SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods had been so good at Torrey Pines that it didn’t matter how bad he played at the end.

Woods built an eight shot lead with five holes to play Monday until he lost patience with the slow play and started losing shots that only determined the margin of victory. Despite two bogeys and a double bogey in the final hour, he closed with an even-par 72 for a four-shot victory in the Farmers Insurance Open.

“I’m excited the way I played all week,” Woods said. “I hit the ball well - pretty much did everything well and built myself a nice little cushion. I had some mistakes at the end, but all my good play before that allowed me to afford those mistakes.”

He won for the 75th time in his PGA Tour career, seven behind the record held by Sam Snead.

Woods won this tournament for the seventh time, and he set a PGA Tour record by winning at Torrey Pines for the eighth time, including his 2008 U.S. Open. Woods also has won seven times at Bay Hill and at Firestone.

“I don’t know if anybody would have beaten him this week,” said Nick Watney, who got within five shots of Woods when the tournament was still undecided until making three bogeys on his next five holes. “He’s definitely on his game.”

It was the 23rd time Woods has won by at least four shots on the PGA Tour. Defending champion Brandt Snedeker (69) and Josh Teater (69) tied for the second. Watney had a 71 and tied for fourth with Jimmy Walker.

Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) tied for 15th at 282 after a 74 with three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. Bryce Molder (Conway) finished at 290 after a 72 with three birdies and three bogeys, and Scott Gardiner (Farmington) shot 291, closing with a 74 with two birdies and four bogeys.

Woods was coming off a missed cut last week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This was the second time in his career that Woods won in his next tournament after missing the cut, but this was the first time it happened the following week.

“I think he wanted to send a message,” said Hunter Mahan, who shares a swing coach with Woods. “I think deep down he did. You play some games to try to motivate yourself. There’s been so much talk about Rory [McIlroy]. Rory is now with Nike. That would be my guess.”

The last time Woods won at Torrey Pines also was on a Monday, when he beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff to capture the U.S. Open for his 14th major.

Of all his victories on this course along the Pacific, this might have been the most peculiar.

Thick fog cost the tournament an entire day of golf Saturday, forcing the first Monday finish in tournament history. Woods effectively won the tournament during his 25 holes Sunday, when he turned a two-shot lead into a six-shot margin with only 11 holes to play. CBS Sports wanted to televise the final day in late afternoon on the East Coast, but it still went long because of the pace of play.

It took Woods about 3 hours, 45 minutes to finish his 11 holes Monday. His 19-hole victory over Mediate lasted 41/2 hours.

As much as Woods got off to a good start, equal attention was given to slow play, an increasing problem on the PGA Tour.

“It got a little ugly toward the end,” Woods said. “I started losing patience a little bit with the slow play. I lost my concentration a little bit.”

He made bogey from the bunker on No. 14. He hooked a tee shot off the eucalyptus trees and into a patch of ice plant on the 15th, leading to double bogey. After another long wait on the 17th tee, he popped up his tee shot and made another bogey. With a four-shot lead on the 18th - Kyle Stanley blew a three shot lead a year ago - he hit wedge safely behind the hole for a two-putt par.

Woods finished on 14-under 274 for his 14th victory in California, and 11th in San Diego County.

“I think a win always makes it special, especially the way I played,” Woods said. “To have not won would have been something else because I really played well. Playing the way I did for most of this tournament, until the very end, the last five holes, I felt like I should have won this tournament. I put myself in a position where I had a big enough lead, and that’s basically how I felt like I played this week.

Sports, Pages 15 on 01/29/2013