Tiger Woods shrugged off three bogeys and an early challenge from Jim Furyk to win the Target World Challenge by a record seven shots on Sunday for his eighth victory of the year.

The world No 1, six ahead of the pack overnight, fired a four-under-par 68 at Sherwood Country Club to claim his fourth title in the elite 16-man tournament he hosts.

Woods stretched his lead to seven strokes over the first two holes before it was trimmed to just two by playing partner Furyk over a cut-and-thrust outward nine.

Furyk's faint victory hopes were extinguished by a double-bogey at the par-three 15th, where he found water off the tee for the second day in a row, and Woods eagled the par-five 16th on his way to a winning total of 22-under 266.

“It got a little interesting there,” Woods told reporters after returning to the winner’s circle following a two-and-a-half month break.

“Jimmy put a ton of heat on me the front nine and then all of a sudden the whole tournament switched on the 10th. That was a big two-shot swing there. “Today was a little bit scrappy and I didn't feel quite right with my swing,” added Woods, who was playing his first tournament since the Presidents Cup in late September.

“But I felt really good with my putter, felt like I could make anything.”

World No 3 Furyk, who had piled the pressure on Woods with five birdies in the first eight holes, had to settle for a closing 71 and third place at 13-under, two behind Masters champion Zach Johnson (68).

Woods, overwhelming favourite going into the final round, appeared to have the title firmly in his grasp after making a confident start in glorious winter sunshine.

Pinpoint approach

A pinpoint approach to four feet set up a birdie at the par-four first before he benefited from a Furyk bogey at the par-five second.

Furyk had also birdied the opening hole after hitting a superb recovery from the left rough to two feet but faltered after finding water in front of the second green with his second shot. Furyk cut the deficit to six when he rolled in a 10-footer to birdie the fourth and both players then birdied the uphill par-five fifth.

Woods made his first error with a three-putt bogey at the seventh, missing his second putt from inside three feet, while Furyk closed in with consecutive birdie putts from 10 feet at the seventh and eighth.

Woods again stumbled at the par-four ninth, finding a bunker with his approach and missing a 12-foot par putt to give Furyk unexpected hope going into the back nine.

However, Furyk’s momentum was severely jolted at the 10th where he three-putted from six feet to turn a likely birdie into an ugly bogey. Woods, who hit his approach there to 15 feet, calmly holed the putt to regain a four-shot cushion.

Furyk unravelled over the closing holes, finishing bogey, double-bogey, par, birdie, bogey. Woods rubbed salt into his compatriot's wounds by draining a 20-foot eagle putt at the 16th before setting up his fifth birdie of the round with a 9-iron to eight feet at the par-three 17th.

Final scores (US unless stated): 266: Tiger Woods (69, 62, 67, 68); 273: Zach Johnson (69, 67, 69, 68); 275: Jim Furyk (68, 67, 69, 71); 277: Lee Westwood (Britain, 72, 71, 68, 66); 279: Steve Stricker (72, 69, 68, 70), Henrik Stenson (Swe, 69, 72, 65, 73); 281: Mark Calcavecchia (71, 71, 70, 69); 282: Colin Montgomerie (Britain, 80, 67, 69, 66), Vijay Singh (Fiji, 72, 68, 69, 73).