Golf
Tiger captures Memorial title
2009-06-08 06:40
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Ohio - Tiger Woods won his fourth PGA Memorial tournament title on
Sunday, firing a final-round seven-under par 65 and sending a
message that he will be the man to beat in two weeks at the US
Open.
It was the 67th career PGA title for Woods, who finished 72
holes on 12-under par 276, one stroke ahead of fellow American Jim
Furyk and four better than the US third-place duo of Mark Wilson
and Jonathan Byrd.
Woods fired seven birdies, two bogeys and an eagle for the
second victory of his comeback from knee surgery.
"It was just about being patient with it," Woods said. "It was a
matter of time because I was able to start practicing after rounds
again."
A stunning birdie-birdie finish by the world number one served
notice that Woods is back on form after making his return from an
eight-month layoff and ready to defend the US Open crown he won
limping through a playoff last year.
"I knew it was coming around. I haven't been as coinsistent as I
wanted to be. That cost me tournaments. I was just glad to clean
that up."
Woods won his first victory of the season at the Arnold Palmer
Invitational in March.
"Some expectations had to be lowered when I first came back,"
Woods said. "It was nice to get a win so early but it is nicer to
get one now that I can hit more shots."
Woods, a 14-time major champion, had prior titles in 1999, 2000
and 2001 at the Memorial, which is hosted by Jack Nicklaus, the
boyhood idol of Woods who owns the all-time major title record of
18 that is Woods' ultimate target.
Woods reached all 14 fairways off the tee, completing one of the
strongest driving performances of his career. He missed only three
in the first two days and his 18 fairways hit in a row is his
longest such streak since 2003.
"The driving was nice this week," he said. "It was nice to put
it together."
Starting the round four strokes off the pace, Woods birdied four
of the first seven holes, including the second and par-3 fourth
plus the par-5 fifth and seventh, before suffering a bogey at the
par-3 eighth.
An amazing chip-in brought an eagle for the second day in a row
at the par-5 11th put Woods among a pack of leaders and while his
birdie at 15 was followed with a bogey at 16, his stellar finish
won the day.
After rolling home a testy birdie putt at 17, Woods dropped his
approach at the 18th hole just inches from the cup and tapped in
for a birdie to conclude a stunning comeback triumph.
Furyk birdied the 18th to finish one back but Wilson and Byrd
were the only other rivals within six shots.
Americans Davis Love, Matt Kuchar and Matt Bettencourt shared
fifth on 282, one stroke ahead of countryman Stewart Cink and South
Africa's Ernie Els.
FINAL SCORES
276 - Tiger Woods 69-74-68-65
277 - Jim Furyk 67-70-71-69
280 - Jonathan Byrd 69-68-71-72
Mark Wilson 68-70-69-73
282 - Matt Kuchar 73-67-71-71
Davis Love 72-68-69-73
Matt
Bettencourt 71-68-68-75
283 - Stewart Cink 68-72-72-71
Ernie Els (RSA) 70-70-71-72
284 - Will MacKenzie 70-73-73-68
Mike Weir (CAN) 69-69-75-71
Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 72-74-63-75
285 - KJ Choi (KOR) 73-70-72-70
286 - Daniel Chopra (SWE) 72-69-73-72
Ryuji Imada (JPN)
70-69-74-73
Luke Donald (GBR) 64-76-72-74
287 - Alex Cejka (GER) 73-68-73-73
288 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 72-68-77-71
Matthew Goggin (AUS)
73-73-70-72
Jason Day (AUS) 67-73-75-73
Rod Pampling (AUS)
69-71-74-74
289 - Camilo Villegas (VEN) 71-74-73-71
290 - Richard Sterne (RSA) 74-71-74-71
Jose Maria Olazabal
(ESP) 74-74-68-74
291 - YE Yang (KOR) 73-72-74-72
Robert Allenby (AUS)
72-76-68-75
294 - Ian Poulter (GBR) 75-71-74-74
Martin Kaymer (GER)
71-76-72-75
John Senden (AUS) 71-74-74-75
Reinier Saxton (NED)
69-75-72-78
295 - Marc Leishman (AUS) 74-74-70-77
296 - Nick O'Hern (AUS) 73-73-76-74
Paul Casey (GBR)
73-70-75-78
300 - Stuart Appleby (AUS) 72-74-76-78