TIGER WOODS cruised to his twelfth major championship, and second in
succession, at the 88th US PGA Championship at the Medinah Country Club last
night.
Starting the day level with Luke Donald, of England, on 14 under par, the
world No 1 had a round of 68 to go with scores of 69, 68 and 65 for a total
of 270, 18 under par, to give him victory by five shots over Shaun Micheel
and six over Donald, Sergio García and Adam Scott.
It was a devastating performance from Woods, who won the Open Championship at
a canter at Royal Liverpool last month, and has now moved to within six
professional major championships of Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18. He is now
in second place on his own, moving past Walter Hagen’s tally of 11. At 30,
Woods has 16 years on Nicklaus, who won his last major, the Masters, at the
age of 46.
Now Woods has the chance to equal his feat of 2000-2001, when he completed the
“Tiger Slam” by holding all four major championships at the same time. He
would have to win the Masters and US Open next year to do so, but in this
form he looks unstoppable. Of the past eight majors, he has won four of
them.
“I had one of those days when I felt that if I could put the ball on the
green, I could hole anything,” Woods, who has now won three tournaments in
succession, said.
Donald had been hoping to do what nobody had done before: become the first
player in 12 attempts to stop Woods from winning a major championship after
he had led or shared the lead going into the final round. Yet, before they
had even reached the turn, Donald had realised that it would take something
special to stare down the most intimidating player of them all.
By the middle of the inward half, the only question was whether Woods could
set a record for the lowest score to par in a major — breaking his own mark
of 19 under par that he established at the Open Championship, at St Andrews,
in 2000.
It was at the 1st hole that Woods made his statement of intent, sending a
towering approach shot over a bunker to within eight feet of a tight pin
position and rolling in the birdie putt. It moved him to 15 under par and
into the outright lead. This is where Woods likes to be on the final day of
a major championship. He watches the leaderboard and adjusts his play
accordingly.
He had dropped only two shots in the first 54 holes and was happy to use any
of driver, three-wood, five-wood or three-iron off the tees and play for
position on every hole, firing his approach shots into the sponge-like
greens.
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If Donald had suspected that the rub of the green was not to be his, then he
would have felt it even more so at the 4th, where his tee shot finished in a
deep divot and he missed the green with his approach shot. He failed to get
up and down in two, and fell back to 13 under par, two shots behind Woods
and level with Mike Weir.
For Donald, two behind suddenly seemed like a chasm, and the gap was soon to
become three when he missed a three-foot putt for birdie at the 5th and then
suffered agonies at the 6th when a birdie putt from one side of the green
hit the back of the hole, curved around it and stayed out.
Woods, from virtually the same spot, rolled his straight into the middle of
the hole for his second birdie in succession to move to 17 under par and
four shots ahead, which became five when he rolled in his fourth birdie,
from 35 feet, at the 8th. He reached the turn in 32, added another birdie at
the 11th, and then dropped only his third shot in 72 holes at the par-three
17th. By then, it did not matter.
Donald, who had a round of 74, had been found wanting against the greatest
player the game has seen. He is not the first, and he will not be the last.
- David Howell is a doubt for the Ryder Cup after the Englishman injured his
shoulder at Medinah, where he shot an 82 in the final round.
US RYDER CUP
1, T Woods 4,825pts; 2, P Mickelson 2,474; 3, J Furyk 2,076; 4, C Campbell
1,129; 5, D Toms 1,072; 6, C DiMarco 830; 7, V Taylor 780; 8, J J Henry
778; 9, Z Johnson 756; 10, B Wetterich 746.
- Captain’s two wild-card picks will be announced today
Final scores
270: T Woods 69, 68, 65, 68. 275: S Micheel
69, 70, 67, 69. 276: A Scott (Aus) 71, 69, 69, 67; S
García (Sp) 69, 70, 67, 70; L Donald (GB) 68, 68, 66, 74. 277:
M Weir (Can) 72, 67, 65, 73. 278: S Stricker 72, 67,
70, 69; K J Choi (S Kor) 73, 67, 67, 71. 279: R Moore
71, 72, 67, 69; I Poulter (GB) 70, 70, 68, 71; G Ogilvy 69, 68, 68, 74. 280:
S O'Hair 72, 70, 70, 68; C DiMarco 71, 70, 67, 72. 281:
H Stenson (Swe) 68, 68, 73, 72; T Herron 69, 67, 72, 73. 282:
E Els (SA) 71, 70, 72, 69 D Toms 71, 67, 71, 73; W Austin 71, 69, 69,
73; P Mickelson 69, 71, 68, 74. 283: J Byrd 69, 72, 74,
68; R Allenby (Aus) 68, 74, 71, 70; F Funk 69, 69, 74, 71; H Frazar 69,
72, 69, 73. 284: C Campbell 71, 72, 75, 66; S Cink 68,
74, 73, 69; T Clark (SA) 70, 69, 75, 70; A Hansen (Den) 72, 71, 70, 71;
S Flesch 72, 71, 69, 72. 285: R Karlsson (Swe) 71, 73,
69, 72; H Slocum 73, 70, 72, 70; D Wilson 74, 70, 74, 67; L Westwood
(GB) 69, 72, 71, 73; J Furyk 70, 72, 69, 74. 286: T
Immelman (SA) 73, 71, 70, 72; D Love III 68, 69, 73, 76; R Goosen (SA)
70, 73, 68, 75. 287: R Green (Aus) 73, 69, 73, 72; G
McDowell (GB) 75, 68, 72, 72; W Mayfair 69, 69, 73, 76; J Holmes 71, 70,
68, 78. 288: D Chopra (Swe) 72, 67, 76, 73; W Andrade
67, 69, 78, 74; J J Henry 68, 73, 73, 74; J Rose (GB) 73, 70, 70, 75; C
Riley 66, 72, 73, 77. 289: L Glover 66, 74, 77, 72; O
Browne 75, 66, 73, 75. 290: J Kelly 70, 74, 74, 72.
291: J Sindelar 74, 70, 73, 74; N Green (Aus) 71, 71, 74, 75; R Beem 75,
69, 72, 75; C Pavin 72, 71, 72, 76; R Palmer 70, 73, 72, 76; K Perry 72,
71, 71, 77. 292: S Appleby (Aus) 70, 73, 79, 70; H
Tanihara (Japan) 73, 71, 78, 70; A Baddeley (Aus) 70, 74, 75, 73; S Ames
(Can) 74, 69, 74, 75; J M Olazábal (Sp) 72, 68, 75, 77. 293:
S Lowery 70, 72, 76, 75; B Curtis 72, 72, 73, 76. 295:
J Maggert 75, 68, 78, 74; C Warren 73, 70, 77, 75; J Gore 70, 73, 75, 77.
296: R Tway 72, 71, 75, 78; M Á Jiménez (Sp) 70, 73, 75, 78.
297: D Howell (GB) 71, 71, 73, 82. 300: D
Yrene 71, 72, 77, 80; J Haas 75, 68, 74, 83. 301: J
Kane 71, 71, 80, 79.
