By The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Two tournaments, two continents, two playoff victories.

Tiger Woods’ year is off to a perfect start.

Two shots behind with two holes to play, Woods drove the green on the 359-yard 17th hole to set up a birdie-birdie finish that got him into a playoff, where he defeated Ernie Els on the first extra hole Sunday to win the Dubai Desert Classic.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more than that,” said Woods, who hasn’t started a season with two victories since his record-setting year in 2000. “Two playoffs, too. Very stressful, but I was somehow able to come out on top. I was very fortunate today.”

It was similar to last week in San Diego, where Woods birdied the final hole to get into a playoff at the Buick Invitational and won with pars when his opponents made mistakes.

Els also birdied the last hole with a 6-foot putt. But on the par-5 18th hole in the playoff, he pulled his tee shot into the sandy grove of palms, and his approach came up about a yard short into the water. He took a drop and pitched 20 feet beyond the hole, missing his par putt.

Woods, who went just over the back of the green in the playoff, chipped to 6 feet and two-putted for par.

“I had a two-way miss going,” Woods said. “I could hit it right or left at any given time, and that’s not a whole lot of fun. Somehow I just hung in there with my short game and hit some very good shots on the back nine.”

Woods closed with a 3-under 69, finishing with a birdie from behind the 18th green in regulation to join Els at 19-under 269. Richard Green of Australia birdied four of five holes down the stretch to take the lead, but he drove into a plugged lie in the sandy palm grove and took bogey on the 18th.

Els shot 5-under 67, but the ending was all too familiar. It was the third time he has lost in a playoff to Woods, and the seventh time the 36-year-old South African has finished second to Woods. “I cannot complain,” said Els, who is coming back from knee surgery last year. “After all the hassle I had with the leg to come back … and to almost win is fine.”

Despite spraying tee shots across the Emirates Golf Club, Woods stayed close to the lead. The key hole might have been the 14th, where his drive landed in a rocky bank surrounding a pond. He managed to chip out into the rough, then made a 20-foot putt to save par and stay within two shots of Els.

“It was hit and hope, really,” Woods said. “I tried to get the ball up over that little piece of rock because if it hit it could ricochet easily right back into the water.”

Still, he was two shots behind Green when he got to the 17th. Woods’ drive hopped onto the green about 40 feet behind the hole for a two-putt birdie. From the middle of the 18th fairway, he saw Els make birdie to get to 19 under, then hit a 5-wood just through the green for an up-and-down birdie.

“I figured 19 (under) would either win the tournament outright or be in a playoff,” Woods said. “I had to birdie the last two holes somehow. I had to take the chance of hitting driver (on No. 17) and put the ball anywhere up there where I could make birdie. It ended up as good as you could like.”

Woods’ victory on the tip of the Arabian peninsula was his 57th worldwide – 47 of them on the PGA Tour. It also makes 10 countries in which he’s won an official tournament. Along with the United States and United Arab Emirates, he has won in Thailand, Germany, Spain, Scotland, Canada, Ireland, Japan and Malaysia.

Rookie Holmes gains five shots on 1 hole to win FBR

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – When J.B. Holmes reached the third grade, he was good enough to play on the high school golf team. Four tournaments into his PGA Tour career, he again showed he can play with the big boys.

The rookie gained five shots on his nearest competitor on the 15th hole and walked away with a seven-stroke victory Sunday in the FBR Open.

The hard-driving 23-year-old from Kentucky shot a 5-under 66 in the final round – 5-under 31 on the back nine – to finish at 21-under 263 and win $936,000. Combined with the $127,500 he won for a 10th-place tie at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Holmes became the fastest to win $1 million on the tour. It took Retief Goosen five tournaments to reach $1 million in 2001.

“It was one of my goals to win out here. It happened real quickly,” Holmes said. “I didn’t expect it so soon. I knew I had the ability. Every tournament I played, I just got more confidence and more confidence. It’s just been a whirlwind right now.” Ryan Palmer, who made the turn with a one-shot lead, hit the water twice for a triple bogey on the par-5, 552-yard 15th, while Holmes, his playing partner, sank a 14-footer for eagle. Holmes’ one-shot lead expanded to six, and the tournament was decided.

Palmer (72) tied for second with Steve Lowery (67), J.J Henry (72), Camilo Villegas (69) and Scott Verplank (68) at 14-under 270. Defending champion Phil Mickelson (66) birdied five of his last six holes, including the last four in a row, to join Justin Leonard (71) and Jonathan Byrd (68) at 13 under.

Teenager wins ANZ Ladies Masters in playoff

GOLD COAST, Australia – Amy Yang, a local 16-year-old high school student, birdied the first playoff hole against American Catherine Cartwright to win the ANZ Australian Ladies Masters on Sunday.

The South Korean, who attends nearby Robina High School on the Gold Coast, become the first amateur to win a major women’s professional golf tournament in Australia.

She bogeyed the final hole in regulation to fall into a tie with Cartwright at 13-under 275 on the Royal Pines course.

“I’m happy and excited,” said Yang, who had led after the second and third rounds and had a final-round 70 while Cartwright shot 68.

Yang made a 23-foot birdie putt on the 18th, the first playoff hole, then burst into tears and hugged her father, James, who is also her caddie.

Two other amateurs, Taiwan’s Tseng Ya-ni, who shot a final-round 64, and Tiffany Joh of the United States, who finished with a 69, were tied for third at 12-under with Sweden’s Louise Stahle (68).

With amateurs taking three of the top four positions, Cartwright picked up the first-place winner’s check of $90,000.

Defending champion Karrie Webb, trying for her sixth Masters title, finished tied for 33rd with Britain’s three-time Masters winner Laura Davies at 3-under. Davies finished with a 69 and Webb with a 72.