Tiger Woods penned yet another chapter for himself in golf’s history books when he held off the challenge of a number of players – including Ireland’s Paul McGinley – to win the World Golf Championships – NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club.
In a tension packed last round where nearly all of the main contenders saw their bids for the title ebb and flow over the course of the 18 holes, Woods, as he so often does, produced the vital shots at the critical times to claim the title and the €1,046,024 (£716,332) winner’s cheque.
The World Number One carded a final round 71 for a six under par total of 274 to beat fellow American Chris DiMarco – the man he also memorably held off to win the Masters Tournament at Augusta National in April – by a shot, DiMarco carding a 68 for 275.
McGinley’s brave attempt came up just short but the Irishman can be rightly proud of his efforts throughout the week, his final round 72 for a four under par total of 276, seeing him finish in a tie for third place alongside young Texan Ryan Palmer (69) and Fiji’s Vijay Singh (67).
As well as taking the title for an unprecedented fourth time, the win was Woods’s tenth success in 20 World Golf Championship events including the World Cup team event. It also means he has claimed a WGC title in each season since the series began in 1999.
The crucial moment for Woods came at Firestone’s signature hole – the 667 yard par five 16th. Deep in the trees to the right of the fairway off his drive, he pitched back onto the short grass before firing a superb third shot to 15 feet and holing the putt for an unlikely birdie four. It gave him the lead and he did not relinquish it.
"I hit the ball beautifully all day but I just couldn't seem to make a putt," he said. "Either I hit good putts which didn't go in, or I hit atrocious putts. But I kept at it and luckily I made that putt on the 16th which was nice."
Woods began the day in a tie with Kenny Perry and in the early stages it looked like the 45 year old American would be the man to beat. With Woods out of sorts, Perry went two shots clear after his birdie at the seventh, but from then on in it was downhill and five birdies in six holes from the ninth ended his challenge. He eventually finished tied sixth.
Singh had a brief flutter at a charge, as did Palmer, but it quickly became clear that the man Woods would have to beat would be DiMarco. The 34 year old made five birdies in total to move through the field, but was left to rue his bogey five at the 17th where he overshot the green, a mistake which ultimately cost him a play-off place.
And so to McGinley. The Irishman, a hero of Europe’s last two Ryder Cup victories, battled hard but was up against it from the start due to the heavy rain which fell overnight and which turned the fiery Firestone into a course suddenly playing all of its 7,360 yards.
He seemed to have delivered a fatal blow to his own chances when he three putted from five feet on the short 12th for a double bogey five. But, showing typical grit and determination, he fought back with birdies at the 14th and 16th to move into a share of the lead.
But the turning point came at the 17th. Short of the green in two after a wayward drive, he pitched to ten feet but missed the par putt moments after Woods had made his audacious birdie four at the 16th behind him. It opened up the two shot gap which remained at the end.
“This is the first time I’ve competed at the world level to a large extent and I thought I handled myself well,” said the Irishman. “I had a great week at the BMW Championship at Wentworth but on the world stage, it was the first time I was in the heat of winning.
“It’s a learning process you know. I might be old in terms of years but in terms of experience I’m pretty young. But I know now that one of these big victories is achievable. I know because I dug deep, I hung on really well, and I had a strong finish.”
Two Members of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup Team at Oakland Hills last September – Luke Donald and David Howell – produced fine ends to their respective weeks to share sixth place with Perry, Donald carding a 67 for a three under par total of 277, while Howell joined him on the same aggregate total after a closing 69.
Donald was slightly aggrieved to have bogeyed the 18th, having driven into the trees, and indeed the closing hole at Firestone proved to be one the Englishman will be glad to leave behind after having also double bogeyed it in his conclusion to round three.
But overall he admitted he was happy with his showing over the week as he prepared for two successive tournaments in Europe, firstly at this week’s BMW International Open in Germany and secondly in his defence of his Omega European Masters title in Switzerland.
“Three out of the four rounds were pretty good, the third round it just didn’t click for me which was a shame because I thought if I could have squeezed to five or six under par I might have had a chance,” he said. “But all in all, a pretty successful week.”
Howell continued to prove he is once and for all over the torn muscle injury which ruled him out of the game for over two months before he made his comeback to competitive action in last week’s US PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
The 30 year old Englishman was not over par in any of his four rounds over the week and admitted that some remedial work done on his driving with his coach in recent weeks had paid off.
“I started off a little dodgy and didn’t do quite what we had been working on over the first nine holes of the week but after that it began to work really well,” he said. “Okay, I had the odd loose shot here and there, but overall I am delighted.”
Another happy man was Colin Montgomerie who continued the excellent showing by European Tour Members overall at Firestone with his second consecutive 68 for a two under par total of 278 and a share of ninth place which continues to help in his quest to move up the The European Tour Order of Merit and the Official World Golf Ranking.
“To finish with two 68s here is good and I need that for points after missing out last week. My hand is fine and a two under par round here is a very good effort and I am delighted with my week,” he said.
“That was the best putting tournament I have had in America for about ten years and my short game was pleasing too. If Phil Mickelson says to you after a round (as he did on Friday) that your short game is impressive, you really must be doing something right.”
Alongside Montgomerie on 278 was his fellow European Tour Member José Maria Olazábal (72), and Americans David Toms (71) and Zach Johnson (69).
