MARANA, Arizona, 26 February 2008 — With a record-breaking victory in the Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger Woods captured his 15th World Golf Championship on Sunday and holds all three world titles for the first time.
Golf is not a fair fight at the moment.
Fellow American Stewart Cink found that out at Dove Mountain, where Woods overwhelmed him with 14 birdies in 29 holes for an 8-and-7 victory, the largest margin in the 10-year history of this tournament.
“I think maybe we ought to slice him open to see what’s inside,” Cink said. “Maybe nuts and bolts.” But he was only the latest victim in a winning streak that dates to the first week of September.
Woods has won four straight times on the US PGA Tour, the third time he has had a winning streak that long. He has set the tournament record for margin of victory in his last three wins.
And it was his fifth straight victory worldwide, including his stunning comeback in Dubai three weeks ago. “I think this is the best stretch I’ve ever played,” Woods said.
The world’s No. 1 player began this season talking about the Grand Slam.
The first stop was a Triple Crown of the WGCs, completing a sweep that included an 8-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone and a two-shot victory in the CA Championship at Doral.
Woods’ tour winning streak was at seven last year when Nick O’Hern beat him in the third round of the Match Play. Given the fickle nature of this format, even Woods said it was the toughest tournament to win this side of a major.
Turns out the hardest part was getting to this week’s 36-hole final.
Woods rallied from three down with five holes to play in the opening round against J.B. Holmes by winning four straight holes with three birdies and a 35-foot eagle. He twice watched Aaron Baddeley putt from inside 12 feet before beating the Australian in 20 holes in the third round. And he was stretched to 18 holes in the semifinals against defending champion Henrik Stenson.
But the final was no contest.
He built a 4-up lead after the morning round, and Cink never got any closer.
Cink didn’t win a hole until No. 12, and the only hole he won in the afternoon came at the par-5 10th when he rolled in a 36-foot eagle putt. Woods had an eagle putt from 35 feet, and the ball spun around the cup.
“Even the minuscule amount that I upstaged him there - him being 8 up - I still thought he was going to make it,” Cink said. “He lipped it out, and I thought, ‘Hey, come on. At least give me a moment to shine here.’ And he said, ‘Sorry, dude.”’
Woods has won 63 times on the US PGA Tour, moving past Arnold Palmer into fourth place on the career list, one victory behind Ben Hogan, and each year getting closer to the record 82 tournaments won by Sam Snead.
“I can’t wait to see Arnie,” Woods said, grinning. “Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan, you know you’ve had a pretty good career.”
It’s been a great career in the World Golf Championships alone.
This is the 10th year of this series, which was designed to bring together the best players in the world.
Identifying the best? That was never a serious question.
Woods has won a staggering 15 of the 26 official WGC events, three of those in the Match Play Championship. Darren Clarke (Match Play, Bridgestone) is the only other player with multiple WGC victories.
The world’s No. 1 player has built a career on these events alone:
-Woods earned $1.35 million (€910,000) on Sunday, giving him more than $19.8 million (€13.3 million) in these elite events. That’s roughly 25 percent of Woods’ career US PGA Tour earnings, and more than Tom Lehman has earned in more than 430 tour starts.
-He was won 15 times in WGC events, as many victories as Fred Couples has in his entire US PGA Tour career.
“It says about the same thing that just about any other stat you can pull up of him says,” Cink said. “It says he’s the best that’s ever played.”
