08 March 2005	Tuesday	26 Muharram 1426

TORONTO, March 7: Tiger Woods regained the world number one ranking after winning a gripping duel with Phil Mickelson to register a one stroke victory at the Doral Open on Sunday.

Trailing Mickelson by two shots at the start of play, Woods mounted one of his patented charges to card a final round six-under 66 at Miami's Doral Resort for a 24-under 264 total.

The victory was Woods's second of the season and returned the 29-year-old American to the top of the rankings, ending Vijay Singh's 26-week reign as number one. Woods had held top spot for a record 264 consecutive weeks before being dethroned by the Fijian last September.

The triumph earned Woods $990,000 and a high-performance sports car which he said he would give to caddie Steve Williams, who is still recovering from injuries he sustained in a motor racing accident in January in New Zealand.

The final round of the $5.5 million event took on the feel of a heavyweight title bout as the two most popular players on the PGA Tour went toe-to-toe on the famed Blue Monster, treating the huge galleries to a pulsating afternoon of golf.

Having lost to Woods all three times they have clashed in a final round, a deflated Mickelson slumped off the 18th bloodied but unbowed demanding a rematch as soon as possible.

LEADING FINAL SCORES:

264 Tiger Woods 65 70 63 66

265 Phil Mickelson 64 66 66 69

269 Vijay Singh (Fiji) 68 67 68 66, Zach Johnson 68 70 64 67

271 David Toms 69 66 69 67

272 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 64 69 70 69, Craig Parry (Australia) 69 66 67 70

273 Retief Goosen (South Africa) 67 69 73 64, Jim Furyk 70 66 67 70. -Reuters