Tiger Woods fired a three-under-par 69 in Charlotte on Sunday to hold off his rivals and win the $6,4-million Wachovia Championship.
Woods finished at 13-under 275 for his 57th career victory on the PGA Tour and his third in six starts this year.
Steve Stricker (69) pulled his second shot into the creek at the brutal par-four 18th but salvaged a bogey to finish second at 277.
Phil Mickelson (70) snuck into a tie for third with South African Rory Sabbatini (74) at 279 when several other contenders made a mess of the difficult last hole.
Woods started the day a stroke behind Sabbatini but took command by picking up four shots in a brilliant three-hole stretch beginning at the par-five seventh.
That gave him the cushion to withstand a double-bogey at the par-three 13th.
Making his first start since the Masters, Woods collected just one birdie in the first six holes. However, once he got his putter going he was unstoppable.
Woods sank a 60-foot monster at the seventh, holed an eight-footer at the eighth and drained an 18-footer at the ninth.
Woods broke out of the pack, making the turn at 15-under and leaving Fiji’s Vijay Singh and Stricker in his wake. – Sapa-AFP