Woods Shows Wie the Way to Winning

[Gxgolfer]

By Erik J. Barzeski via TheSandTrap.com

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Tiger Woods wins in the worst way - with a John Daly three-putt - for his 10th of 19 WGC events.

Five days after Michelle Wie turns pro, Tiger Woods shows her the way to true fame, admiration, and status: by winning golf tournaments. The youngster has won but one major competition - the 2003 U.S. Women's Public Links Championship - to go along with several disappointing finishes in LPGA events and missed cuts on the PGA Tour.

Tiger, who with this win has taken more than half of the WGC events (10 of 19) and four WGC-AmEx championships, seizes career victory number 46 and puts himself in a place where he can record the all-time season high in earnings with a win at the Tour Championship. If he wins, his $11.13M will top Vijay Singh's $10.9M 2004 season.

Woods was aided in victory by the putting of John Daly, which let him down late and when it mattered. After three-putting from 40 feet on the 17th hole, Daly three-putted the 16th green after a Woods birdie putt came up half a roll short. His second putt measured only three feet, but he pulled it left. Woods, reacting to the missed putt, could only bow his head. In a clash of the titans, this was not how it should have ended.

On the 18th tee, one stroke back at -10 to Daly's -11, Tiger Woods unleashed an absolute monster drive, travelling 342 yards and finding the narrowest portion of the fairway. Leaving the tee, Daly three-putted the 17th from 40 feet to slide back to -10 and tie with Woods. From 116, Woods blocked his wedge before spinning it back to 15 feet. The putt just slid by the edge, and Daly's from a similar location stopped short. Parring 18, both players returned to the tee to begin the playoff.

Woods didn't manage to hit it 342 yards again. Instead, he hit it 347, and the ball just found the right first cut. Daly, playing second, hit it 348 past Tiger Woods. Woods' ball hit the green and bounced to tap-in range before excruciatingly pulling back to the front roughline. Daly's wedge performed a similar dance, and neither player managed to hole their birdie putts from off the green.

The short par-4 16th - which Daly drove earlier in the week and which Woods birdied from a few feet three holes earlier that day - played host to the second playoff hole. Woods again played an iron into the left side of the fairway while Daly drove towards the green and just got inside Woods' wedge to the green. What happened then defies explanation.

"I feel so bad for J.D.," said Woods. "You never, ever want to win a golf tournament like that." Daly mirrored Tiger's thoughts, saying "I know Tiger didn't want to win that way. I didn't want to lose that way. It's very disappointing." Daly has had putter problems all week.

The day began as a four-way battle between Scot Colin Montgomerie, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, and Daly and Woods. No other players back in the field made a charge, and Monty's and Garcia's steam ran out after the front nine. Montgomerie parred the 8th through the 16th holes, missing a six- and ten-footers for birdie. He holed a 12-footer for birdie at the 17th to get within one of the lead, but bogeyed the 18th to finish two back. The eight-footer that eluded him on the last hole was worth $159,500, as Monty earned $353,666 to move past Michael Campbell atop the European Tour Order of Merit. Should Montgomerie close out the year on top, he'll win the title for the record eighth time. But, sadly, Monty's first victory on U.S. soil has eluded him once again. Oh, pity. :-P

One only has to wonder, had Colin Montgomerie not cheated back in March, if he would have even been at Harding Park for the WGC-AmEx. His play at the Indonesian Open in Jakarta enabled him to sneak into the top 50 in the Official World Rankings, which enabled him to play the U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship. The top 50 players are also granted entry into the WGC championships.

Sergio Garcia, aside from a holed wedge for eagle at the par-four sixth, played unspectacularly, bogeying the 6th, 8th, and 9th before birdieing the 10th and finishing with eight pars to finish with a 69 and a tie for third. Henrik Stenson, largely ignored by the TV coverage on Sunday, snuck in with a 68 including birdies at 16 and 17 to post a tie for third with Montgomerie and Garcia.

The win nets Tiger $1.3M and brings his season earnings to $9.9M.

Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot
1* Tiger Woods -10 67 68 68 67 270
2* John Daly -10 67 67 67 69 270
T3 Henrik Stenson -8 70 67 67 68 272
T3 Colin Montgomerie -8 64 69 69 70 272
T3 Sergio Garcia -8 67 69 67 69 272
T6 David Howell -5 67 67 74 67 275
T6 Graeme McDowell -5 69 70 68 68 275
T6 Vijay Singh -5 67 70 69 69 275
T6 David Toms -5 68 68 70 69 275
10 Stephen Ames -4 72 64 71 69 276
T11 Shigeki Maruyama -3 74 69 67 67 277
T11 Davis Love III -3 71 68 71 67 277
T11 Luke Donald -3 70 71 68 68 277
T11 Stuart Appleby -3 71 65 69 72 277
*Playoff: Woods (4-4) defeats Daly (4-5)

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[TexasAg]

I'm not sure how anybody can say her finishes on the LPGA were disappointing? She didn't win, but start for start, I believe she had the best avg finish on tour. 7 starts and a projected top 15 on the money list as a 15 year old amateur? 2nd place in a major? Not what I would call disappointing.

[dorfblee]

Amateur success doesn't always equate into professional success. The way I see it- why not take the money now, take some financial strain off your parents, and work on your game at the best facilities/courses/teachers, etc?

 

Then again, I do see some merit in the build confidence route (regardless of where you build it- Fred Funk playing from the whites and going low 60's as the a**'t pro at Maryland or Gore's game magically clicking after a return to the Nationwide Tour following his US Open debacle).

 

She'll get there wherever that is. There's no tried and true method, no guarantee's- oh wait there is- sponsorship money.

[dadriver]

Who's the sandtrap.com writer? Seems like a guy only interested in creating controversy..."had Colin not cheated," "Michelle's several disappointing finishes," "Tiger wins in the worst way." I say this guy is only muck raking. What's his point?