All by himself
MEDINAH, ILL. – Tiger Woods prowled the first green amid the eerie silence of perhaps 30,000 spectators, the only sounds the soft words back and forth between Woods and his caddie.
Moments later, study complete, Woods rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt and offered a casual flick of the fingers to the massive, now roaring gallery.
So began – and in truth ended – the final round of the 88th PGA Championship.
Casually, methodically, clinically, Woods dissected Medinah Country Club to shoot 4-under-par 68 Sunday and win his 12th career major championship by five strokes.
Perhaps just as scary to his contemporaries, Woods’ 18-under-par winning total, which tied the PGA Championship record he shares with Bob May, and second consecutive victory in a major arguably completed his unfettered ascension to his once-incomparable heights.
Not since 2002 has Woods, also the winner of the British Open in July, won consecutive major titles. It was in 2000-2001 when Woods accomplished the so-called Tiger Slam, victories in four consecutive majors.
The 30-year-old icon – and those obliterated contemporaries – now can start counting the days until next spring’s Masters Tournament. For the record, it’s 227 days until the first round at Augusta National.
“This is really sweet,” said Woods, who moved past Walter Hagen into second place for major titles and now trails Jack Nicklaus by six. “I’m very fortunate, very lucky.”
It was at Medinah seven years ago in the PGA Championship that Woods began the first great run of his career, holding off Sergio Garcia by one stroke for only his second career major title.
That victory came after the first overhaul of his swing and touched off a run of seven wins in 11 major championships.
After consecutive victories in the 2002 Masters and U.S. Open, though, Woods set off with a new instructor on a second major revamp to his swing – all in the oft-questioned pursuit of what Woods insisted was improvement.
Upon winning majors again in the Masters and British Open in 2005 and even British Open this year, questions still persisted about his swing or margins of victory – no longer the mass romps of his halcyon days of 2000.
Sunday, though, Woods displayed the same controlled domination that has slowly, steadily been reminding his would-be pursuers of times when all knew they were playing for second place.
“I don’t know if I could really compare,” said Phil Mickelson, whose consecutive titles in the 2005 PGA Championship and this year’s Masters prompted talk of a level playing field. “But both of them are very impressive.”
Tied for the lead with England’s Luke Donald entering the final round, Woods immediately went ahead with his birdie on No. 1. The lead was two shots when Donald, bidding for his first major title, bogeyed the fourth hole.
Woods answered an early charge by Mike Weir with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth hole, then went ahead by three strokes on the sixth hole with the first of two birdie bombs.
A 45-footer, on No. 8, dropped in the left side of the hole, prompting a gently raised fist from Woods, who led by at least three strokes the rest of the day.
Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA champion placed second at 13-under after a 69. Adam Scott (67), Sergio Garcia (70) and Donald (74) shared third place at 12-under. Weir, the only other player to reach 15-under, faded to sixth at 11-under with a 73.
“I just had one of those magical days on the greens,” said Woods. “It was a pretty simple putt. Just had to let it feed down there and it would fall to the right just a touch.
“I felt like once I took the lead there, if I just played the holes correctly, played the par 5s well, then there’s no reason why I couldn’t maintain the lead.”