Miami, Florida (Sports Network) - Tiger Woods bogeyed two of the last three
holes, but his closing 1-under 71 on Sunday was enough to give him his seventh
victory at the WGC - Cadillac Championship.
Woods finished at 19-under-par 269. This was his 17th win in a World Golf
Championship event, and the fourth PGA Tour event he has won at least seven
times.
Steve Stricker, who gave Woods a putting lesson earlier in the week, closed
with a 4-under 68 to grab second place at 17-under-par 271.
"You know at times, you kind of kick yourself. But no really, he's a good
friend and we talk about putting. It's good to see him playing well, even
though he clipped me by a couple shots this week," Stricker stated. "It's the
nature of the game. Everybody helps one another out here. The old players did
it with me."
Thanks to that lesson, Woods needed just 100 putts over the 72 holes. That is
the fewest he's had in his career in a 4-round event.
"I played well this week. Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson," Woods
said at the trophy presentation. "It was one of those weeks where I felt
pretty good about how I was playing, and I made some putts. I pretty much got
it rolling."
Graeme McDowell, who played with Woods, carded a double-bogey on the final
hole to post an even-par 72. He was joined in third place at minus-14 by
Sergio Garcia (69), 2009 winner Phil Mickelson (71) and 2006 runner-up Adam
Scott (64). Scott's 64 was the low round of the week.
Keegan Bradley managed a 71 on Sunday to end alone in seventh at 12-under 276.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy fired a 7-under 65 to end in a tie for eighth at
minus-10. He ended alongside 2012 champion Justin Rose (68), Peter Hanson (70)
and last week's PGA Tour winner Michael Thompson (73).
"I was pretty down about my game coming into this week. A day like today felt
like a long way away if I'm honest," McIlroy admitted. "A few days like I've
played, it does my confidence a world of good."
Woods ran home an 18-foot birdie effort at the second to remain three clear of
McDowell, who birdied one and two. Woods pushed his cushion to four with a 4-
foot birdie effort at the fourth.
After five straight pars, Woods rolled in a 6-footer for birdie at the 10th to
go five ahead of Stricker.
Woods again parred five in a row, this time from the 11th. At the 16th, he
found sand off the tee and his missed the green with his approach. Woods
chipped on, then 2-putted for a bogey as his lead slipped to three over
Stricker.
At the last, Woods hit his drive right to avoid the water, then pitched his
second down the fairway. Things got interesting when his third landed short of
the green in the rough.
Woods' ball could have rolled back into the water, but stayed up. He got up
and down for bogey from there for the 2-shot win.
"It feels good, especially to play that well this entire week on a difficult
set up. The greens got really quick out there today. If you left the ball in
the correct spot, you could be pretty aggressive and shoot a good number,"
Woods said. "If you didn't (leave the ball in the right spot), boy you had to
putt so defensively. The wind was moving the balls on the greens."
Stricker birdied the first, but gave that stroke back when he bogeyed the
par-4 third. He connected on back-to-back birdies at five and six. Around the
turn, Stricker moved to 17-under with birdies at 10 and 13. However, he parred
the final five holes to end there.
NOTES: Woods earned $1.5 million for the victory ... This was Woods' 76th PGA
Tour title and 39th European Tour victory ... The other three events Woods has
won at the least seven time are the WGC - Bridgestone Invitational, the Arnold
Palmer Invitational and the Farmers Insurance Open ... Woods has converted
four in a row and 20 of the last 21 third-round leads into victories ... Woods
ended the week with 27 birdies, one shy of his personal best for a 4-round
event ... Americans have won all 11 events on the PGA Tour this year ... The
PGA shifts to Tampa Bay next week for the Tampa Bay Championship, where Luke
Donald won last year, while the European Tour is in India for the Avantha
Masters, where Jbe' Kruger won in 2012.
The Sports Network