Tiger Woods shrugged off three consecutive bogeys while cruising
to an eight-shot victory at the Buick Invitational on Monday for
his 62nd PGA Tour title.
Eight ahead overnight, the world number one holed two monster
birdie putts on his way to a one-under-par 71 in increasingly windy
conditions on the South Course at Torrey Pines.
Woods piled up five birdies and four bogeys for a 19-under total of
269 to record a fourth successive triumph at the coastal venue and
his sixth overall.
Japan's Ryuji Imada closed with a 67 to finish a distant second at
11 under, two ahead of South Africa's Rory Sabbatini (67) and
American Stewart Cink (73).
"I wanted to go out there and make no bogeys and shoot something
under par, so I got half of that right," Woods said in a greenside
television interview.
"I think we are all pleased to get this thing in," he added, as the
rain and wind intensified at Torrey Pines.
His winning margin shattered the previous tournament best of five
set by fellow American Tom Watson in 1977 and equalled by Fuzzy
Zoeller in 1979.
Woods joined Arnold Palmer in fourth place in the all-time
standings for PGA Tour career victories. Only Sam Snead (82), Jack
Nicklaus (73) and Ben Hogan (64) have won more.
With the bad weather forecast for Sunday not materialising until
late in the day, the only question on the lips of fans crammed
around the South Course was the ultimate margin of Woods's
victory.
The game's leading player has never lost a tournament when leading
by more than one shot after 54 holes.
Final round
Eight times he has gone into the final round of a PGA Tour event
with a cushion of more than six strokes, and he has won by at least
five shots on all eight occasions.
Woods, playing in his first tournament of the year, made the best
possible start in bright sunshine when he rolled in a 40-foot
birdie putt at the par-four first.
Moments later, his lead was stretched to 10 when his two playing
partners, Cink and fellow American Joe Durant, both bogeyed the
hole.
Although Woods narrowly missed a seven-foot birdie opportunity at
the fourth, he birdied the par-five sixth after hitting his third
shot to four feet.
He collected his first bogey at the par-four seventh, after missing
the fairway to the right off the tee, but did well to save par at
the ninth when he got up and down from rough behind the
green.
Out in one-under 35, he electrified the watching gallery when he
sank a 58-foot birdie putt on the 11th green where he allowed for
around 15 feet of break.
He lifted his putter in his left hand to acknowledge the roars from
the crowd before pumping his right fist in celebration.
Woods also birdied the par-five 13th by getting up and down from a
greenside bunker before surprisingly dropping shots on the next
three holes.
He bogeyed 14 by three-putting, overhit the green with his approach
on 15 and failed to reach the putting surface off the tee at the
par-three 16th.
As the winds strengthened and predicted thunderstorm approached, he parred 17 before signing off with a birdie at the last where he hit his third shot to nine feet and calmly holed the putt.
