Tiger Woods captured his third US Open championship the hard way, which made it all the sweeter.

The Torrey Pines South course, scene of Woods' six Buick Invitational titles on the PGA Tour, was supposed to offer Woods a chance to romp to a 14th major triumph.

Instead he limped into the Open on a sore left knee, which hadn't been tested in competition since April.

"This week had a lot of doubt to it," said Woods, who had surgery to repair cartilage damage in the knee two days after the Masters. "I hadn't walked 18 holes until the first round here since Augusta."

With his knee aching, Woods managed to keep himself in contention. And with Rocco Mediate pushing him all the way, Woods emerged with a victory after 19 playoff holes on Monday which he said ranks as perhaps the best major triumph of his career.

"I think this is the best," he said. "Just because of all the things I had to deal with."

Woods said his only aim all week was to keep moving forward.

"You know, you keep playing," he said. "Whatever it is, you just keep going forward. There's no finish line, you just keep pushing and pushing, and I did all week."

Whether Woods will pay a price for that determination remains to be seen.

Asked if doctors had told him he risked further damaging his knee, Woods nodded yes.

Asked if he thought he had done further damage, he said "Maybe."

"I think I need to shut it down for a little bit here," he said. "It's a bit sore. I need to take a little bit of a break."

Woods couldn't even say for sure if he would be back for the next major championship on the calendar, the British Open in July.

"I hope so," he said. "To be honest with you, I really don't know."

"I pushed it pretty hard this week, and I just want to enjoy it. We're going to reevaluate after this event and see what happens."

Woods's 14th major championship put him just four shy of Jack Nicklaus's record of 18. Woods clearly preferred not to dwell on whether injury could slow his pursuit of that mark.

"Only being four back, it's hard to believe I'm in this situation," said Woods, whose claimed his first major title at the 1997 Masters. "It's hard to believe I've had this nice a run in my career.

"Hopefully it will continue. I'm going to keep practicing, keep trying to grind and get better.

"As far as future ramifications, I'm not really good at listening to doctor's orders too well.

"Hey, I won this week, so it is what it is."

AFP