Woods Wins Another One

Tiger Woods had yet another incredible moment in his incredible run on the PGA Tour, winning a dramatic 18-hole duel with Payne Stewart on Sunday in the Disney Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Woods shot a 6-under-par 66 at the Magnolia Course to finish at 21-under par. It was one stroke ahead of Stewart, whose 10-foot birdie putt for a tie at No. 18 grazed the left lip of the cup.

Taylor Smith, a 29-year-old tour rookie seeking his first tour victory, also finished at 21-under, but was disqualified for having an illegal grip on his putter.

Smith was notified of the disqualification on the ninth hole when he was 18-under and trailing Woods by two strokes. Tour officials allowed him to keep playing while he appealed, and he made an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

Smith used a putter that was slightly longer than normal and had two grips that were not equally round, a violation. Smith’s appeal to the USGA was denied.

The $216,000 winner’s check gave Woods $734,794 in just seven pro starts. He is No. 23 on the money list, which qualifies him for next week’s Tour Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla.

“He can do things that I can’t do,” Stewart said.

Woods, who won his first pro title two weeks ago in Las Vegas and finished second last week in the Texas Open, has had an unprecedented run of success since he turned professional eight weeks ago after winning his third straight U.S. Amateur title.

Woods had to fight 18 holes against Stewart, a winner of seven tournaments and two major championships.

They began the round at 15 under, one off the lead. Stewart hit every green in regulation. Woods missed only one, on the first hole when he hit into a fairway bunker, played a draw through a chute of trees into a greenside bunker and saved par with a 15-foot putt.

“That was the biggest putt all day,” Woods said.

At Virginia Water, England, Ernie Els became the first player to win the World Match Play title three consecutive years when he defeated Vijay Singh 3 and 2.

Winner over Colin Montgomerie in 1994 and Steve Elkington last year, Els tapped in a 2-footer at the 16th to clinch a victory that brought him $265,200. Singh won $140,400.

At Seoul, South Korea, Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam shot a 2-under-par 70, beating compatriot Helen Alfredsson by a shot to win the World Championship of Women’s Golf for the second straight year.

Jim Colbert won his fifth Senior PGA Tour title of the year, shooting a 5-under-par 67 in windy conditions for a five-stroke victory over Hale Irwin in the Gold Rush Classic in El Dorado Hills, Calif.

English star Laura Davies won her eighth title of the year, shooting a 3-over-par 76 in windy conditions for a three-stroke victory in the Italian Open at Castiglione Di Sicilia, Sicily.