Tiger takes home 50th PGA title
The ultimate goal for Tiger Woods is to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record for victories in professional majors.
Along the way, he also hopes to break Sam Snead’s mark for PGA Tour wins.
Woods won his 50th PGA Tour title Sunday, shooting his fourth straight 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Jim Furyk in the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich.
“I’ve had a lot of wonderful things happen to me in my career so far on tour in 10 years,” he said.
Woods reached a season-low 24 under and made a career-high 28 birdies in the tournament to hold off Furyk – who closed with a 64 – for his fourth win of the year.
Woods became the seventh member of the PGA Tour’s 50-win club and improved to 21 for 21 when leading by more than one stroke after three rounds. The 30-year-old Woods beat Nicklaus’ record pace to the milestone, which Nicklaus reached in 1973 at 33.
Snead is atop the PGA Tour’s career wins list with 82, ahead of Nicklaus (73), Ben Hogan (64), Arnold Palmer (62), Byron Nelson (52) and Billy Casper (51).
At Warwick Hills, he likely ended any hopes his competitors had when he made four birdies on the front nine to build on the two-shot lead he had at the start of the fourth round.
He took the lead alone for good at 13 when his approach from 105 yards landed close enough for a tap-in birdie. At 15, Woods’ birdie gave him a two-shot lead and essentially clinched his second Buick Open victory.
Women’s British Open
Sherri Steinhauer shot an even-par 72 to win the Women’s British Open for the third time, and the first since the tournament became a major.
Steinhauer finished at 7-under 281 at Royal Lytham in Lytham St. Annes, England, for her second major title, the first being at the now-discontinued Du Maurier Classic in Canada in 1992.
The 43-year-old American distanced herself from the field by playing mistake-free golf. She came to the 18th having gone 48 holes without a bogey. She promptly hit into a greenside bunker and finished with a bogey five.
Steinhauer also won the tournament in 1998 at Royal Lytham and then at Woburn a year later.
She will defend the title next year at St. Andrew’s as the Women’s British Open goes to the venerable course for the first time.
Michelle Wie shot her third straight 2-over 74 to finish at 6-over 294. Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, finished with a 1-over 73 for an 8-over 294. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a final round of 85 for a 305.
Champions Tour
David Edwards won the 3M Championship for his first Champions Tour title, birdieing five holes in a six-hole stretch en route to a 5-under 67 and a two-stoke victory over Craig Stadler and Brad Bryant.
Edwards, making his 11th start on the 50-and-over tour, birdied Nos. 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 to reach 11 under, added four pars and closed with another birdie for a 12-under 204 total on the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn.
Stadler finished with a 68 for his third straight runner-up finish in the event, while Bryant closed with a 67.