The Associated Press

Tiger Woods hits from a bunker on the 29th hole of his finals match against David Toms. Click ZOOM for free desktop wallpaper of this photo for your computer, then right-click to set as background. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

CARLSBAD, Calif. - The idea behind the World Golf Championships was to bring together the best players from every tour on every continent. Tiger Woods remains in a world all his own.

The final trophy in his collection of world titles came Sunday at La Costa when Woods captured the Match Play Championship with some dramatic moments that he could have done without.

Woods expected a gutsy comeback from David Toms.

What he never imagined was a bee landing in front of the hole and knocking a pivotal birdie putt off line. Equally surprising were his own mistakes under pressure, which made him toil longer that he wanted.

"This was one tough week," Woods said.

Next up: A two-week break.

Woods decided to skip the Dubai Desert Classic and $2 million in appearance money, saying it was too close to Iraq and not safe enough for him to travel.

"Going overseas in this particular year, right now, especially in that part of the world, is a little tough for me," he said.

He finished off Toms on the 35th hole, hitting a 7-iron 195 yards - it was only supposed to go 188 yards - and saving par from the bunker to win 2 and 1.

Woods never trailed the entire day.

He played 112 holes over six rounds, the fewest among any winner in the five-year history of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

That didn't make it any easier.

Woods built a 4-up lead after the morning round, increased it to as many as five holes and then had to grind as hard as ever to claim his first match-play title as a professional.

"This is the hardest to win," Woods said. "Yeah, it's physically grueling, but I think it's more mentally grueling because of the ebb and flow of match play. If we had to do this every week, every pro's playing career would be about 10 years."

Toms, a former PGA champion who squeezes everything from his game until it's time to stop playing, gave Woods a battle that no one expected.

Woods was relentless from the start, belting his drives long and straight to apply enormous pressure on Toms. Woods frequently drove the ball 25 yards past Toms, and his approach into 5 feet for birdie on No. 1 - the 19th hole of the match - put him 5 up.

"I'm not going to quit," Toms said. "That's not my nature. We're on national TV and I wanted to last a long time. I didn't want to be embarrassed. When he got 5 up, I just had to dig deep and not give in."

Woods promptly hit into 8 feet for a birdie chance on the next hole, and it looked as though the rout was on.

Instead, Toms rolled in a birdie putt from 35 feet to win the hole, then won the next with a 10-foot birdie as Woods took three putts for par from 40 feet.

Woods must have figured the odds were stacked against him. Trying to make a 15-foot birdie putt to win the fourth hole in the afternoon and regain momentum, he looked up after his putt and saw a bee land in front of the cup.

The ball rolled over the bee and hopped slightly, just enough to throw it off line. Woods settled for par, and spared the bee.

"I didn't kill it. I sure thought about it, though," he said. "I'm sure the animal rights society would have gotten on me."

It couldn't have done more harm than Woods wanted to inflict on himself. Having played 102 holes with only two bogeys, he promptly bogeyed two in a row.

The first was a 5-foot par putt that rimmed around the cup. The second was a 4-iron that sailed right of the ninth green (27th hole) into deep rough.

"Giving him those holes back-to-back like that with bogeys ... you just can't do that in match play," Woods said.

He should know.

Woods was the master of match play before turning pro, winning three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles and three straight U.S. Amateurs.

He was 0-4 as a professional - stronger fields have something to do with that - but he didn't forget the strategy, not to mention timing, that brought him so much success.

Having badly missed a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 11 - his lead down to 1 up - Woods realized his shoulders were not aligned properly. He hit a few practice putts, then faced a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole.

"I said, 'You did the work two holes ago, go ahead and trust it.' And I poured it right in the middle," Woods said.

Another birdie by Toms on the 15th brought him within one hole, but he came up short on the par-3 16th and had to scramble for par, then lost any hope with a drive into rough and an approach shot that was buried in deep grass left of the green.

"When he plays good, he wins. We all know that," Toms said.

Woods won for the 36th time on the PGA Tour and earned $1,050,000. He took two months off because of knee surgery, and in the three weeks Woods has been back he's won twice and tied for fifth.

He also became the first player to win all four World Golf Championships since their inception in 1999 - three times the NEC Invitational at Firestone, twice the American Express Championship and the 2000 World Cup with David Duval.

"They're all different in their own right," Woods said. "But I'm extremely happy to win this one. It's pretty cool."

Tiger playing it safe

Tiger Woods has won more than $2 million the last three weeks, an amount he could receive just by showing up at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Instead, the world's No. 1 golfer is playing it safe.

He's staying home.

"It's just not a safe environment over there right now," Woods said Sunday after his victory over David Toms in the Match Play Championship. "I don't think it would be wise for me to over there at this particular time."

Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, about 900 miles from Iraq.

Some players already have withdrawn from the popular European tour event because of concerns about war breaking out. One of them, Colin Montgomerie, has decided instead to play in Miami next week on the PGA Tour.

Among those playing are Ernie Els, the No. 2 player in the world. Els is the defending champion at Dubai, and will get an appearance fee said to be nearly $300,000.

Also going is Woods' best friend on tour, Mark O'Meara, who will get a little more than $200,000 to play.

It was O'Meara who helped persuade Woods to play in Dubai in 2001, when Woods made double bogey on the 72nd hole and lost to Thomas Bjorn.

"I had a great time the last time I went two years ago," Woods said. "If it's safe next year, I'll go, because I wanted to go back."

Woods said he would not play the Ford Championship at Doral in Miami out of respect to tournament officials in Dubai.

"Losing Tiger from this week's lineup will be disappointing to his many fans in this part of the world, but we reluctantly have to respect his decision not to compete," said Mohamed Ali Alabbar, vice chairman of the tournament.

Woods declined to speculate about his other overseas plans, such as the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany in May, which he has won three times.

Deutsche Bank also will sponsor a PGA Tour event in Boston, with the proceeds benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Woods didn't have a problem with going to England for the British Open in July.

"If I can walk, if I can play golf, I'll be there," he said.

Woods said his high profile presented him with a different set of circumstances than other top players, particularly in a region so close to Iraq.

"You have to be honest about it," he said.

One player Woods' decision affects is O'Meara, who usually travels on what he calls "TWA" - Tiger Woods Airline, referring to his private jet.

"He's not too happy about that," Woods said.