Tiger Woods shot a four-under-par 68 and overtook Tom Lehman on the 17th hole to win the Buick Invitational by three strokes in California.

In an event delayed several times due to fog, Woods began the final round two shots behind co-leaders Lehman and England's Luke Donald.

He won here two years ago but had not won a stroke play event since the American Express Championship in October 2003.

Lehman, whose last victory came at the 2000 Phoenix Open, stayed close by hitting 10 consecutive fairways.

But his approach shot on 17 came up short and landed in the bunker.

After his sand save hit the pin and bounced 40 feet past, his par putt was a foot short.

Woods hit his approach shot within 20 feet and tapped in for par after he ran his birdie attempt a few feet past the cup.

He birdied the 18th for a four-round total of 16-under 272, securing his 41st career PGA Tour win and third here.

In 2004, Woods' only tour win came in the World Match Play Championship. He relinquished his five-year stranglehold on the No 1 ranking in September before winning a stroke-play event in Japan and finished second in the Tour Championship.

Lehman missed a short par putt on 18 to finish tied for second with Donald and Charles Howell III at 13-under 275. He carded a one-over 73.

The 27-year-old Donald, who had one career tour win, held a two-stroke lead over Woods and Lehman through 12 holes before succumbing to the pressure.

He double-bogeyed the 14th hole and Woods and Lehman, playing right behind him, both tapped in for birdie on the 13th. Donald bogeyed No 17 and finished at one-over 73.

Bernhard Langer finished fourth at 11 under and Ernie Els was among five golfers six shots off the pace.

Collated final-round scores (USA unless stated, par 72):

272 Tiger Woods 69 63 72 68

275 Tom Lehman 62 67 73 73, Charles Howell III 72 67 64 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 68 67 67 73

277 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 69 67 72

278 Pat Perez 66 69 72 71, Kevin Sutherland 68 66 72 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 65 71 71 71, Scott McCarron 72 65 72 69, Arron Oberholser 64 72 72 70

279 Jason Bohn 66 74 71 68, Jerry Kelly 68 71 73 67, Tom Gillis 68 68 72 71

280 Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 65 71 77, Dudley Hart 65 69 71 75, Robert Damron 70 68 73 69, Brett Quigley 69 71 70 70

281 Brandt Jobe 71 70 71 69, Bill Haas 71 66 74 70

282 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 69 69 70 74, Bob Estes 72 70 71 69, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 73 66 73 70, Scott Hend (Aus) 72 64 75 71

283 James Driscoll 71 68 73 71, Zach Johnson 69 72 72 70, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 66 70 74 73, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 74 66 72 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 69 68 75, Tommy Armour III 71 69 71 72

284 John Rollins 69 71 71 73, Brian Davis (Eng) 69 68 77 70, Joe Durant 71 68 72 73, Craig Barlow 68 71 71 74, Charles Warren 66 74 73 71, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 69 72 71 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 66 75 69 74

285 Chris Smith 70 69 73 73, Jonathan Byrd 72 70 73 70, Fred Couples 74 68 75 68, Woody Austin 70 72 74 69, KJ Choi (Kor) 67 73 72 73

286 D.J. Trahan 67 72 75 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 70 74 73, J J Henry 68 72 74 72

287 Ted Purdy 75 67 72 73, Dan Briggs 74 68 73 72, Darron Stiles 66 75 74 72, Mark Wilson 73 66 73 75, Kevin Na (Kor) 75 67 71 74, Jay Haas 71 70 72 74, Franklin Langham 71 69 74 73, Billy Mayfair 71 70 71 75, Bob Tway 68 72 74 73, Roland Thatcher 74 67 73 73, Mario Tiziani 69 71 71 76

288 Phil Mickelson 72 67 78 71, Dennis Paulson 71 70 75 72, Corey Pavin 73 69 73 73, Charley Hoffman 71 69 72 76, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 71 73 73, DJ Brigman 71 69 74 74, Tom Pernice Jnr. 65 73 75 75

289 J.L. Lewis 71 71 74 73

290 Len Mattiace 73 66 74 77, Phillip Price (Wal) 71 69 75 75

291 Skip Kendall 72 70 75 74, Brendan Jones (Aus) 70 71 76 74

292 J.P. Hayes 68 73 75 76, Michael Allen 69 72 79 72

293 Paul Gow (Aus) 72 69 71 81, Mark O'Meara 72 69 73 79

294 John Daly 72 70 77 75, Michael Long (Nzl) 69 73 77 75, Carl Paulson 68 71 78 77, Charlie Wi (Kor) 72 70 78 74

295 Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 68 74 73 80, Bill Glasson 72 68 72 83

296 Scott Simpson 69 71 81 75, Harrison Frazar 68 74 76 78

297 Will MacKenzie 74 67 80 76

298 Joey Sindelar 71 71 77 79