HOYLAKE, England — Earl Woods wasn't at Royal Liverpool, but the lessons he taught his son were on full display.

"He was always on my case about thinking my way around the golf course and not letting emotions get the better of you," Tiger Woods said with the claret jug resting in front of him yesterday after winning the British Open.

Woods said his father had told him "just use your mind to plot your way around the golf course, and if you had to deviate from the game plan, make sure it is the right decision to do that. He was very adamant that I played like that my entire career."

Woods never gave a better exhibition. His game plan of leaving the driver in the bag allowed him to play precision golf in dissecting Royal Liverpool. This was chess with a ball and clubs.

The result humbled the field. After missing the cut at the U.S. Open, Woods won his second straight British and third overall. A round of 67 gave him a two-shot victory over gritty Chris DiMarco, who fired a 68. At 18 under, Woods just missed tying his tournament record of 19 under, which he set at St. Andrews in 2000.

The title was Woods' 11th major, tying Walter Hagen for second on the all-time list behind Jack Nicklaus' 18. However, this was his first major victory without his father, who died May 3.

When he tapped in the final putt, Woods, a man who normally places a padlock on his emotions, let it all out. First he grabbed caddie Steve Williams, burying his head on his shoulder. Then, sobbing, he hung on to his wife, Elin, much as he had with Earl after winning his first major at the 1997 Masters.

During the victory ceremony on the 18th green, Woods said, "I love my dad, and I miss him very much."

Woods later acknowledged surprise that his victory had turned into a tearjerker.

"I guess I'm kind of one who bottles things up a little bit and moves on, tries to deal with things in my own way," Woods said. "But at that moment it just came pouring out, 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."

Earl Woods would have seen quite a show. Swing coach Hank Haney said Woods decided on the second hole of their first practice round that he wouldn't use his driver on the cement-hard fairways at Royal Liverpool. Woods used it only once — on the 16th hole in the first round.

Instead Woods decided to play small ball, going with 3-woods and 2-irons off the tee.

"The ball was rolling forever," Haney said. "He looked at it and said, 'How do I control this?' He had a plan and stuck with it. He wasn't going to vary. He didn't have any doubts that he had the right game plan."

How about this for validation? Woods led the field in driving accuracy, hitting 48 of 56 fairways (85.7 percent) and was second in greens in regulation at 80.6 percent.

Woods made it look numbingly easy. Of course, it would be easy if you could hit a 2-iron 290 yards off the tee.

"Not too many players can do that," said Haney, explaining why Woods is who he is.

But the plan wouldn't have worked if Woods had failed to execute. He said he couldn't recall a shot he didn't hit flush yesterday. Woods also couldn't remember a tournament when he played better with his long irons.

"I've never played a golf course like this where you had to hit so many," Woods said. "I hit quite a few off the tee, but I don't think I've ever hit this many into greens — 3-irons, 4-irons, 5-irons into par 4s."

Woods blinked only once yesterday, making a bogey on the par-4 12th. At the same time, DiMarco birdied the 13th to pull within one shot of the lead. Then DiMarco rammed home a 60-foot putt to save par on 14, and suddenly it looked like they might reprise the 2005 Masters, when Woods beat DiMarco in a playoff.

But Woods quickly drained any suspense by making three straight birdies, beginning on 14.

"When somebody gets close to him, he has an uncanny knack to turn it up another level," DiMarco said.

Woods said the reason is simple.

"I just think there's a certain calmness that comes from being able to say with honesty that I've done this before," Woods said.

Woods said he was calm throughout the round, partly because he felt his father's presence. He called the victory more significant than his two previous British titles because of what it meant to him personally.

His father wasn't there yesterday to hug his son for a job well done, but Woods knew.

"He would have been proud, very proud," Woods said.