Dubai, United Arab Emarites ? Henrik Stenson shot a 4-under 68 Sunday to win the Dubai Desert Classic, finishing one stroke ahead of Ernie Els and two in front of defending champion Tiger Woods.

Stenson, who has lived in Dubai for three years, began the day two shots behind Els. But the Swede had five birdies at the Emirates Golf Club to finish at 19-under 269.

“It’s just unbelievable to win in your home tournament,” said Stenson, who is a member of the Emirates Golf Club. “It’s always nice to beat Tiger. And to play four rounds with Ernie and to beat him by one shot coming down the stretch, that’s also satisfying.”

Els (71) had three bogeys, the same as Woods (69), who shared third place with Niclas Fasth (68) at 17 under. Woods, who had a difficult time putting despite the quality of the greens, said it was one of his most frustrating tournaments.

“That’s one of the worst putting weeks I’ve had in a long time,” Woods said. “I’m going to go home and just kind of figure it out. Hopefully get my putting organized before I compete again.”

Woods said he handled the poor greens at Torrey Pines the previous week, when he won the Buick Invitational for his seventh consecutive U.S. PGA Tour event. The Dubai Desert Classic doesn’t count against his streak.

“It’s frustrating because normally I don’t really putt well on poor greens, like I did last week,” Woods said. “And I come over here to the best greens we’ve seen in a long time and I miss a bunch.”

Ross Fisher (71) finished fifth at 16 under after leading the tournament for the first two days. Peter Hanson (71) was two more shots back in sixth place.

Fisher, a little-known golfer who once fetched practice range balls for Woods, said he was awed to be paired with the top-ranked American – and leading him for most of the day.

“For 15 holes I was toe-to-toe with him,” Fisher said. “I almost had to pinch myself to believe I was about six or so shots ahead of the world No. 1, which was totally unbelievable.”

Strong wind got the sand blowing, making conditions difficult. Els, who started the day in the lead, had an especially tough day, narrowly missing a series of putts that cost him the lead.