We’re not leaving until he’s out of here.”

They got the fan out of there – and it wasn’t long before Woods took Love out of the match.

Woods wasn’t nearly dominant as last year, when he needed only 112 holes over five days.

He couldn’t find a fairway in the morning session and was lucky to be only one down after the first 18 holes. Woods had to save par from behind the first green when the afternoon session began, squared the match when Love missed the second green and made bogey, and then it was a matter of who would take control.

The odds were on Woods, although no one could have guessed it would happen on No. 7.

Woods shoved another drive into the deep rough, behind two trees with a small gap between the branches. Woods took a mighty swing with a wedge from 158 yards and didn’t see the ball until it dropped behind the flag, stopping 12 feet away against the fringe.

Caddie Steve Williams reached out to take the club, and Woods gave him a fist-tap, removed his cap, then closed his eyes and exhaled as he slowly placed the cap back on his head.

The birdie gave him a 1-up lead, and Woods found an extra gear. After another drive into the right rough on the par-5 eighth, he laid up and punched his third shot into 4 feet for birdie to win another hole, then seized control for good on the ninth when Love found the rough and made bogey.

Love missed several chances in the morning, none more crucial than a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 11th at a time he was poised to take a 3-up lead.

His last opportunity came on the same hole in the afternoon.

Love had a 4-foot birdie putt to cut the deficit to 2 up, and was stunned when it rolled around the rim of the cup. He failed to apply any pressure the rest of the way, and Woods closed him out on the 16th hole.

“He’s tough to beat once he gets ahead,” Love said.

Slocum gets first tour win

TUCSON, Ariz. – Heath Slocum won the showdown between two PGA Tour non-winners Sunday, parring the 18th hole for a one-shot victory over Aaron Baddeley at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.

The 30-year-old Slocum shot a 7-under-par 65 for a total of 22-under 266 – the lowest since 1988 when David Frost won at Tucson National with the same total.

Slocum earned his first title in 78 starts when the 22-year-old Baddeley three-putted the 18th green, missing a 5-foot par putt that would have forced a playoff.

Slocum’s approach shot on the water-guarded, 465-yard finishing hole stopped 15 feet from the cup. The Louisiana native sent his first putt within tap-in range, holed out and stepped back to watch Baddeley.

Slocum, who led after two rounds and was tied with Baddeley at 15 under to start, smiled and hugged his caddie when play ended.

The $540,000 winner’s share gave Slocum, who was 80th on the money list, $640,604 in six events. His best previous finish this season was a tie for 14th at Phoenix.

Rory Sabbatini (64), Harrison Frazar (66) and Mark Hensby (68) finished four shots back, with Per-Ulrik Johansson (68) and Bill Glasson (68) at 271.

Mike Heinen, who played in the final threesome, bogeyed two of the last three holes for a 70, slipping into a tie with Tim Clark, Todd Fischer and Carlos Franco at 272.

Defending champion Frank Lickliter, whose opening 63 stood up as the best round of the tournament, finished with a 69 and 277, good for a seven-way tie for 27th.

The final round was evolved into match play between Slocum and Baddeley, who is winless in 47 events. No more than a shot separated the two through the round.

The crowd-pleasing Baddeley, dressed in a purple shirt and spotless white pants, went 71 holes before his only three-putt. His early putting was exceptional – three of his six birdies were on putts of 26 to 28 feet.

He saved the best for the stretch – rolling in the 28-footer on the 14th hole to take the lead at 22 under while Slocum struggled to save par after hitting an iron shot in a bunker on the left side. But Slocum blasted a wedge within 2 feet, made par and got even on No. 16, when he sent a 13-foot birdie putt into the heart of the cup.

Slocum and Baddeley each birdied four of the first five holes, added one more birdie before the turn. They made the turn at 20 under, with only Heinen within two shots.

Slocum made it three when he two-putted from 40 feet for a birdie on the par-5 10th, but Baddeley caught up at No. 11, where he holed a 16-foot putt from the fringe. That forced Slocum, who also had to wedge out of sand on that hole, to sink a 14-footer for par to stay in step.

Divots: Slocum is the 13th first-time winner in 58 years at Tucson, and the first in nine PGA Tour events this year. … Thirty-two players who held or shared the Tucson lead after 54 holes have gone on to win, including Lickliter last year.