If you asked me Thursday evening if I thought Tiger Woods was going to take home top honors for the third time in his amazing career come Sunday I would have probably thought it was a direct possibility. If you would have asked me if I thought he’d win at -20, after only being -1 after the first day, I’d say the odds were definitely stacked against him. No matter the odds, however, Tiger Woods once again proved that he is not only the best golfer in the world, he’s by far the most entertaining to watch.
Three Stroke Victory
That’s right, it’s over and when the dust settled and the applause died off Tiger Woods was left standing alone at the top of the leaderboard, three large strokes ahead of the closest competitors, John Senden, Roland Thatcher and Greg Chalmers in a three-way tie for second place at -17. That’s right, a four round score of 268 was the price Woods had to pay to win for a third time at the Buick Open, the first without being directly sponsored by the company.
Tiger Moves to 36-1 After 54-Hole Lead
What makes this victory all the more impressive, is the simple reality that Tiger Woods has now improved his performance to an amazing 36-1 after having the lead following 54 holes of play. Yes, you heard right, he’s won 36 tournaments after leading following Round 3, and lost only once, as mentioned back in 1996 when he was only 20 years old. Equally impressive, is the fact that this victory marks Tiger’s fourth victory already this year, which just so happens to be DOUBLE his closest competition. I guess the fact that he’s only had 11 starts since his knee surgery, and the fact that he’s now won 4 of those 11 is pretty amazing too.
ReGains FedEx Cup Lead
Also feeling pretty amazing to Tiger is the fact that this victory gave him an additional 500 FedEx Cup points, which puts him once again in sole possession of the top spot. One fact, however, stood out to me that cements the fact that we’ve never seen a golfer like Tiger Woods, and it’s unlikely we ever will again…try this on for size:
“His career victory total trails Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82). Woods reached victory No. 69 at the age of 33 years and seven months — almost 7 years quicker than Nicklas and eight years sooner than Snead. Dating to the 2006 British Open, he has won 21 of 39 starts on TOUR.”
In a word, Wow. In two words: Tiger Woods.
(AP Photo/Al Goldis)
