©Getty. Tiger Woods celebrates the winning putt.

Tiger Woods shot a final-round 67 on Sunday to finish two clear of the field at Hoylake in his third Open Championship, his second consecutively, and his first major win since the death of his father in May.

Woods had previously won the Open at St Andrews in 2000, and again in 2005.

Chris Di Marco finished in second place on 16-under, with Ernie Els completing his comeback to top level golf with a solid third place.

Sergio Garcia, who teed off in the final group with Woods, began the day one behind but slumped to a 1-over par 73. The Spaniard bogeyed two of the opening three holes, and an eagle 3 at the fifth by Woods made sure there was no way back for Sergio. Poor putting had done irreversible damage to the only realistic European challenge. He did however finish fifth for the second year running.

135th Open - Top Ten Finishers

1 Tiger WOODS -18 2 Chris DIMARCO -16 3 Ernie ELS -13 4 Jim FURYK -12 T5 Hideto TANIHARA -11 T5 Sergio GARCIA -11 7 Angel CABRERA -10 T8 Carl PETTERSSON -9 T8 Andres ROMERO -9 T8 Adam SCOTT -9

Only Chris Di Marco provided any real threat, and, inspired after a heartbreaking few weeks following the death of his Mother, the Ryder Cup player got to within one shot midway through the second nine, but Woods responded by birdieing 14,15 and 16 to make the result beyond doubt.

Afterwards, Woods collapsed and cried, and then admitted it was one of the best performances of his career.

"As far as my control, it was probably one of the best ball striking weeks I've ever had - that's shaping the ball, moving my trajectory and different heights and controlling my spin into the greens."

An emotional Woods dedicated the win to his late father Earl - "At that moment (the last putt) it just came pouring out and of all the things that my father has meant to me and the game of golf. I just wish he could have seen it one more time."

Woods has now won 11 major titles, equalling Walter Hagen's tally, and second only to Jack Nicklaus' haul of 18. At the age of 30, Tiger is 2 years ahead of schedule in his attempt to pass Nicklaus' total and become the greatest player of all time.

With incredible golf from the best player in the world, glorious weather and record crowds, the 135th Open Championship will go down as one of the best ever.

Full final scores - www.opengolf.com