Tiger Woods admitted he was nervous after coming from behind to overtake Phil Mickelson and win the Ford Championship by one stroke in Florida.

The victory ensured that Woods regained his ranking as number one in the world.

Woods, who started the final round two shots behind, posted a six-under-par 66 to finish on 24 under at 264 and beat Mickelson in an exciting head-to-head showdown.

The drama lasted right to the end, with Mickelson lipping-out his birdie chip at the par-four 18th, before Woods sank his winning par putt from five feet at Doral Resort's Blue Monster.

"I can't speak for Phil, but I was certainly nervous out there," Woods said. "If you're not nervous on a day like this, you're not alive.

"All the pressure was on Phil, he had a two-shot lead and he was playing well. All of a sudden I had a two-shot lead and he comes right back with back-to-back birdies.

"That shows what kind of a competitor Phil is. What he did on the back nine was impressive to watch."

Mickelson, who carded a 69 for a 265 total, said: "I'm a little ticked for not getting it done, this is a great slap in the face. I thought I was playing better than anybody and I knew I was going to win."

Vijay Singh tied for third with Zach Johnson at 269 but it was not good enough as the Fijian surrendered his world number one ranking.

Woods took the lead for the first time with an eagle at the long par-five 12th to go two shots ahead, but Mickelson birdied the next two to level.

Both bogeyed the 16th, before Woods went ahead for the final time with a 28-foot putt at the 17th, setting up the final hole showdown.

Englishmen Paul Casey and Greg Owen were the best-placed Britons on 276 - 12 shots off the pace.

Collated final totals (USA unless stated, par 72):

264 Tiger Woods 65 70 63 66

265 Phil Mickelson 64 66 66 69

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

271 David Toms 69 66 69 67

272 Craig Parry (Aus) 69 66 67 70, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 64 69 70 69

273 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 69 73 64, Jim Furyk 70 66 67 70

274 Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68 69 70 67, Dudley Hart 70 67 68 69

275 Joey Snyder III 66 69 70 70, Billy Andrade 66 66 72 71, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 72 65 70, Bart Bryant 69 70 67 69

276 Scott Hend (Aus) 69 67 69 71, Kevin Na (Kor) 70 68 69 69, James Driscoll 67 68 67 74, Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 67 69 72, Billy Mayfair 67 67 72 70, Paul Casey (Eng) 66 70 69 71, Jose Coceres (Arg) 69 68 69 70, Ryan Palmer 70 69 66 71, Greg Owen (Eng) 70 68 68 70, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 69 67 70 70

277 Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 68 70 70, Joe Ogilvie 68 70 66 73, Mark Calcavecchia 71 68 71 67, Stewart Cink 70 65 73 69, Harrison Frazar 65 71 68 73, Jeff Sluman 69 71 71 66

278 Kenny Perry 68 72 67 71, Scott Hoch 68 70 71 69, Bo Van Pelt 70 67 69 72, John Senden (Aus) 69 69 69 71, Tom Gillis 70 71 72 65

279 Franklin Langham 68 67 71 73, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 68 72 70 69, Nick Price (Zim) 73 67 69 70, Todd Hamilton 71 70 68 70

280 Doug Barron 71 70 70 69, Justin Rose (Eng) 73 67 67 73, Brian Bateman 68 72 67 73

281 Kevin Stadler 72 68 70 71, Dan Briggs 70 68 70 73, Erik Compton 70 68 70 73, Andre Stolz (Aus) 68 71 72 70, Chris DiMarco 69 72 67 73, Paul Azinger 70 69 71 71, D.A. Points 70 69 71 71, Brian Davis (Eng) 64 71 76 70

282 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 71 73 70, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 74 66 69 73, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 70 68 74 70, Michael Allen 71 68 72 71, Mike Weir (Can) 73 68 72 69

283 Tim Petrovic 69 72 69 73, Jay Williamson 68 71 74 70, Woody Austin 70 71 70 72, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 71 73 70, Jason Allred 69 70 72 72, Skip Kendall 68 71 72 72, Brett Quigley 71 69 71 72

284 Rich Beem 71 68 72 73, Sean O'Hair 73 67 72 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 68 74 74, Nick Watney 70 70 72 72, John Riegger 69 69 75 71, KJ Choi (Kor) 70 69 68 77, Mark Brooks 72 68 73 71, Jay Haas 70 71 71 72

285 Hunter Mahan 66 69 74 76

286 Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 68 70 74 74

287 Chris Smith 70 71 72 74, Tom Byrum 71 70 73 73, Brendan Jones (Aus) 70 70 74 73

288 Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 70 78 70, Frank Lickliter II 70 71 73 74

291 Gavin Coles (Aus) 70 71 74 76, Marco Dawson 64 77 78 72

292 Rick Heath 72 67 74 79, Tag Ridings 71 69 81 71