He came up short, but holed the 25-foot birdie putt that turned out to be good enough.
Woods also won his first two events of the season in 2000 and 2006. In both those years, Els was among his early victims.
He now has won 72 times worldwide in his career, 62 of those on the PGA Tour. A week ago at Torrey Pines, Woods won by at least eight shots for the ninth time in his career. This was much tighter, and Woods made no secret which one he prefers.
``I like (winning) by seven or eight a lot,'' he said. ``It's a lot less stressful.''
Woods has until Friday to decide whether he will play the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, although he likely will not return until the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, which begins Feb. 20.
