Fuente: © Southern Africa Tour
http://www.sunshinetour.com/

SOUTHERN AFRICA TOUR: Woods triumphant at WGC Bridgestone

/noticias.info/ Ten years after he teed it up in his professional tournament, Tiger Woods celebrated his decade of dominance the only way he knows how – victory no. 52 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

The undisputed world number one successfully defended his title on Sunday when he holed an 8-foot birdie to deny Stewart Cink at the fourth play-off hole, winning for the fourth straight time, a streak that began at the Open Championship and shows no sign of ending.

Heroic at Hoylake, magnificent at Medinah, wonderous Woods also took his unchallenged record in World Golf Championship tournaments to a phenomenal 11 victories.

This one looked to be in doubt, however, when Cink made up a three-shot deficit over the final three holes, then had Woods on the ropes the first three holes of the playoff. But with rain pounding Firestone South, Cink hit into a bunker on the 17th hole, and never got a chance to putt for par when Woods made his birdie.

"Just end this thing now," Woods said he told himself standing over the final putt.

Both finished at 10-under 270.

Woods won for the fifth time in the seven years this World Golf Championship has been played at Firestone, and he now has won more on this track than any other golf course on the PGA Tour.

Woods has also won four times each at Augusta National and Torrey Pines.

It was on August, 27, 1996, that Woods announced in Milwaukee he was turning pro. Ten years later, his 52 victories match Byron Nelson for fifth place all time, and his 12 majors are second only to the 18 won by Jack Nicklaus over a quarter-century.

Woods, however, said the only competition he cared about was himself.

"It's always yourself," he said. "You're always trying to better what you've done in the past -- always. Hopefully, that's good enough to beat the rest of the guys."

Truth be told, Woods was in trouble most of the time.

On the first extra hole, he pulled his approach long and left into the rough, but pitched beautifully to 5 feet and escaped with par. The second time playing the 18th in the playoff, Woods found a greenside bunker 40 feet from the flag, blasted out to 8 feet and left it inches short.

"I didn't convert, and he did," Cink said. "That's why he has the trophy."

Victory seemed inevitable for Woods, as it often does at Firestone, when he turned a two-shot deficit at the turn into a three-shot lead with his 20-foot birdie on the 13th. No one else was making birdies, and Woods wasn't making mistakes.

That changed on the 652-yard 16th hole, when Woods hit into the trees down the right side and had to pitch out to the fairway, leaving himself some 230 yards to the flag. He went over the green, chipped to 4 feet and missed the par putt.

Cink, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, holed a 15-foot birdie on the 16th hole, then made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to tie Woods atop the leaderboard.

Woods (68) and Cink (69) each had to make a testy 3-footer for par on the 18th hole in regulation -- Woods after leaving his 20-foot putt from the fringe short, Cink after lagging from 90 feet at the front of the green.

Jim Furyk closed with a 68 to finish one shot behind, making a 10-foot par save on the 18th to give himself a chance. Paul Casey of England, among four players atop the leaderboard at one point in the final round, stumbled on the back nine and shot 71. He tied for fourth along with Angel Cabrera (65), Lucas Glover (69) and Davis Love III (71).

Woods, Cink and Furyk headed to the Cleveland airport to join the rest of their U.S. Ryder Cup team for a charter flight to Ireland, where they plan to spend the next two days practicing at The K Club.

Woods and Mickelson, the top two players in the world, rearranged their schedule to make the trip. Asked if that sent a strong message to their 10 teammates, captain Tom Lehman replied, "It sends a strong message to the other team."

When the Americans return on Wednesday, Woods will go for a fifth straight victory when he plays the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston. He already has won six of his 13 starts on the PGA Tour this year. notas_de_prensa_archivo