THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The unlikely comeback. The great escape from trouble. The clutch putts at the end.

Tiger Woods was back on a familiar stage Sunday, with one big difference.

He was a witness, not a winner.

Graeme McDowell upstaged Woods in the Chevron World Challenge with a performance so typical of his dream season. The U.S. Open champion at Pebble Beach, the hero of the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, McDowell came up with another great moment in a year filled with them.

Woods stuffed an 8-iron to inside 3 feet on the 18th hole at Sherwood for what looked like a sure victory when McDowell rammed in a 20-foot birdie putt to force a sudden-death playoff.

Then, McDowell made a similar putt from about 25 feet on the same hole in the playoff to win.

“Those are probably two of the greatest putts I’ve made,” McDowell said, pausing to step out of the moment. He made a few good ones at Pebble Beach. There was that 15-foot birdie putt in the Ryder Cup that led to a European victory.

On second thought ...

“Holed a couple of nice putts this year,” he continued, smiling. “But they were certainly up there. To play the weekend alongside Tiger, it’s a pretty special feeling to go out there four back and do the job.”

It was an unofficial victory, but still a historic moment.

No one had ever beaten Woods when trailing by three shots or more going into the final round. It had been 12 years since anyone had topped Woods in a playoff on home soil.

If there was a time for it all to unravel for Woods, it’s only fitting it would be in his final round of a troublesome year.

He began the season in an addiction clinic in Mississippi, the fallout of being caught cheating on his wife. In the eight months since he returned to golf, Woods changed swing coaches, was divorced from his wife and never once contended in a tournament.

That changed at his own tournament, on a course where he had won four times.

But he ran into the wrong guy.

McDowell has his own reputation as a tough customer down the stretch, and he showed why. Even though his two birdies on the 18th hole made the difference, he might have won this tournament with a bogey.

With a one-shot lead, McDowell pulled his 8-iron into hay so deep that he had to take a one-stroke penalty.