MIYAZAKI, Nov 21: Tiger Woods collected his first stroke play title of a difficult year when he stormed to an eight-shot victory at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament on Sunday.

Leading by 10 strokes overnight, the American produced a three-under-par 67 for a 16-under total of 264 to taste success for the first time in four visits to Japan. Woods's triumph signalled a welcome return to form after his five-year reign as world number one was ended by Fiji's Vijay Singh two months ago.

It also halted a run of 20 consecutive stroke play events without a win, his longest drought since turning professional in 1996. Japan's Ryoken Kawagishi finished runner-up at the $1.9-million event after a final-round 65. South Korean K.J. Choi was a further two shots back in third place on six-under 274.

Last year's winner Thomas Bjorn of Denmark shot a closing 64 to finish seventh on 277. Woods has struggled with his swing all year but had still produced 10 top-10 finishes in his previous 12 tournaments before arriving in Miyazaki.

He won the last of his eight majors at the 2002 US Open but Woods insisted he was close to returning to his best form. "I'm excited things have started to come together in the last three or four months," said the 28-year-old American. "I'm excited about my prospects for next year."

Woods was never troubled in Sunday's final round and carded five birdies against two bogeys at the Phoenix Country Club. "I knew that if I shot under par on each side the guys chasing me would have to shoot in the 50s to catch me and that's pretty tough to do," he joked.

Woods had failed to win in three previous visits to Japan, finishing eighth at the 2002 Dunlop Phoenix and 15th in the 1998 Casio Open. He also lost in a sudden death playoff at the 2001 World Cup.

Leading final round scores (Japanese unless stated):

264 - Tiger Woods (US) 65, 67, 65, 67.

272 - Ryoken Kawagishi 71, 67, 69, 65.

274 - K.J. Choi (South Korea) 72, 66, 71, 65.

275 - Steven Conran (Australia) 73, 68, 69, 65.

276 - Daniel Chopra (Sweden) 71, 68, 68, 69; Hideto Tanihara 69, 70, 69, 68.

277 - Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 75, 69, 69, 64.

278 - Toru Taniguchi 73, 70, 71, 64; Kaname Yokoo 68, 67, 73, 70.

279 - Christian Pena (US) 73, 63, 73, 70; Robert Allenby (Australia) 71, 69, 69, 70. -Reuters