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Woods works way to victory again at Doral
Published Monday, March 26, 2007
By the time Brett Wetterich put the slightest bit of pressure on Tiger Woods at the CA Championship, it was too late. And as he walked to the 18th green, Wetterich knew it, too. "Finishing second," he said, "is not such a bad thing." Especially not when you’re finishing second to Woods at an event he dominates, on a course that ranks as one of his favorites, and when he says his game makes him "very pleased." Augusta National, you are on alert. Woods is ready for the Masters, stating so with an emphatic win at Doral yesterday in Miami, when he shot a 1-over-par 73 and finished two strokes ahead of Wetterich for his 56th career victory, one that earned him $1.35 million and pushed his career winnings over $68 million. The two-stroke margin doesn’t properly illustrate the start-to-finish control Woods had in the final round. He led by six shots after making birdies at the ninth and 10th, took a three-shot lead over Wetterich to the last hole and hit a conservative iron off the tee on the par-4 hole. "I make 5, he can’t win the tournament," Woods said, "So I laid up, hit 3-iron off the tee and 8-iron and a wedge and just two-putted, and the tournament was over." Indeed, Woods two-putted from 50 feet for his bogey, Wetterich made par, and the deal was sealed. Woods is now believed to be the first player to win a PGA Tour event six times on six courses, is 13 for 24 in World Golf Championship events and 11 for 16 when the WGC is a stroke-play format. And if you listened to some of his competitors yesterday, most of the field knew what was coming: ● Ernie Els: "He’s always tough. But give him a four-shot lead, then it’s really tough." ● Robert Allenby: "I didn’t see anyone ever catching Tiger." ● Geoff Ogilvy: "He’s just better than us, I think." ● Mark Calcavecchia: "Unless he pulls a Calcavecchia on 18, he’ll win by several." That last line deserves an explanation. Calcavecchia made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the final hole, hitting his second into the water then actually putting into the drink later in the adventure-filled sequence. Woods had no way of knowing what Calcavecchia did when he reached the last tee, but in the end, he also was smart enough to avoid even flirting with a disaster like that. Woods started the day with a four-shot lead and stretched it with a birdie on the par-4 first hole - where he was 5-under for the week and has posted 16 consecutive scores under par. He three-putted the eighth for bogey before making back-to-back birdies on the next two holes, and his control was never truly in doubt. Allenby ran off six birdies in his first 14 holes and his 5-under 67 was the best score of the final round, when the only drama was to see who would finish second. Allenby wound up in a tie for third at 6-under 282 with Ogilvy (70) and Sergio Garcia (70). ● LPGA: Lorena Ochoa blew a four-stroke lead to Suzann Pettersen then birdied four of the last five holes for a two-stroke victory in the Safeway International in Superstition Mountain, Ariz. Ochoa shot a 4-under 68 to rally past Pettersen (66). Ochoa blew a four-shot lead in the final round for the second time in three years at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club. But this time she survived, overtaking Norway’s Pettersen with birdies on the 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes. The tour’s reigning player of the year, Ochoa earned $225,000 for her 10th LPGA Tour victory. She finished at 18-under. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Copyright © 2007 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
The Columbia Daily Tribune
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