Championships were created to bring together the best players from around the globe. They have turned into an annuity for the world’s top-ranked player.
In the year Tiger Woods won his 10th major championship, his play-off victory on Sunday over hard-luck John Daly in the American Express Championship was his 10th world title since this series began in 1999. He has finished out of the top 10 only twice in 19 starts, both of them early exits from the Match Play Championship.
”I’ve given Tiger Woods enough of these trophies, so I’m going to let someone else do it,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said at the presentation on Sunday afternoon at Harding Park.
The $1,3-million cheque brought Woods’s career earnings in the World Golf Championships to $12 977 000, more money than all but 35 players have made in their United States PGA Tour careers.
With a career-high $9,9-million, he is closing in on another money title and might be able to break Vijay Singh’s record for earnings if Woods were to win at either Disney or the Tour Championship. The gap in the world ranking released on Monday is the widest it has been in two years.
”I’ve worked really hard to get to this point, to a point where I can compete,” Woods said. ”Each and every week, I feel as if I just play my game, I should have a chance come the back nine, and that’s where you want to get to.”
In some respects, that’s what has made this year different from most.
Woods has won 33 out of 36 times on the US PGA Tour when he has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Going into this season, he had not won from behind since 2001, when he outlasted Jim Furyk in a seven-hole play-off at the NEC Invitational (another World Golf Championship victory).
This year, he has had to rally in three of his six victories.
Two of them were duels against players who get more crowd support than Woods — Phil Mickelson at Doral, and Daly at Harding Park.
Sunday was the first time Daly and Woods had ever gone shot-for-shot in the final round. They were separated by one group, but it was a duel of 350-yard drives, yet it all came down to a three-foot putt.
Daly, who had three-putted from 30 feet on the 17th to let Woods back into tournament, three-putted from 15 feet on the second extra hole to hand Woods another world title.
”He’s a champion, and he’s won so many golf tournaments,” Daly said. ”I was probably feeling a little bit more heat than he was. You just hate to lose that way, and I know he hated to win that way.”
Then again, Woods seems to find a way in these World Golf Championships. — Sapa-AP