Tiger Woods held off a late challenge from South African Retief Goosen to win the American Express World Championship in Kilkenny by a shot.

The world number one seemed to be coasting to victory after an early run of birdies.

But the South African mounted a late challenge to get within one shot of Woods after equalling the course record of 62, which had been set just an hour before by Sergio Garcia.

Woods' response was to birdie the 17th and once again put some clear daylight between himself and the chasing pack.

After some trials and tribulations on the 18th, where he hit a poor tee shot and was then distracted by a spectator before hitting his approach, Woods suffered his first bogey of the tournament.

It meants that ended a run of 83 holes without dropping shot, something he began at his last tournament.

He refused to let it take away from his satisfaction of winning a tournament worth $1m to his ever escalating fortune.

Another man who enjoyed the tournament was Sergio Garcia, whose 62 on the final day was composed of some delightful birdies, culminating in an outrageous eagle at the 17th.

The Spaniard found himself off the green after two shots and played a delicate chip from a bank and down the green's heavy slope before it finished in the hole.

If Garcia's round was a boost for European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, so was the performance of rookie Niclas Fasth.

The Swede finished with a round of 64 for a tournament total of 15 under.

Two shots back was local man Padraig Harrington, who finished with a 69.

There were respectable performances from other European representatives Thomas Bjorn, Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.

Virtually all the American team put in good performances as well.

Phil Mickelson finished with a 64, Paul Azinger and Scott Verplank both shot 66, and Mark Calcavecchia managed a 67.

Final leaderboard (GB unless stated):

25 under - Tiger Woods (USA) 65-65-67-66
24 under - Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67-67-68-62
21 under - Vijay Singh (Fuji) 67 69 66 65
20 under - Jerry Kelly (USA) 67 65 70 66, David Toms (USA) 66 67 69 66
19 under - Scott McCarron (USA) 71 67 64 67
18 under - Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 69 70 62