Tiger Woods admitted his dramatic play-off win at the Dubai Desert Classic was more satisfying having been below his best throughout his final round.

The world number one had to "dig deep" to contend with an in-form Ernie Els and shot two birdies at the last two holes to take the tournament to a play-off.

Woods had not been playing well off the tee all day, but mid-round tweaks helped him recover some of his old poise in a nail-biting final few holes.

"I was very fortunate today," he said. "Starting out it was not good because I had a two-way miss going, meaning I could hit it left or right at any given time, and that's not a whole lot of fun.

"Somehow I just hung in with my short game and then I fixed it on the back nine, where I hit some really good shots.

"I was digging deep before the last two holes. To be honest, anyone can win when they are playing well.

"It's when you have an opportunity to fix things, which I did, turn it around and somehow end up on top. That's always satisfying."

Woods' eye for improvisation was never more in evidence at the 14th hole where he found a rocky lie off the tee, yet still managed to make his escape, eventually holing from 12 feet for par.

"It was important to make that par," the American stated. "Ernie at that time was at 17 under or something and I was one back.

"If I'd fallen two back with 17 and 18 - pretty easy birdie holes to come - I would have had to add another birdie in there somewhere, either on 15 or 16, and that was not an easy task.

"The par allowed me to stay only one back where anything could happen on 17 and 18 and I could still get into a play-off and maybe win it outright."

South African Els was philosophical in defeat, owing to the perspective of possibly never playing golf to his former standard.

The world number five wrote off much of 2005 with a knee injury that could have ended his career and, with that in mind, Els was satisfied with second, even if it meant missing out on a fourth Desert Classic crown.

His superb six under par 67 was not enough to win outright after Woods' late heroics, but he blew his shot at winning with a wayward drive off the tee at the replayed 18th, and followed it up by finding the water hazard.

"I cannot complain," he said. "After all the hassle I had with the leg, to come back and almost win, with the strongest field in the world this year, is fine.

"I didn't do what I was supposed to do in the play-off. That was my favourite tee shot of the whole tournament - I was five under on that hole for the week, an eagle and three birdies, but there you go.

"I thought a 65 would have won it beforehand. I missed a five-foot putt on 13 for birdie, and a few other ones, but that was the biggest."

There was heartbreak for Richard Green, whose victory at the Desert Classic in 1997 marked the last time the Australian tasted success on Tour, and he will get few opportunities as good to end the nine-year drought.

Green was one clear at 19 under going to the last after making birdies at 13, 15, 16 and 17, but took a six at the 18th, leaving him to lament the problems faced being one of the few southpaws around.

"Unfortunately, my driver has cost me another win," he rued.

"It's pretty disappointing to see the result of it, but that 18th doesn't play as well for me as it does for the right-handers.

"I tried to be aggressive off the tee and take a bit more out of it, but just came off it.

"In the trees, it was as bad a lie as you could get. I fluffed it out and unfortunately it got stuck behind a tree. It was a nightmare come true.

"I wouldn't be human if I wasn't nervous, but I felt I had it under control. I didn't feel any more nervous on the 18th. It's just one of those things."

Collated final round scores and totals in the European Tour Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 72):

(x) denotes amateur

(Tiger Woods Wins at 1st Extra Hole)

269 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 66 68 67, Tiger Woods (USA) 67 66 67 69

270 Richard Green (Aus) 64 69 69 68

271 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 67 66 69, Anders Hansen (Den) 68 63 69 71

272 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 64 67 70 71

273 Darren Clarke 68 68 70 67, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 70 68 68

274 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 68 71 66, Nick Dougherty 67 66 70 71

275 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 68 73 67, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 71 68 68

276 Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 67 72 68, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 68 66 71, Bradley Dredge 70 66 68 72

277 Christopher Hanell (Swe) 71 71 67 68, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 69 70 69, Paul Casey 67 69 71 70

278 Nick O'Hern (Aus) 67 72 73 66, David Lynn 66 74 71 67, Simon Dyson 70 71 66 71

279 Paul Lawrie 71 70 70 68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 71 69 69, Damien McGrane 68 68 73 70, Stephen Gallacher 70 69 68 72, Paul Broadhurst 69 69 67 74, Peter Lawrie 69 66 69 75

280 Simon Khan 72 70 70 68, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 69 74 67 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 67 72 70, David Howell 70 69 70 71, Lee Westwood 68 71 69 72, Andrew Coltart 71 70 67 72, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 68 70 73

281 Stuart Little 69 69 71 72, Jamie Donaldson 64 70 70 73

282 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70 70 75 67, David Park 70 71 72 69, Richard Finch 71 71 69 71, Constantino Rocca (Ita) 68 73 70 71

283 Markus Brier (Aut) 70 73 71 69, Jamie Spence 70 71 71 71, Phillip Price 69 70 73 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 65 75 73, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 69 66 74 74, Steve Webster 70 70 69 74

284 Ross Bain 66 71 78 69, Simon Wakefield 70 70 74 70, Oliver Wilson 68 75 70 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 70 74 71, David Carter 72 71 69 72, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 72 69 72, Ian Poulter 72 67 72 73, Mark Foster 68 68 74 74

285 Christian Cevear (Fra) 72 71 72 70, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 72 71 71 71, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 73 68 72 72, Alastair Forsyth 70 71 72 72, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 68 73 71 73, Phillip Archer 70 70 72 73, Garry Houston 73 68 70 74, Barry Lane 68 71 70 76

286 Mark O'Meara (USA) 71 71 73 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 72 73 71, Gary Orr 69 74 70 73

287 Jonathan Lomas 72 71 72 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 72 71 73, Andrew Oldcorn 71 67 70 79

288 Stephen Dodd 72 71 75 70, Scott Drummond 73 70 72 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 71 72 74

289 Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 70 74 74, John Bickerton 72 71 70 76

291 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 68 75 71 77

292 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 73 79 70

294 Gary Emerson 73 69 74 78